Outlander author says final season "won't resemble the end of the book series"

Now author Diana Gabaldon, on whose books the series is based, has warned viewers not to expect a final season that closely matches what will happen at the end of her novels.

Responding to a fan question on her Facebook page, she explained: "There's only so much I can say about the show, but what I can say is that it really won't resemble the end of the book series.

"Coming into Season 8, the show-runners have/had only ten episodes (rather than the sixteen, say, in Season One)--and material from THREE WHOLE BOOKS to fit into that. Season 7 ends (roughly) with AN ECHO IN THE BONE, leaving WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD, GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, and BOOK TEN almost untouched."

She continued: "Now, in normal circumstances – one book per season – they can fit roughly 10% of the book's content into the show. How much of the (VERY roughly speaking) 1,200,000 words of those three books do you think they can get into ten hours of television?

"Obviously, they're going to have to cherry-pick some prime scenes/threads to film, and try to fit them into a framework that makes sense for one season, and that they can bring to a reasonably satisfactory conclusion."

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Gabaldon further commended that since she was "unhampered by space considerations" she has a lot more leeway to flesh out the story, and that subsequently the tenth novel "will contain a LOT of stuff that the show simply can't."

But she added: "I hope y'all will enjoy them both!"

Gabadlon is currently still writing the as-yet-untitled 10th novel, which will follow 2021's Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone in a series that began with the first novel way back in 1991.

But in a separate Facebook comment she explained that she had given the creative team behind the Outlander TV series "a synopsis and pieces for dialogue" to help them craft the final season, while reiterating that "there's just not room to do anything like a replica of any of the books."

Outlander is available to stream on Starz in the US and on MGM+ in the UK. You can buy Diana Gabaldon's books on Amazon.

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