Everything We Know About the Final Outlander Book: Plot Spoilers, Release Date & More

Summary

• The Outlander television series is going to conclude before the final book comes out.
• Author Diana Gabaldon promises fans that she knows how Book 10 will end, and that they will see the new volume in the next few years.
• She has known how the story ends for more than 20 years, but has only told two other people about it.

Not Another GoT

With the Starz adaptation of Outlander heading into its eighth and final season, the show will wrap up before Diana Gabaldon's books do. The last time this happened with a major television show, Game of Thrones let down fans badly, and George RR Martin continued on his hot streak of publishing absolutely nothing.

Is the same thing going to happen with Outlander? Not likely, says Gabaldon, whose tenth novel will be the last in the romantic saga of Claire and Jamie.

There's Been a Change of Plan

Although Gabaldon had planned to never let the show catch up with the books, a busy schedule meant that Book 9, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, took seven years to write.

When Starz decided to wrap up the television adaptation after eight seasons, it mean that the author had to be resigned to letting the show come to the end first – after all, the series is filming its final episodes now, and according to Gabaldon's website she has 'barely started' the currently untitled Book 10.

Still, Gabaldon is eager to reassure fans that the end is in sight. Not only that, but she has known exactly how the books would end for more than 20 years. That was when, as she told one interviewer, 'I saw the ending, and I got up in the middle of the night and wrote it down with tears rolling down my face.'

A Well-Kept Secret

Her image for the end of Jamie and Claire's story has been a guiding light for Gabaldon ever since, and remains unchanged even two decades later.

The final scenes of the books may have been written down for over twenty years, but the author has only shared her ending with two people: Outlander's showrunner Ronald D. Moore, and Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie. Even actress Caitríona Balfe, who plays Claire, isn't in on the secret.

But she let slip three key details about the book's finale; Lord John Grey will be an important character, the story will finish in 1800, and it will be a happy end for Claire and Jamie.

We Still Have a While to Wait

Gabaldon isn't rushing to finish the novel, saying that with so much historical research to do – on top of book tours, consulting on the television show, and being a grandmother – it is going to be years before Book 10 sees the light of day. According to her website, it is likely to be released some time between 2024 and 2026.

However, Gabaldon must be given credit for wanting to wrap the story up in a timely fashion; she doesn't want fans to worry about missing out on the end of the story. As she said in an interview with TV Insider, 'The bottom line is, I'm 71. I don't know how long I'll last. I want to be sure of finishing.'

Even when Claire and Jamie's story has been wrapped up, there will be more coming from Diana Gabaldon. On top of her work on Book 10, she's hard at work on a new series about Lord John Grey (who Outlander readers will recognize) as well as a prequel story about Jamie's parents.

Source: The Guardian, TV Insider.