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Outsider
“Our world can be dangerous, even for those who are prepared.”
They needed a guardian, a protector.
A being of great power summoned from the outer realms to aid in a time of great need.
Instead they got a man. A very normal man from earth.
And then they lost him.
Inadvertently summoned by a corrupted magical spell and seemingly thrust into a centuries-old conflict between two gods, the outsider Duncan Hawkwind must overcome overwhelming adversity and shocking betrayal in his quest to return home; to his life and loved ones on earth.
They needed a guardian, a protector.
A being of great power summoned from the outer realms to aid in a time of great need.
Instead they got a man. A very normal man from earth.
And then they lost him.
Inadvertently summoned by a corrupted magical spell and seemingly thrust into a centuries-old conflict between two gods, the outsider Duncan Hawkwind must overcome overwhelming adversity and shocking betrayal in his quest to return home; to his life and loved ones on earth.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2014
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Peter Diggins
8 books8 followersI was born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania (yes, where the devils are from).
I’m spending a brief tenure on Earth before I head off to another planet. I haven’t yet decided which one.
For now, I live on Earth.
I write stories (I make stuff up and write it down).
I read a lot.
I also played and coached cricket. The stories of my past cricketing achievements are usually my best fiction works.
I've written a few books, but now I've unpublished them and am re-releasing them! I’ve become a much better writer and I’ve been given an opportunity to redo these books, to present them as I would have liked to have done them originally.
In my spare time, I love jogging, bushwalking, and playing the guitar and bass guitar badly.
Website: https://www.syrane.com/
Blog: http://petediggins.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @DigginsPete
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outsidernovel
I’m spending a brief tenure on Earth before I head off to another planet. I haven’t yet decided which one.
For now, I live on Earth.
I write stories (I make stuff up and write it down).
I read a lot.
I also played and coached cricket. The stories of my past cricketing achievements are usually my best fiction works.
I've written a few books, but now I've unpublished them and am re-releasing them! I’ve become a much better writer and I’ve been given an opportunity to redo these books, to present them as I would have liked to have done them originally.
In my spare time, I love jogging, bushwalking, and playing the guitar and bass guitar badly.
Website: https://www.syrane.com/
Blog: http://petediggins.wordpress.com/
Twitter: @DigginsPete
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outsidernovel
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 11, 2014
The book starts off with a group of adventurers exploring an abandoned temple. They get into trouble. One of them, a mage, tries to summon magical help but instead transports Duncan Hawkwind from our world into theirs. Duncan is the Outsider, not part of their world, and yet not able to leave it.
A light humour flavours the book, but it’s not a comedy. The author doesn’t flinch from killing off characters.
The book has a few flaws that depending on your personal tolerance may impact your enjoyment.
First, the author chooses an omniscient viewpoint, so we move from one character’s viewpoint to the next in the same scene. This is more noticeable at the start of the book. Later, Duncan’s viewpoint tends to dominate. Sometimes, this jumping about works to capture the humour of a given situation, but if you don’t like head-hopping, you are going to find some parts of this book difficult.
The author makes absolutely sure that the reader is ‘on the same page’ with what is happening. The problem is that this sometimes creates repetition. For example, a number of characters independently learn the same information to a greater or lesser extent in the course of a series of scenes. Each of them learns it once but the reader receives the same information multiple times.
The story could use a bit more focus in the middle. There are scenes involving characters other than Duncan which probably aren’t necessary, though I can see why the author chose to include them. On the other hand, one or two scenes should have been fleshed out a bit more.
Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed the book. The last third of the book really rattles along. All the diffuse elements come together to create a very satisfying conclusion.
A light humour flavours the book, but it’s not a comedy. The author doesn’t flinch from killing off characters.
The book has a few flaws that depending on your personal tolerance may impact your enjoyment.
First, the author chooses an omniscient viewpoint, so we move from one character’s viewpoint to the next in the same scene. This is more noticeable at the start of the book. Later, Duncan’s viewpoint tends to dominate. Sometimes, this jumping about works to capture the humour of a given situation, but if you don’t like head-hopping, you are going to find some parts of this book difficult.
The author makes absolutely sure that the reader is ‘on the same page’ with what is happening. The problem is that this sometimes creates repetition. For example, a number of characters independently learn the same information to a greater or lesser extent in the course of a series of scenes. Each of them learns it once but the reader receives the same information multiple times.
