What do you get when you mix a time-traveling English woman from the 1940s, an 18th-century Scottish warrior, and all the twists and turns of history? You get Outlander, one of the longest and most beloved period pieces out there—both in its original book form and its television adaptation.
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The Outlander series, written by American author Diana Gabaldon, began in 1991 with Outlander, which introduced us all to Claire Randall and her handsome warrior Jamie Fraser. The twist there is that Claire’s story starts just after the end of World War II while Jamie lives not too long before the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.
Since then, the story has expanded into nine novels, with a tenth on the way, an array of accompanying novellas and short stories, and an ongoing television adaptation starring Caitríona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie. And like so many long-lasting series, readers’ enjoyment of each new installment ebbs and flows—so here are all the Outlander books ranked from worst to best so that you know what you’re getting into, or to compare it to your personal ranking.
The Fiery Cross, published in 2001, is the fifth installment of the Outlander series. Claire and Jamie are settled in the New World, but Claire knows very well what’s coming—the American Revolution, through which she tries to guide her husband, her daughter Brianna, and her new son-in-law Roger.
The life and times of the Fraser family intertwine with the tides of war, with Jamie being called upon to form a militia to try and sedate the first inklings of rebellion in North Carolina as the whole novel rushes towards the inevitable end of all-out war.
Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone is the latest Outlander novel to be published, having come out only in 2021. It’s set towards the end of the American Revolution, with Claire and Jaime reuniting with their daughter Brianna and her family on their homestead in North Carolina—even though everyone has plenty to worry about, and the ongoing war is only the first of a long list of concerns.
It does not mean much in the grand scheme of the novel overall, but it’s worth noting that this might be the best title in the entire series. It refers to an old Celtic tradition that made its way into the New World of telling bees all important events in one’s life—from births to deaths—as otherwise, they’ll simply fly away.
Published in 2005, A Breath of Snow and Ashes is the sixth novel of the Outlander series and picks up exactly where The Fiery Cross left off. Tensions are rising and the American Revolution is drawing closer, menacing the Fraser family’s quiet life.
It especially puts Jamie in an uncomfortable position, having to decide whether to honor his oath of loyalty to the British crown or pick the path of freedom in the new world—one that he knows is there since his wife, daughter, and son-in-law from the future have all spoken of it to him. And as if that’s not enough, Claire’s skills as a healer also raise suspicions of witchcraft, something that has, surprisingly, not happened to her before.
Drums of Autumn is the fourth novel in the Outlander series, published in 1996. Its setting changes quite dramatically from what readers were used to since Claire and Jamie have started a new life in the American colonies and have built their homestead in the hills of North Carolina.
One of the most moving turns of Drums of Autumn, though, is when Brianna decides to follow her mother back in time—sending the man who is in love with her, Roger, after her but most importantly bringing her face to face with the father she never knew.
Dragonfly in Amber, the second installment in the series and Outlander’s direct sequel was published in 1992 and does what every sequel does best—upheave the situation established in the previous installment and scatter all its characters once more.
In this case, it does so quite dramatically, putting centuries between its main couple. Claire returns to the 20th century, where she has a daughter, Brianna—whom her husband Frank decides to raise as his own. Readers find out that after a period spent in the French court, Jamie urged a pregnant Claire to escape safely to the future just ahead of the battle of Culloden during the Jacobite rising, where he is sure he’s going to meet his death.
Voyager is the third installment of the Outlander series, published in 1993. It picks up from where Dragonfly in Amber left off, with Claire back in her own time with her daughter Brianna while Jamie deals with the bloody aftermath of the Battle of Culloden.
Of course, the series’ main couple couldn’t remain separated for long, and Voyager gives readers a beautiful reunion, with Claire discovering that Jamie is still alive after Culloden through historical research and deciding to travel back to him once and for all. Voyager also marks the beginning of the story’s move to the other side of the ocean, with Claire and Jamie landing in Jamaica before eventually arriving in what were then the American colonies.
An Echo in the Bone, published in 2009, sees the Fraser family once more divided by time, with Claire and Jamie in the American colonies of the 18th century—where the Revolution is brewing—and Brianna and Roger having returned to their original era in the 20th century.
Even though the story has by now firmly moved to the other side of the Atlantic and revolves around Fraser’s Lodge in North Carolina, I’ve always felt like Scotland is a massive part of Outlander’s appeal, which is why I was so happy to read that Claire and Jamie’s journey for this book brought them back to the Highlands. An Outlander book is great, but an Outlander book set against its original Scottish background is even better.
The immediate sequel to An Echo in the Bone, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood was published in 2014 and it’s filled with the pathos readers have come to know and expect from the Outlander books with the story taking some of its best dramatic turns in the entire series.
The most dramatic turn is Claire marrying Lord John Grey when she believes Jamie has been lost at sea—even though we know that James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser is pretty much unkillable. Written in My Own Heart’s Blood also includes its fair share of real events, especially the lead-up to the Battle of Monmouth of the American Revolutionary War and its consequences.
While there are so many twists in Claire and Jamie’s story, I always have a soft spot for the moment where it all began. Outlander is the book that introduced us to our favorite Sassenach and her Highland warrior, laying the groundwork for their centuries-spanning love story as well as for the magic that dominates this version of our world—one where it’s possible to time travel via circles of standing stones.
Like many first installments, Outlander also has another ace up its sleeve and that’s reread potential. It’s a particular kind of pleasure to revisit the beginning of a story once you’re deep into its sequels and know what happens to every character that is introduced, for better or for worse. It makes you feel a bit like you’re also an omniscient narrator.
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