Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, published in 1991, kicked off a long-running series of novels that blend multiple genres. They’re historical tales, set in 18th-century Scotland and the British colonies in America, among other places; they’re also romances, focusing primarily on a love story between English physician Claire Beauchamp and Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser. What truly sets them apart, though, is the fact that they’re time-travel stories as well.

In the very first series entry, Claire, a nurse from the 1940s, encounters a magical stone circle that sends her back to 1743, where she meets and falls in love with Jamie. A lot more time travel happens over the course of the novels, resulting in some complicated situations; for instance, Claire and Jamie’s daughter, Brianna, is brought up in the 20th century, and later, she and her husband, Roger McKenzie, travel back in time themselves and meet their own ancestors. As the series has gone on—the ninth installment, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone, was published in 2021—the chronology has only gotten more complex.

There’s a scene in the seventh and most recent season of the Starz TV series adaptation Outlander that shows just how tangled it’s become. Roger and his great-grandfather, Buck MacKenzie, are in the early 1700s, looking for two time-trippers from the 1900s. As the pair rest by a stream, Buck asks Roger: “Somethin’ I’ve been wonderin’. If yer father was a time-traveler, and yer son is one as well, and I’m yer great-grandfather, and I’m a traveler too, d’ye think my father was one?” As it turns out, no—but Buck’s mother was.

A new Starz spinoff, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, has no interest in simplifying things. It’s a prequel series, not based on a specific book, centered on the parents of both Claire and Jamie—and the aforementioned stone circle works its magic yet again. It premieres on August 8.

The new show primarily takes place in Scotland in the 1710s, and it begins with the death of the powerful laird of the MacKenzie clan. He didn’t name an heir, although in a just world, his successor would be his sharp and politically savvy daughter, Ellen (appealingly played by Pennyworth’s Harriet Slater); instead, her male siblings, hotheaded Dougal (Sam Retford) and calculating Colum (Séamus McLean Ross), jockey for power. (The feuding brothers are just a few of the characters who appear, much older, in Gabaldon’s books and in the original Starz show.) The new series spends a great deal of time on this court intrigue, for better and for worse. An unwanted marriage has been arranged for Ellen, but she’s enamored with rough-hewn, dashingly handsome Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), whose clan is despised by the MacKenzies. As it happens, she takes his breath away, too. Viewers know that their star-crossed relationship will eventually lead to a marriage and children, including Jamie Fraser.

Late in the first episode, viewers see Henry and Julia Beauchamp, an English married couple out for a drive while on holiday in 1920s Scotland; their beloved young daughter, Claire, is back home in England. They get in a car accident but emerge unscathed; as they wander the countryside, they encounter the magic stone circle, which whisks them, separately, back to the 1710s. Yes, the Beauchamps are time-travelers, too—just as their daughter will be, decades hence, and her daughter, as well.

Having all four main characters in the same era makes things easier to follow, as they all get caught up in the interclan machinations. However, the infighting and political maneuvering get tiresome after a while, as the twists and turns are predictable and not especially clever—unlike the original Outlander show, whose one-thing-after-another game is consistently impressive. The romance between Ellen and Brian fares better, as their actors have undeniable chemistry, even when merely gazing into each other’s eyes. Viewers will want these two likable characters to get together—and they may not feel the same about the Beauchamps, who get separated early on.

War Horse’s Jeremy Irvine, as Henry, does a creditable job as a man out of time who’s desperate to reunite with his missing true love, but scenes in which the World War I veteran struggles with PTSD lack subtlety. Rust Creek’s Hermione Corfield, as Julia, has a striking resemblance to Caitríona Balfe (the excellent actor who plays Claire in Outlander), but her line readings are distractingly wooden, which does nothing for Julia’s flowery letters, read in voiceover. Viewers may find themselves less and less invested in the Beauchamps’ fates over the course of the season’s first six episodes. (The final four weren’t made available to critics.) Will this show reach the entertaining heights of its parent series? Time will tell, as they say—but, if not, there’s always Season 8 of Outlander, coming early next year.

David Rapp is the senior Indie editor.