The story could use a bit more focus in the middle. There are scenes involving characters other than Duncan which probably aren’t necessary, though I can see why the author chose to include them. On the other hand, one or two scenes should have been fleshed out a bit more.
Despite these flaws, I really enjoyed the book. The last third of the book really rattles along. All the diffuse elements come together to create a very satisfying conclusion.
July 19, 2014
I’ve given Oustider 3 stars simply because the book leaves me wanting more. More everything. More dialogue, more character interactions, more descriptions of this magical land we’re running around in. I’m left screaming “show me, not tell me”. I feel like the majority of the book takes place off stage and you get scenes of recap of what happened while you were away.
I love character interactions. I feel they are what make a story good and here so much of that seems to fall by the way side. When the characters do interact presently, not in a recap-feeling scene, the dialogue is hilarious and fantastic. Many of the early scenes, where Duncan the main hero, is reacting and interacting with the cast of adventurers that summon him are brilliant. The dialogue is funny and inner monologue is downright hilarious; I was literally laughing on my couch at some of the one liners.
I wanted more of that! The rest of the book feels like a recap of Duncan’s adventures. Many of the scenes with the secondary characters are unnecessary to the plot and do little to develop their characters. Then suddenly there are connections and interpersonal relationships with the characters. You don’t get to read about these developing connections or see them happening; they are suddenly there. Show me why she’s his love interest; don’t just tell me she now is. I want to see this happening.
This world Mr. Diggins has created seems fantastic with different gods and layers of culture but we barley scratch the surface of it. It is a brilliant tale of a man being pulled away from his world, his family, his life and thrust into a fantasy world and asked to save the lives of the treasure hunters. A feuding war between two dead gods thought to be over begins again. A journey of terrible loss and great struggle is what lies ahead for Duncan. Or so you think. The ending feels rushed doesn’t feel very supported by the plot.
Outsider has a great plot and story, however I feel it just needs a bit more refining.
I love character interactions. I feel they are what make a story good and here so much of that seems to fall by the way side. When the characters do interact presently, not in a recap-feeling scene, the dialogue is hilarious and fantastic. Many of the early scenes, where Duncan the main hero, is reacting and interacting with the cast of adventurers that summon him are brilliant. The dialogue is funny and inner monologue is downright hilarious; I was literally laughing on my couch at some of the one liners.
I wanted more of that! The rest of the book feels like a recap of Duncan’s adventures. Many of the scenes with the secondary characters are unnecessary to the plot and do little to develop their characters. Then suddenly there are connections and interpersonal relationships with the characters. You don’t get to read about these developing connections or see them happening; they are suddenly there. Show me why she’s his love interest; don’t just tell me she now is. I want to see this happening.
This world Mr. Diggins has created seems fantastic with different gods and layers of culture but we barley scratch the surface of it. It is a brilliant tale of a man being pulled away from his world, his family, his life and thrust into a fantasy world and asked to save the lives of the treasure hunters. A feuding war between two dead gods thought to be over begins again. A journey of terrible loss and great struggle is what lies ahead for Duncan. Or so you think. The ending feels rushed doesn’t feel very supported by the plot.
Outsider has a great plot and story, however I feel it just needs a bit more refining.
September 17, 2014
This was a very good book, but it did have some problems.
The characters were amusing, but I thought once the romance subplot -- which came out of nowhere -- was introduced that Jade seemed a little too stereotypical a woman in love, less the powerful mage she’d previously been. I loved some of the names, but others were a bit too humorous and jarred me out of the story.
The story itself had some really nice touches and really neat twists -- even though I am pretty sure one of them came almost straight from another novel, what was done with it was different enough that I’m not going to rant about it. Unfortunately, it also had some flaws, like the afore-mentioned romance coming out of nowhere. There are a couple of plot holes, not big ones, but little things that I’ll refrain from detailing since I don’t like spoilers.
Throughout there are nice touches of humor, good dialogue . . . a particular favorite of mine was this pickup line: “Well, I was just wandering through here and I thought to myself, ‘I’m two women short of a threesome’ and I noticed you two and came over here...” . . . well-written fight scenes, and very well-written descriptions of magic spells. Unfortunately, there were just enough little grammar problems like missing commas and verb tense errors to be distracting.
