What Should I Read After I Finish the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon?

The Outlander series is a unique series of books by Diana Gabaldon that are filled with great characters, adventure, fantasy, and the romance of a lifetime.  While no books are quite like Gabaldon’s, there are some great books in similar veins that can fill your reading desires as you wait for the next book in the saga.  The following are my top picks.

1.       Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati.  I picked this novel up at a used book store at an airport while on a work related trip ten or so years ago.  I liked the premise, Elizabeth Middleton is an Englishwoman moving to the wilds of 18^th century New England to be with her family.  While there, she meets Nathanial Booner, the son of Hawkeye and Cora from Last of the Mohicans.  Elizabeth and Nathanial fall in love and work through the prejudices of the times.  Much to my surprise – Jamie and Claire Fraser make an appearance in this novel!  I had no idea when I was reading it that Claire and Jamie would be in the book until they were there.  Diana Gabaldon herself approves of this book.  I only made it to book three of this series and need to pick it back up one of these days!

2.       A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley (or anything by Susanna Kearsley).  Susanna Kearsley writes great novels that often contain a time slip or other mechanism to the past.  A

Desperate Fortune involves a codebreaker in the present day that is cracking the historical diary of Mary Dundas.  Mary is used by the Jacobites in France to help a mysterious man with an even more mysterious body guard to remain out of harm’s way.  Hugh Macpherson, the mysterious bodyguard, is a Scotsman with a deep soul.  The entire novel is a slow build to the reveal of one of the best romantic heroes I’ve read in a while.  I’ve also read Kearsley novels The Splendour Falls, The Firebird, The Shadowy Horses, Mariana, and The Rose Garden and have enjoyed them all.  I’ve read wonderful reviews of The Winter Sea, but it’s still on my wish list of books.

3.      The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick.  There is not time travel in Elizabeth Chadwick’s

novels, unless you consider that Chadwick’s novels make you feel like you are experiencing the Middle Ages.  William Marshal is a young knight with drive, passion, and a deep loyalty.  He uses his skills to climb up the ranks at court, and meets his match when he meets young Isabelle de Claire in The Scarlet Lion.  William and Isabelle’s love faces many trials, but their love grows stronger over time.  Elizabeth Chadwick is one of the best historical fiction writers of all time, and William Marshal is one of the best romantic heroes in literature.


4.      Discovery of Witches Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.  Diana is an avid historian of alchemy

and also a witch without powers.  Matthew is a vampire.  When the two meet in London over the mysterious manuscript Ashmole 782, sparks fly.  Although vampires and witches typically don’t get along, the two find themselves drawn to each other as they continue the search for the manuscript and its hidden meaning.  In the second book of the series, Diana and Matthew time travel back to Tudor England in their quest. The three novels in this trilogy are A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life.



5.      The Green Darkness by Anya Seton.  I discovered Anya

Seton as a teenager around the same time I discovered Outlander.  Anya Seton did not write series, but she did write stand-alone novels that are great historical fiction, but at times contain a bit of fantasy.  Richard Marsdon marries a young American, Celia, and moves her back to his estate in England.  While there, Celia has a breakdown and a doctor forces her to relieve her past life in Tudor England with her doomed romance with Stephan the Monk.  My favorite Anya Seton novel is Katherine, a young woman who has a passionate love affair with the son of a King, John of Gaunt, whom she is not allowed to marry. Devil Water is the story of staunch Jacobites that descended from the illegitimate line of Charles II.  I sadly read these books before my blog, so the only Anya Seton review I have on here is for Smouldering Fires.



6.      Irish Lady byJeannette Baker.  Diana Gabaldon gave her approval to this novel calling it,

“Wonderful . . . it grips from the first page to the very last.”  Irish Lady is a gripping tale with intrigue, romance, historical fiction ghosts, time slips, mystery, and grand passion and is set in both the 1590’s and the 1990’s in Ireland.  I also loved the Scottish setting and time travel in Jeannette Baker’s novel, Legacy. 






7.      The Poldark Series by Winston Graham.  I am only on book two of this

series, but the entire series by Winston Graham goes through the turbulent and passionate lifetimes of the main characters, Ross and Demelza.  A TV series based on the first two books is currently airing on Masterpiece Theatre and is excellent.  Set in Cornwall after the American Revolution, Ross has discovered the woman that he loves is engaged to his cousin, but he decides to bring his estate back to life and to help the common people along the way.  Ross Poldark is another greatest romantic hero in literature.



