Doom and the West

First up, what an incredible season finale of Dollhouse! I really hope it's not the series finale because the last few episodes have been amazing and I think next season could really rock. The big reveals in the show completely surprised me--I love TV shows that employ a good twist every now and then (cf. Veronica Mars). So here's hoping Fox renews it...and NBC renews Chuck. Oh, and that ABC renews Samantha Who?. Yep, every network show I watch is on the edge. To quote my mother, "if you like a show, it must be doomed." Sadly, it appears to be true. Let's hope that's not true for books, too....


If I remember right, there was a decent hoopla about Gil Adamson's The Outlander. Enough of a hoopla that I added it to my TBR list, anyway.

The story follows "the widow," who is fleeing her twin brother-in-laws. She's fleeing because she murdered her husband and the twins want revenge. So she runs for her life and meets people, who generally help her out. The book is presented as a tale of survival: the widow fleeing across the Wild West, struggling to survive. Parts of the book surely are that but a big chunk of the book details her life in a little mining town.

I didn't love the book; the sympathy for the widow never fully developed. You never fully get her story, either. Personally, I think she's crazy and a murderess. This makes me ashamed of my English major self, but I didn't really get the ending--the last page or so. I just have oodles of questions and no answer. (For instance: Did the widow run away again? Or was she just being cute in writing what she did? How'd she learn to write? Gaaaah.)

It's a decent read with some nice descriptive, intelligent writing but overall, I just kept thinking that the book wanted to be something different and deeper than it actually was. But it wasn't.

Rating: 7/10