Well, now— most of you (in the U.S.A., at least) have seen or heard of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION (aka "OC"). This is a non-fiction book, supplying information, background, entertaining trivia and basically, the answers to every question anybody asked me about the books prior to 1998, when the first edition was completed. (The publication date of the original OC was in June, 1999.) THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION covered the first four books of the series.
But now it’s 2015, there are four more books in the main series (and quite a few others, to boot), and while the original OC has been selling very well for the last seventeen years… it has been seventeen years.
So. I’ve Revised and Updated THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION (Volume One), and the new version was published in the U.S.A. on March 31st, 2015.
What Does The Revised COMPANION Contain?
To start with, there were two whole chapters (and a number of smaller items scattered here and there) of the original COMPANION that had become completely obsolete: the chapter about On-Line Communities and Resources (the internet has changed a lot since 1998 and most of the sites described no longer exist), and the chapter about "Work in Progress," which included several long excerpts from THE FIERY CROSS. Since that book’s been out for quite a long time, obviously those are no longer relevant. Scattered items through the book are outdated, such as a question in the FAQ section about whether OUTLANDER might ever become a movie and what I thought of the possibility.
So I pulled all that stuff out, and replaced-rewrote the smaller items, mostly with fresh questions from various interviews done over the last few years.
I put four new essays in the revised edition, and a new Section dealing with the TV show. The essays are:
- "Jamie and the Rule of Three," about the hows and whys of Wentworth Prison
- "Book-Touring for Beginners," for those who think this is a glamorous thing to do <g>
- "A Brief Disquisition on the Existence of Butt-Cooties," and
- "The Shape of Things," an essay on How I Write, and what the internal geometry of each book looks like to me.
Now, these essays have all appeared in one place or another on the internet, though the first three were originally done as blog-posts, and thus have been formalized and tidied up a bit for their appearance in the OC I. ("The Shape of Things" appears as a back-matter add-in to the 20th Anniversary edition of OUTLANDER.)
The new TV section has several pieces, describing the book-to-screen process (how we got from an option to a TV show), the adaptation process in theory and in practice, the actors and what they do, and an account of "My Brief Career as a TV Actor." Also added is a section (including photos) from the show, kindly supplied by Sony.
The revised and updated version of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION still serves as a reader’s guide to the first four major OUTLANDER novels:
And much more!
A Second Volume Is Coming!
I’ve also nearly finished compiling THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION (Volume TWO), which covers the books from THE FIERY CROSS to WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD, plus a number of other Interesting Items. (This has been a project covering several years.)
The projected publication date in the U.S.A. for THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, VOLUME TWO, is October 27, 2015. Click here for more information on Volume Two, including a preliminary table of contents.
Publisher’s Description
Number-one New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon has captivated millions of readers with her critically acclaimed OUTLANDER novels, the inspiration for the STARZ original cable series. From the moment Claire Randall stepped through a standing stone circle and was thrown back in time to the year 1743—and into a world that threatens life, limb, loyalty, heart, soul, and everything else Claire has—readers have been hungry to know everything about this world and its inhabitants, particularly a Scottish soldier named Jamie Fraser.
In this beautifully illustrated compendium of all things Outlandish, Gabaldon covers the first four novels of the main series, including:
- Full synopses of Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, and Drums of Autumn
- A complete listing of the characters (fictional and historical) in the first four novels in the series, as well as family trees and genealogical notes
- A comprehensive glossary and pronunciation guide to Gaelic terms and usage
- The Gabaldon Theory of Time Travel, explained
- Frequently asked questions to the author and her (sometimes surprising) answers
- An annotated bibliography
- Essays about medicine and magic in the eighteenth century, researching historical fiction, creating characters, and more
- Professionally cast horoscopes for Jamie and Claire
- The making of the TV series: how we got there from here, and what happened next (including "My Brief Career as a TV Actor" by Diana, about her cameo in the series)
- Behind-the-scenes photos from the Outlander TV series set
For anyone who wants to spend more time with the Outlander characters and the world they inhabit, Diana Gabaldon here opens a door through the standing stones and offers a guided tour of what lies within.
THROUGH THE STONES
Note that the 1999 edition of this book in the U.K. was titled THROUGH THE STONES.
Publication Information
Below are the ISBN numbers and other information for the English-language (U.S.) version of THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, VOLUME ONE, in hardback format:
Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: March 31, 2015
ISBN-10: 1101887271
ISBN-13: 978-1101887271
If you don’t live in the U.S., please click here for general information about publication of my books in other countries and languages.
This page was last updated on Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 1:50 a.m. (PDT) by Diana’s Webmistress.