Once you really get into the series, you might find yourself getting a little bogged down with all the history, characters, timelines, storylines, Gaelic terms etc... Not to worry! Diana Gabaldon has a terrific reference book called the Outlandish Companion. It contains a synopsis of the first four books in the series, alphabetical listings of hundreds of characters with descriptions, lots of interesting tidbits about the research she does, her methods of writing and creating, discussions about her time-travel theories, FAQs, controversies, and errata. A Must Read for Outlander fans and a really entertaining read! It's like getting a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of her novels.
While visiting Diana's blog today, Voyages of the Artemis, I learned that she will begin working on the Outlandish Companion Volume II in 2010 and has made a preliminary list of what will be included!!
(And yes, she says she is already beginning preliminary work on Book #8 -- and IF it's the Final Book, then she has always maintained that All Will Be Revealed; we just have to wait and see.) She is asking for input into what her readers would like to see in this second companion volume. Gabaldon fans have learned to be patient because it takes several years in between novels, but it's great to know that she's moving ahead as planned in 2010 and keeping her fans informed and open to input!
