Reactions to THE EXILE

The November poll is about (what else?) your reactions to THE EXILE. I think it's been long enough now since the book was published that most people here have read it. I tried to include a wide variety of options in the poll, but let me know if you have any others that didn't make this list.

Feel free to post your comments about THE EXILE here, either pro or con. Diana does not read my blog, as far as I know, and I promise not to pass your comments on to her unless you specifically ask me to do that.

11/01/2010 05:26:00 AM 12 comments

#diana gabaldon, #graphic novel, #reactions, #the exile

Comments

carol November 1, 2010 at 7:06 PM
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I was looking forward to the book for so long, and was enjoying it while I was reading it. I did not imagine the characters the same way the artist did, but I thought they were intriguing nonetheless.

I was surprised, though, with how short it was. For some reason I was expecting a much longer book, a complete retelling of the entire Outlander book. I was really disappointed when it ended.
Karen Henry November 2, 2010 at 6:40 AM
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Carol:

Well, Diana was very clear about that from the beginning, that it wasn't going to be a straight re-telling of the entire book. Maybe we'll see another OUTLANDER graphic novel sometime in the future, now that this one has proved successful (in terms of sales, I mean).

Karen
Anonymous November 2, 2010 at 4:14 PM
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I have to say that I had mixed feelings going in. I've tried a page or two of graphic novels in the past and have not found them very entertaining. Having read The Exile, I've concluded that they just aren't my thing. I enjoy dialog, but I want more than that - I like the depth that comes with a conventional novel. I liked the illustrations in The Exile, but the storyline is what interests me, and with The Exile, it went by too fast and wasn't detailed enough. I've seen the comments that the male characters looked alike, and I had the same feeling. I also sometimes didn't know which "bubble" to read first in a panel. I'm sure there's a protocol but I sometimes felt I was reading stuff out of order. If there's another Outlander graphic novel, I'd probably still read it, just because I wouldn't want to miss some key plot element, but I'd really just be filling my time while I wait for Book 8!
Anonymous November 3, 2010 at 12:41 PM
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I felt a little lonely in my corner of the country (Quebec, Canada) to have fallen under the spell of the Outlander series and I am delighted to speak about books by Diana Gabaldon, which made me one completely addicted and that make me vibrated for over 1 year. I'm all conversations daily on CompuServe, Voyage of TheArtemis well as on your blog, but I dare not participate because of language barrier here is my first submission.
And yes I bought the book, The Exile all recently added to my collection. Even if it is in English, it is not so complicated to read.They are little phrase and I translate a few sentences to me more difficult to understand.
I just loved it!
But I probably would have never bought this book if the story had not turned around the Outlander series, is mostly out of curiosity as I do.
The images are superb! And I'm not shocked at all by doing that the characters are different than I had imagined.
I really enjoyed the story is somewhat different even if I found a little short. To see the story on another point of view, including that between Murtagh and some other thought Jamie. In the original novel, we know the feelings of Claire while in the latter we have confirmation of feelings for Jamie. I liked this approach.
Cathy November 4, 2010 at 11:44 AM
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I thought the illustrations were inconsistent. I loved the Jamie in the beginning, but later in the book he looked more cartoonish.
Anonymous November 5, 2010 at 12:35 AM
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I got just what I paid for with THE EXILE. I had read the explanations on your blog and Diana's of what to expect (thank you both). I know about how graphic novels are laid out, etc. though this is actually the first one I ever bought. I loved the artwork, understanding that an artist cannot possibly give exquisite attention to detail in every panel. I was satisfied with the pages that did have perfectly beautiful art images of Claire and Jamie. I will certainly be purchasing the next graphic novels of OUTLANDER saga when they are done.

Thanks,
Shamrock
Anonymous November 5, 2010 at 10:37 AM
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At first, I was not intersted in the GN, but of course I purchased a copy. This my first GN. I understand the artwork to be an intregal part of the story. In that case, it seems to be it would be critical to be able to identify the charaters on the art work which is not easy to do. The men all look alike after the first flew pages. The character inconsistencies dismayed me during my first reading. I had to read it three times to understand the nuances of the story line and relied on my knowledge from the book to help me. Further, boobage was cartoonish. and Gosh what happened to Clair's hands in the wedding night panel? Spider like and a bit scary in my opinion.

Having said that, I am pleased for Diana to have honored her love of GN's and I'm glad for all who partiicpated in the creation that it's doing so well.

I probably won't read another one for a long time. :)

Can't please everyone all the time,after all..

Thanks
Evergreen
Jane November 5, 2010 at 4:11 PM
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I bought it and enjoyed it, but would not buy another one. It is just not my thing. The drawings of several of the faces of the men started to swim together. At times I had to check out the color of the tartans to realize who was speaking. The lack of scars on Jamie's back when he is first seen from the back was a head-scratcher considering how much is made of those scars in the book and how he got them.

I would much rather spend the money on the books, especially since I am a LJG fan and want to be able to buy those also.
Anonymous November 8, 2010 at 8:07 PM
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The Exile was fine, dont' understand the Kenneth person. like the idea that you need blood to close the gates to time travel!!
Ashley K November 11, 2010 at 11:32 AM
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I havent decided if I want to see another Graphic Novel. I do want to see them at Lallybroch. I want to see Jenny and Ian. I do want to see Claire break him out of prison with the cattle stampede.. and her fighting the wolf reads like a graphic novel.
But I was generally confused with this book. I like the images at the beginning but not after they got cartoony and it was difficult to tell the men apart. I would have liked to have seen a more artistic wedding portrait vs the cartoony one that was in the book. The tartans had me confused.. why were Colum and Dougal wearing so much red instead of Mackenzie green? The overabundance of boobs was distracting. Gellie's eyes were wrong, Claire's eyes were wrong, Claire was missing her two wedding rings.
I did like the change in perspective.. but I didn't like the addition of Kenneth.. because he seemed to be too involved in everything to have not been noticed.
Unknown November 12, 2010 at 10:48 AM
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Got the GN, and read it as soon as I got it home. Thanks to the comments here, I was prepared for the artwork, the length and even Kenneth. I enjoyed it; it doesn't compare with the novels, but I didn't expect it to. No question that I will definitely buy the next Graphic novel with Diana Gabaldon's name on it. My DH kept referring to it as my "comic book", but he looked at it too, and seemed intrigued...maybe it's the frontal 'attributes', or maybe the story got him! Hard to tell at this point.
Anonymous December 8, 2010 at 10:26 PM
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Just bought my copy of exhile...and from what i have read on here and other pages i was prepared for the shortened story, the inconsistencies with the pictures etc. Being an avid Outlander reader for the last 13+years i was a little confussed with the Kenneth addition to the storyline. I understand where he came from bit don't understand what he's doing there and how he can be in just about every scene but jamie or claire not catch on to any of it. Or the frame where colum was supposedly "Poisoned" why was that never mentioned at any point in Outlander. Love the whole series and will buy any other books pertaining to outlander but the GN left me a little confused.