I liked the setting. It was, pretty much, ye typical fantasy setting, but it had some little touches that made it different. And I loved the temple at the beginning . . . not in a “I want to live there way”, but in a “I’m so totally ripping this off for a dungeon crawl someday” way.
Which brings me to my final point: The beginning made me dust off my dice and start a dungeon crawl for the first time in five years. That alone earns the book half a star.
I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
The characters were amusing, but I thought once the romance subplot -- which came out of nowhere -- was introduced that Jade seemed a little too stereotypical a woman in love, less the powerful mage she’d previously been. I loved some of the names, but others were a bit too humorous and jarred me out of the story.
The story itself had some really nice touches and really neat twists -- even though I am pretty sure one of them came almost straight from another novel, what was done with it was different enough that I’m not going to rant about it. Unfortunately, it also had some flaws, like the afore-mentioned romance coming out of nowhere. There are a couple of plot holes, not big ones, but little things that I’ll refrain from detailing since I don’t like spoilers.
Throughout there are nice touches of humor, good dialogue . . . a particular favorite of mine was this pickup line: “Well, I was just wandering through here and I thought to myself, ‘I’m two women short of a threesome’ and I noticed you two and came over here...” . . . well-written fight scenes, and very well-written descriptions of magic spells. Unfortunately, there were just enough little grammar problems like missing commas and verb tense errors to be distracting.
I liked the setting. It was, pretty much, ye typical fantasy setting, but it had some little touches that made it different. And I loved the temple at the beginning . . . not in a “I want to live there way”, but in a “I’m so totally ripping this off for a dungeon crawl someday” way.
Which brings me to my final point: The beginning made me dust off my dice and start a dungeon crawl for the first time in five years. That alone earns the book half a star.
I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
August 5, 2014
This story was about Duncan Hawkwind who is from the 21st century but is magically and mysteriously taken and trasnported into another time and place. There was no year given but it reminded me of a time like The Hobbit movie. Duncan is the Outsider and his transportation happens by hand of Jade a student mage which is what I gathered as a student of magic. Jade and her friends are in battle and are in trouble of being killed so she follows a spell to bring a powerful being to help but instead they get human Duncan.
Once this happens Duncan is pitched into a life he can't imagine, an actual horrible life as everywhere he turns his life is threatened or he is actually attacked or killed or rather he would be killed if he was from their actual time. Because Duncan is not it is soon discovered that he can not die but he does feel the agony of his attacks as anyone.
Through the course of the story and Duncan's adventures he gains some wonderful friends, they are first on a quest to find Duncan then to help Duncan find his way home back to his true earthly time. While at the same time they have an unknown enemy dodging their tracks.
Overall this was a well written story, but the constant he was Duncan then to him as The Ousider in the very next sentence was extremely frustrating and annoying to keep reading through out the entire book. It felt like I was switching from first to third person every other paragraph. Duncan repeatedly talks about missing his family but we only get the tiny bit in the beginning about him being missing; getting insight to how his family was doing would have been great and beneficial I think.
I wished the book was shorter as well as I wished a lot of things were differnt including the end but it does make you want to find out what is next in store for poor Duncan.
Once this happens Duncan is pitched into a life he can't imagine, an actual horrible life as everywhere he turns his life is threatened or he is actually attacked or killed or rather he would be killed if he was from their actual time. Because Duncan is not it is soon discovered that he can not die but he does feel the agony of his attacks as anyone.
Through the course of the story and Duncan's adventures he gains some wonderful friends, they are first on a quest to find Duncan then to help Duncan find his way home back to his true earthly time. While at the same time they have an unknown enemy dodging their tracks.
Overall this was a well written story, but the constant he was Duncan then to him as The Ousider in the very next sentence was extremely frustrating and annoying to keep reading through out the entire book. It felt like I was switching from first to third person every other paragraph. Duncan repeatedly talks about missing his family but we only get the tiny bit in the beginning about him being missing; getting insight to how his family was doing would have been great and beneficial I think.
I wished the book was shorter as well as I wished a lot of things were differnt including the end but it does make you want to find out what is next in store for poor Duncan.
August 10, 2014
Jade, a young mage, and her companions are trapped in a tomb. One of their party already lay dead on the floor. The undead are trying to break through the barricaded door to attack. With no way out Jade concocts a spell to summon someone big and strong to save them. Jade had a God in mind.
