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The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel
by Diana Gabaldon (Goodreads Author), Hoang Nguyen
by Diana Gabaldon (Goodreads Author), Hoang Nguyen
Tatiana's review
bookshelves: graphic-novels, historical, 2010
Sep 30, 10
bookshelves: graphic-novels, historical, 2010
Recommended for:
dedicated Outlander fans
Read on September 29, 2010
As a free library rental, The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel is a satisfying enough addition to the Outlander series. If I had to pay $24.00 for it, I am not sure I'd be pleased.
In the introduction to The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel Diana Gabaldon describes this work as a version of Outlander events told from the POV of Murtagh with a completely new storyline woven through them. I find this description a little misleading. Murtagh witnesses and participates in only a fraction of the events. The majority of the graphic novel consists of the scenes taken directly from Outlander. The "new storyline" starts off promising, but fizzles out by the end, because it hardly has any bearing on the events, it just lingers at the edges of the Jaime and Claire's story.
Now to the art itself. I like how vividly colorful the drawings are, the landscapes are especially striking. The characters are another story. Whenever they are introduced in the novel, the images of them are great. Murtagh is attractively rugged, Jamie is a stud muffin a la Gabriel Aubrey. But then these images start deteriorating. Jamie by the end of the books looks like his ugly second cousin or something, sometimes I couldn't even recognize him among other characters. What happened? At least Claire is always easy to spot - she is consistently curly-haired with large breasts half exposed.
The story boards. I haven't read many graphic novels, but I found The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel to be awkwardly structured. The story doesn't flow very well and the transitions between the scenes are often confusing. I don't think a person not familiar with Outlander would be able to understand what is going on.
All in all, I did like this novel. It is a pleasure to see the images of the characters you know from your favorite books. But I felt the characters could have been written with more consistency and the story itself could have been more interesting and exciting. Nothing truly new or of importance is offered here.
Bonus feature!:
(view spoiler)
In the introduction to The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel Diana Gabaldon describes this work as a version of Outlander events told from the POV of Murtagh with a completely new storyline woven through them. I find this description a little misleading. Murtagh witnesses and participates in only a fraction of the events. The majority of the graphic novel consists of the scenes taken directly from Outlander. The "new storyline" starts off promising, but fizzles out by the end, because it hardly has any bearing on the events, it just lingers at the edges of the Jaime and Claire's story.
Now to the art itself. I like how vividly colorful the drawings are, the landscapes are especially striking. The characters are another story. Whenever they are introduced in the novel, the images of them are great. Murtagh is attractively rugged, Jamie is a stud muffin a la Gabriel Aubrey. But then these images start deteriorating. Jamie by the end of the books looks like his ugly second cousin or something, sometimes I couldn't even recognize him among other characters. What happened? At least Claire is always easy to spot - she is consistently curly-haired with large breasts half exposed.
The story boards. I haven't read many graphic novels, but I found The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel to be awkwardly structured. The story doesn't flow very well and the transitions between the scenes are often confusing. I don't think a person not familiar with Outlander would be able to understand what is going on.
All in all, I did like this novel. It is a pleasure to see the images of the characters you know from your favorite books. But I felt the characters could have been written with more consistency and the story itself could have been more interesting and exciting. Nothing truly new or of importance is offered here.
Bonus feature!:
(view spoiler)
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rated it 3 stars
Sep 29, 2010 04:14pm
I will patiently wait for my turn at the library copies.
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Luckily, I was the 1st in line to borrow it.Ok, Crystal, we'll have to share notes later. I am almost done.
I agree with you completely! I couldn't pick Jamie out by the end and what was up with Claires corkers??
I know! Jamie looked so gorgey in the beginning, and then... Why did his hair look so gross? And those corkers... Weren't they constantly in your face?
I don't know! I can see it getting long, but not icky. I had a hard time figuring out who was who after awhile too. I know! I felt like they were being thrown at me! Especially that one picture where she stumbles into Jamie in the barn LOL!Randall looked icky!
LOL. Especially the version in the end of the book. Corkers gone wild!His hair looked like a mullet.
I love Outlander but I dont think the graphic novel would work for me. I love the Jamie in my head. I think the drawings would mess my head. XD
Unfortunately, you are likely to be disappointed by Jamie's images. Most of them are not very attractive.
Tatiana wrote: "Unfortunately, you are likely to be disappointed by Jamie's images. Most of them are not very attractive."No, they aren't are they?
I love this series, but the graphic novel version just doesn't appeal to me at all. I just haven't been impressed by any of the clips I've seen from it so far, and I don't want to sully my mental images from the books.
Take, for example, the problem of the left butt cheek in the above image. The right butt cheek looks fine. The left somehow slides down, as if it's eroding, and while I see that the artist was going for perspective, that left butt cheek is in a different zip code.
