Outlander Season 2
Claire (Caitriona Balfe, pictured) and her daughter (not pictured) will share a storyline in "Outlander" Season 2 that viewers didn't expect to see until Season 4. Starz

“Outlander” fans are excited to see the second book of Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling series come to life, but they should also prepare to see parts of her fourth novel on screen in 2016. The Starz time-travel drama is reportedly moving a plot from the fourth book, “Drums of Autumn,” into the second season, which fans previously thought would only adapt the second novel, “Dragonfly in Amber.”

TV Line reports that “Outlander” is casting Brianna, the daughter of Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jamie (Sam Heughan). Book purists will be happy to know that they’re looking for someone over 5’8’’ to play the role, and they will dye her hair red if she isn’t already a ginger. It’s the note about her storyline that causes concern.

“Brianna has secretly followed her mother back in time to find the father she never met and the family she never knew,” the description reads. TV Line notes that this doesn’t happen until the fourth book, well after Brianna is first introduced. The show seems to be altering her timeline, which begs the question: how much of her storyline from “Dragonfly in Amber” and “Voyager” has been cut or changed?

Any changes from the books seem to concern some fans, but readers know that Gabaldon has approved of these differences. The author will pen a script for Season 2, episode 11. Though she didn’t address the changes to Brianna’s storyline, she recently reminded her followers that they had to change other aspects to make the story interesting to watch onscreen.

“Smaller pieces of the plot that aren’t necessarily linear may be moved, or flexed a little, or even separated into still smaller pieces that can be included in separate places, in order to achieve an interesting, coherent and more or less self-contained episode,” Gabaldon wrote in a Facebook post. “AND in service of this goal, small new pieces and lines may need to be created to blend and support the original pieces in their new configuration.”

The “Outlander” writers have been honest about the show's ability to stay faithful to the books. Showrunner Ron Moore previously warned “Outlander” viewers at the end of Season 1 that Season 2 wouldn’t follow the book as well. “There will be twists and turns that aren’t in the book,” Moore told Deadline in May. “The second book is more complex than the first book is. It’s a little tougher challenge to adapt it.”

“Outlander” Season 2 will air in 2016 on Starz. Are you okay with changes to the books as long as Gabaldon approves or should they stick to the books no matter what? Sound off in the comments section below!

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