8.      Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin.  I love the show, but haven’t read the series yet.  My husband has read this series and Outlander and he says I would be remiss if I didn’t put it on a list of good books to read if you like Outlander.

What have I missed?  What are your favorite books with great characters, romance, and or time travel that you read when you aren’t reading Outlander?

Other suggestions that I've received on this blog, Goodreads, and Facebook are as follows (I've been adding them to my "want to read" list).  Items in BOLD were mentioned by many people:
1.  The Bronze Horseman by Simmons
2.   The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
3.  Follow the River by James Alexander Thom
4.  Comanche Moon by Catherine Anderson
5.  Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
6.  Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
7.  Dragonblade by Kathryn Le Veque
8.  The Graham Saga by Anna Belfridge
9.  Fall of the Giants by Ken Follet
10.  The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
11.  A Dance Through Time by Lynn Kurland
12.  Daphne Du Maurier Novels (My Favorite is Rebecca)
13.  The Innocent by Posie Graeme Evanss
14.  Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen (I love this book!)
15.  Before Versailles by Karleen Koen
16.  Edward Rutherford Novels
17. Exit Unicorns by Cindy Brandner
18.  A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley
19.  The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett
20.  The Nicholas Series by Dorothy Dunnett
21.  The King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett
22.  Highland Destiny by Hannah Howell
23.  Lady Julia Series by Deanna Raybourn
24.  The Welsh Trilogy by Sharon Kay Penman
25.  Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita White Clenney
26.  The Lord John Series by Diana Gabaldon
27.  Jane Austen Novels
28.  Dalraida Series by Jules Watson
29.  The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
30.  The Spymaster Series by Joanna Bourne
31.  The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
32.  The Tea Rose Trilogy by Jennifer Donnelly
33.  Gracelyn O'Malley Trilogy by Anne Moore
34.  The Templar Knights Series by Mary Reed McCall
35.  Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
36.  The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning
37.  The Angelique Series by Anne and Serge Golan
38.  Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor (I love this book also!)
39.  Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
40.  North and South Trilogy by John Jakes
41.  Swan Trilogy by Celeste De Blasis
42  The Plantagenet Series by Sharon Kay Penman

Virgins by Diana Gabaldon

Virgins is a short story prequel to the Outlander saga that is found in the new short story collection, Dangerous Women edited by George R.R. Martin.  I will admit that I bought Dangerous Women for my husband Ben for Christmas as he wanted to read Martin’s latest short story.  I was delighted to see that Gabaldon had a story in the collection as well.  When Ben finished his story, he handed it off to me to read.  This review is only for this short story, I hope to read the entire book one of these days.

Virgins is a prequel to Outlander starring Jamie Fraser and Ian Murray.  After Jamie faced a brutal whipping from British officer and nemesis Black Jack Randall, he went to France in search of his friend Ian Murray. Ian is with a group of mercenaries.  They are protecting a load of valuable rugs when they are viscously attacked.  Ian and Jamie fight valiantly and soon find themselves on a new mission, protecting their Jewish client’s most valuable possession, his beautiful granddaughter, Rebekah and a priceless scroll on her way to her fiancé.  Ian and Jamie soon find that they are in for more than they bargained and that Rebekah is not all that she seems.

I loved this short story by one of my favorite authors.  It was a strong, fascinating story about Jamie before Claire.  It also perhaps solved part of the mystery from Echo in the Bone of who the mystery woman was from Jamie’s time in France.  It made me further resolve that I need to reread the series and put it all together!  This story is worth a read from fans of the Outlander series as well people looking for a darn good story.  I need to read the rest of the stories in Dangerous Women, but I will leave that for another time.

Book Source:  I bought this from Amazon.com for my husband for Christmas

Songs of Love & Death Edited by George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois

I’ll admit that the primary reason I wanted this book was because it contains a story by one of my all-time favorite authors – Diana Gabaldon. The story, A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows, promised to solve the mysterious disappearance of Roger’s father. I was also intrigued by the allure of George R. R. Martin as an editor. Unfortunately, he does not have a short story in the collection. You also have to admit that the title of this collection of short stories is snappy, as well as the premise of the book. It contains stories from a wide range of authors that are fantasy, science fiction and/or romance with star-crossed love as a premise. Some endings are happy, some are sad, but all are intriguing.


