What to Read After Outlander
April 6, 2026
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series — nine massive novels spanning 18th-century Scotland, the American Revolution, and a love story across time — is one of the most distinctive in popular fiction. Finding something that fills the same space is genuinely difficult, but here are the best options depending on what specifically you loved.
If You Loved the Time Travel Element
The Time Traveler’s Wife — Audrey Niffenegger
The other great time-travel love story in popular fiction. Henry DeTamble involuntarily travels through time; Clare waits for him. The structure — non-linear, told from both perspectives — handles the paradoxes of the premise with unusual grace. A one-off standalone rather than a series.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle — Stuart Turton
Not romance, but a mystery that uses time travel/loop structure in a locked-house setting. If the structural complexity of time travel interests you more than the romance, Turton is inventive and satisfying.
If You Loved the Scottish/British Historical Setting
Poldark — Winston Graham
Cornwall rather than Scotland, 18th century. Ross Poldark returns from the American war to a ruined estate. The 12-novel series has a similar scope to Outlander — decades of history, a central couple across multiple crises — and the same quality of being set in a place described with genuine specificity.
The Pillars of the Earth — Ken Follett
Much earlier — 12th-century England — and no romance at the centre, but shares Outlander’s commitment to period detail and its willingness to take time. 1,000 pages of cathedral building and medieval politics. For Outlander readers who want the historical commitment without requiring romance.
If You Loved the Central Romance
A Discovery of Witches — Deborah Harkness
A witch and a vampire in Oxford. The All Souls trilogy has a similar quality to Outlander: slow-burning romance, historical depth, a love that spans centuries, and a world of competing powers around the central couple. Three large novels; deeply satisfying if the pace works for you.
Philippa Gregory — The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels
Gregory’s historical novels — The Other Boleyn Girl, The White Queen, The Kingmaker’s Daughter — aren’t romance in the conventional sense but share Outlander’s interest in women navigating history on their own terms.
If You Loved the Epic Scope and Length
The Wheel of Time — Robert Jordan
If what you loved about Outlander was the scale — the decades of story, the massive cast, the world-building that keeps expanding — then Jordan’s Wheel of Time is the epic fantasy equivalent. 14 volumes (the final three finished by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan’s death). No romance at the centre but the same commitment to following characters across a lifetime.
The Stormlight Archive — Brandon Sanderson
Five massive books, more to come. If you want a world-building project on the scale of Outlander.
The Honest Comparison
Nothing is quite like Outlander. The closest single recommendation is A Discovery of Witches for readers who want historical depth + romance + a slow burn + something spanning multiple large novels.