Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber

I was enthralled when I first stumbled Diana Gabaldon's book "Outlander" earlier this year.  Her style of writing is intensely captivating, and the story is a combination of two genre's I like to read, historical fiction and fantasy. In "Outlander" we have the story of Claire, a woman who finds herself traveling back to the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and has to make her place in this strange world.

I could hardly put "Outlander" down, the story was fast paced, the descriptions vivid, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next! Towards the end of the book the story did take a disturbingly dark turn, but I was still eagerly looking forward to reading the rest of the series. That's where I hit an impasse.  At the time I was living in a small town, and the library there was rather inadequate for someone who reads as voraciously as I do! I couldn't get a hold of the next book. So I filed it away in my brain to read when I had an opportunity to put my hands on it.

I'm now living in a fair sized city again, and I again have access to the library system that missed so badly while living in a small town! Gabaldon's books were one of the first things I looked up. I placed a hold on "Dragonfly in Amber," requested they mail it to me, and soon received a nice and fat book to read!

At first I read "Dragonfly in Amber" with the same captivation that I had when reading "Outlander." It is written with the same intensity of description, and the story is well crafted. I didn't finish the book.

The sticking point on this book for me was that Gabaldon chose to include a constant element of sex throughout her story. I knew that she liked to include it in her story, Claire does get married in the first book, but it didn't seem to be quite as overwhelming level in the first book.    

Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind having some sex scenes in a book, I'm used to it. You can't read the science fiction and fantasy genre's without finding them peppered through out the books your reading. That's not why I read books though, if it was I'd be picking up those dime store novels that are little more than soft porn. I read because I love a good story, I'm fascinated by the development of the characters, and because I love to be entertained. So when the author feels it's necessary to include a sex scene every chapter...  Well, that's when I move on to the next book. So that's what I did, returned the book to the library, and moved on.