Graphic Novel Review: The Exile by Diana Gabaldon
The Exile by Diana Gabaldon
Genre(s): Graphic Novel
Publisher: Del Rey (September 21, 2010)
Illustrator: Hoang Nguyen
ISBN-10: 0345505387
ISBN-13: 978-0345505385
Description: After too long an absence, Jamie Fraser is coming home to Scotland – but not without great trepidation. Though his beloved godfather, Murtagh, promised Jamie’s late parents he’d watch over their brash son, making good on that vow will be no easy task. There’s already a fat bounty on the young exile’s head, courtesy of Captain Black Jack Randall, the sadistic British officer who’s crossed paths – and swords = with Jamie in the past. And in the court of the mighty MacKenzie clan, Jamie is a pawn in the power struggle between his uncles: aging chieftain Colum, who demands his nephew’s loyalty – or his life – and Dougal, war chieftain of Clan MacKenzie, who’d sooner see Jamie put to the sword than anointed Colum’s heir.
Okay, I admit it. I’m a geek. I love all things high tech. I love geeky shows like Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love to read all kinds of sci-fi and fantasy stuff. But what I don’t admit to loving is historical novels. You know, those books that feature a damsel in distress who ends up being ravished by someone who bears a striking resemblance to Fabio. In other words, bodice rippers.
My favorite author of said books is Diana Gabaldon, who wrote a wonderful series of books starting with Outlander or Cross Stitch in Britain. The featured damsel, Claire Beauchamp Randall, is a British World War II combat nurse who is on a second honeymoon in Scotland with her husband not long after the war ends. While exploring a circle of standing stones, Claire touches one of the stones and is transported back in time to 1743, where she meets a highlander named Jamie Fraser and ravishment thus ensues.
With great characterization and well-researched historical accuracy, Gabaldon’s novels have been entertaining me for years. And yes, they’re full of enough hot hetero sex to make even a gay girl like me giddy. So it was to my utter joy and delight yesterday to discover that she has written a graphic novel based on Outlander, but telling it from a different perspective and with a new storyline interwoven with the main plot.
Bodice ripping at its best
Having read the series multiple times, I found myself simply staring at the images. Gabaldon is a fabulous writer, so her script was flawless, but illustrator Hoang Nguyen is a freaking genius. From stunning panoramic views of the Scottish highlands to wonderfully detailed close-ups on the characters I have known, and loved, for years. I found myself jumping up and down in my seat and squealing stuff like “So that’s what Jamie looks like” and “Hmm, I wonder if Claire’s bosom was that big in the novel?” I don’t think they were, but it certainly made the bodice ripping a lot more fun. And the page featuring Claire’s and Jamie’s wedding night absolutely made this gay girl swoon. (Click HERE and scroll to the bottom to see it.)
As for the story itself, the novels are, for the most part, told in the first person from Claire’s point of view but The Exile is told mostly from Jamie’s godfather Murtagh’s point of view. Murtagh sees a traveler coming through the stones and believes him to be an “Auld One” or a fairy come to do harm. The man escapes before Murtagh can kill him and a few days later when they find Claire, he immediately suspects she too is an auld one and that suspicion is confirmed when he sees the man sneaking into Claire’s bedroom while she’s passed out drunk. Murtagh goes to kill Claire in her sleep, but stops because of Jamie’s love for her.
The traveler through the stones threw me at first until I realized that he was probably there as part of the group of Jacobites from the future led by the madwoman Geillie Duncan, a woman who is first Claire’s friend and then later, her arch-nemesis. Unlike Claire, Geillie deliberately traveled to the past in order to ensure that the Scottish rebellion led by Charles Stuart was successful. However, as Claire and Jamie (who also try to help the bonnie prince succeed) find out, no matter what you do, you cannot change the past.
Another thing that threw me in the story was the moment when Claire finds out Geillie is a time traveler like herself. This pivotal moment in the plot was entirely removed from the graphic novel. I suppose it was probably because the readers already knew Geillie was from the future and the way Claire learns the truth about Geillie (she noticed Geillie’s smallpox vaccination scar and realized Geillie must have been born in the 20th century) does not lend itself to visual translation. However, like I said, it was a very important moment in the story that had lasting repercussions on later events in the story so I’m very surprised it was taken out.
When I do a review, I try to find something less than positive to say, but I’m afraid the only thing wrong with this graphic novel is that it was too short! I want more. The story only covered about the first third of Outlander and I really, really, really hope they continue with the other two thirds of the book. I really want to see Lallybroch, Jamie’s ancestral home and see Claire rescue him from the evil Englishman who just happens to be the ancestor of Claire’s husband in the 20th century and looks exactly like him. And I don’t want them to stop there, either. I want to meet my favorite character, the wonderful Lord John Grey who doesn’t appear until the third book and who, like Claire, is helplessly in love with the handsome Jamie Fraser, but eventually ends up sleeping with Claire. Ah, don’t you just love good, old fashioned bodice rippers? I sure do and thanks to Diana Gabaldon and the wonderfully talented Hoang Nguyen, I’ve got yet another one to love and cherish for many years to come.
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