I was more than a little excited to receive this novel for Christmas from my best friend Jenn. I quickly flipped it open, only to discover that Gabaldon’s story was last. I then proceeded to read it, and then start the book from page 1, and read the story again at the end.

There are too many great stories in this book and not enough time to give them all a proper review. I can say thought that the stories were awesome and gave me many new writers to add to my “to read” list. The stories ranged from ill-fated love in space, to stories that were more enchanted fairy tale. I loved each one for its uniqueness. I had never read any of Jim Butcher’s Dresden file books, but he had a fantastic story in this collection. Consider me signed up to check out his books!

Sadly, one of the weaker stories in the collection was actually Gabaldon’s story. It felt like it was a chapter from An Echo in the Bone. If I was going into this story and had no idea who these characters were and the background behind it, I would have been very, very confused. Even being a fan, I finished the story slightly confused and like with all Gabaldon books, wanting more!! The story did answer my question of what happened to Roger’s father, but I want to know what happened to Roger! Hopefully we’ll get more clarification in Gabaldon’s next novel.

Overall, this book is excellent. I am a lover of short stories, romance, and fantasy so this book was right up my alley. If you like your stories to be on the unexpected side are a fan of Gabaldon, Martin, Butcher or shows such as Game of Thrones, or Once Upon a Time, this book is for you!

Book Source: This was a Christmas gift from my best friend Jenn

Shadows and Strongholds by Elizabeth Chadwick

I didn’t think I could love a historical hero as much as I love William Marshall, the hero of Chadwick’s The Greatest Knight, but Elizabeth Chadwick herself has proven me wrong. Brunin (Fulke) Fitzwarin is an outcast in his own home during the middle ages. Taking after his mercenary grandfather, he is lean and dark in a family of stout fair hair individuals. He is also branded a coward after an incident in a marketplace. Sent out as a squire to Joscelin the Lord of Ludlow Castle, Brunin finds a friend in Joscelin’s youngest tom-boy daughter, Hawise. Brunin also discovers how to be a great fighter and a compassionate man as he grows up as Joscelin’s ward.


Growing up is only half the battle as once Brunin reaches the age to start thinking about his inheritance as the heir of Whittington and Alberbury castles, he finds them broiled in a dispute. His youth was spent during the endless wars of King Stephen and Empress Matilda fighting for the English thrown. As he reaches maturity, Matilda’s son Henry has taken the thrown as Henry II. As both Brunin’s father and Lord Joscelin supported Henry, this is considered a positive. Unfortunately other forces believe that they should be the lords of Whittington and Ludlow and are willing to take it by force. Love and treachery are definitely the major themes of this novel.

I loved Brunin the sensitive, but skilled fighter. The striking picture on the front of this novel helped as well. I also loved Hawise. She was not a typical maiden of the time, but was strong willed and willing to go head to head with Brunin. Joscelin was a kind, compassionate, and powerful lord and I also loved his fierce lady, Sybilla. The villains were also fierce, some were written so compassionately, I felt sorry for them. I can’t say more and ruin the plot!

Chadwick has a gift and is a superb historical fiction writer. Her characters and scenes come alive and I think of them long after I have finished one of her books. She uses vast historical research as well as reenactments to write her novels. I believe that is why one feels that you are there in the time and place. Chadwick’s novels are more than a good read, they are an experience.

Shadows and Strongholds is the prequel to her novel, Lords of the White Castle which is the “story of medieval outlaw Fulke Fitzwarin and his endeavors to have his family lands restored.” I really want to read this and looked it up on amazon. Unfortunately it is not currently in print in the U.S. I hope that Sourcebooks publishes it soon – I really want to know the rest of the story of Brunin and Hawise.

Overall, Shadows and Strongholds is another superb novel by Elizabeth Chadwick. I’ve read a lot of good books lately, but this book reigns supreme over them all. I’ve been watching Game of Thrones a lot lately. If you are a fan of Game of Thrones, I would highly recommend Shadows and Strongholds or any Elizabeth Chadwick novel. History is just as riveting as fiction, although there are less white walkers and dragons.

Source: A review copy from Sourcebooks – Thanks!