Duncan Hawkwind, an earthling, is mistakenly transported to another realm to help out for 24 hours. A realm he had fantasised about all his life. When he is separated from the group that summoned him they believed he was returned. However the spell goes awry and Duncan is trapped in this new realm. And so begins the misadventures of Duncan Hawkwind. As the story proceeds we learn a lot about Syrane and its people. Duncan’s main aim is to find the young mage that willed him there so that he may return to his original life.
I enjoyed the development of Duncan’s character as he became stronger and adapted to his new life. The novel is filled with danger and intrigue but also laced with humour throughout. The twists and turns towards the end built on the suspense and made this a novel that was hard to put down. At first I was hoping for Duncan to be transported back to Earth but towards the end of the novel it’s like this is Duncan’s new life he is great here and has developed beyond what even he could imagine. I’m not so sure he could go back now!
Outsider is a story that will definitely leave the reader wanting more.
Note: The story involves lots of violence and blood, frequent mention of bodily functions and not so frequent sexual humour and the f word. Suitable for teenagers 16+
With thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
Duncan Hawkwind, an earthling, is mistakenly transported to another realm to help out for 24 hours. A realm he had fantasised about all his life. When he is separated from the group that summoned him they believed he was returned. However the spell goes awry and Duncan is trapped in this new realm. And so begins the misadventures of Duncan Hawkwind. As the story proceeds we learn a lot about Syrane and its people. Duncan’s main aim is to find the young mage that willed him there so that he may return to his original life.
I enjoyed the development of Duncan’s character as he became stronger and adapted to his new life. The novel is filled with danger and intrigue but also laced with humour throughout. The twists and turns towards the end built on the suspense and made this a novel that was hard to put down. At first I was hoping for Duncan to be transported back to Earth but towards the end of the novel it’s like this is Duncan’s new life he is great here and has developed beyond what even he could imagine. I’m not so sure he could go back now!
Outsider is a story that will definitely leave the reader wanting more.
Note: The story involves lots of violence and blood, frequent mention of bodily functions and not so frequent sexual humour and the f word. Suitable for teenagers 16+
With thanks to the author for my copy to read and review.
March 18, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. From the action, fantasy elements & magic, interesting & unusual characters, humour and plot arc, to how it reminded me of fantasy books that I read many years ago, and took me back to playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends.
In addition to being a fun read, this book raised lots of pleasant memories and feelings for me, and made me want to get back into reading more fantasy and Sword & Sorcery in particular. Getting back into Role Playing Games (RPG's) has gone up my list of To Do's as a result too.
In addition to being a fun read, this book raised lots of pleasant memories and feelings for me, and made me want to get back into reading more fantasy and Sword & Sorcery in particular. Getting back into Role Playing Games (RPG's) has gone up my list of To Do's as a result too.
Read
July 15, 2014Hello everyone,
As author of the book I'm not going to write a review (of course I think it's good...!) but I received some good feedback yesterday from a reader on here and felt I'd better offer some clarity about Outsider.
There is action and adventure, ghouls and ogres, humour and a touch of romance; and a lot of violent conflict. To be crystal clear, it's probably more for fans of Conan the Barbarian than Harry Potter.
Cheers!
Pete
As author of the book I'm not going to write a review (of course I think it's good...!) but I received some good feedback yesterday from a reader on here and felt I'd better offer some clarity about Outsider.
There is action and adventure, ghouls and ogres, humour and a touch of romance; and a lot of violent conflict. To be crystal clear, it's probably more for fans of Conan the Barbarian than Harry Potter.
Cheers!
Pete
July 22, 2014
One thing I love from reading fiction is the fact that I can put my imagination to the maximum limit. The Outsider by Peter Diggins is an example of a reading that I called "Wow!". I like the the way the author creates the conflict between two gods. The conversations are smooth and smart. I'm not a speed reader kinda person, but in this case, I finish reading it in a week, which normally takes me a month to finish a book. Therefore, I give thumbs up to the imagination of the author.
July 30, 2014
Liked the book had some good plot twists. I liked the violence and the adventure aspect of it and it made me read through to the end which is definitely a good thing. Hopefully the next books will be even better.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews