Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish are no slouches with Outlander, Men in Kilts, Clanlands, plus all of their non-Outlander-related projects (Ewan McGregor movies and Game of Thrones prequels, anyone?). But they're not done mining the beauties of their homeland. On Monday, Heughan and McTavish announced they are releasing another Men in Kilts book — The Clanlands Almanac: Seasonal Stories from Scotland. While the only almanac I'm familiar with is the Farmer's Almanac (ideal for picking out good dates to have an outdoor wedding), it sounds like The Clanlands Almanac will give Outlander fans a chance to celebrate Scotland all year long... as if you needed a reason.
As McTavish told The Dipp when Clanlands was released in November 2020, their book was inspired by the Outlander costar's first road trip around Scotland while their Starz docuseries Men in Kilts added some locations they toured on a second trip a year later. Clanlands had a historical focus of (what else?) the Scottish clans with plenty of Outlander anecdotes provided by Heughan and McTavish. Men in Kilts was framed around additional cultural topics each episode, like food and drink, song and dance, and witchcraft and superstition. So what makes The Clanlands Almanac different?
According to Heughan's Instagram post about the new book, "The Almanac is an odyssey through the many byways of a Scottish year, an invitation to join us over 12 glorious, whisky-fueled months." The rest of the synopsis Heughan (and McTavish) provided is:
"In it, you will find mountains, battles, famous (and infamous) Scots, the alarming competitiveness of Men in Kilts, clans, feuds, flora, fauna, and a healthy sprinkling of embarrassing personal reminiscences. ... Much is explored, all is shared, lawsuits are inevitable."
According to the book's official page, they'll also focus on holiday traditions each month, like first footing for New Year's and Samhain for time-traveling... err, I mean Halloween.
The cover isn't official and the news just dropped. But the actors already announced an exclusive edition of The Clanlands Almanac with McTavish sharing on Instagram that there will be never-before-seen photos and "even a very colorful ribbon to mark your place in the book." (Ooo fancy.) There will be a limited number of exclusive editions (thus the "exclusive") available to preorder through Barnes & Noble in the U.S., Indigo in Canada, and Waterstones in the U.K.
The standard, audiobook, and exclusive editions of The Clanlands Almanac are available for preorder now at clanlandsbook.com and will be released on November 9, 2021. (Just two weeks before Diana Gabaldon's ninth Outlander book, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, drops.) With all that reading to do plus Season 6 and a potential Season 2 of Men in Kilts, 2022 is shaping up to be a very merry Outlander year indeed.
Update on 9/30: Due to expected shipping delays, the publisher Hodder & Stoughton announced on Sept. 29 that the new release date is Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Images: Starz