Dark Horse
04-03-2012, 02:19
Submit a Book ReviewBook Title:
"Blue Man Falling", Band of Eagles", "To Play the Fox" Author:
Frank Barnard ISBN:
VARIOUS Category:
Fiction Format:
Paperback Summary:
These 3 books "Blue Man Falling" (ISBN: 0 7553 2554 0), "Band of Eagles"(ISBN: 978 0 7553 2557 3) and "To Play the Fox" (ISBN: 978 075533892 4) form a trilogy (so far) by author Frank Barnard. They are fictional and follow his characters Ossie Wolf and Kit Curtis. The books are set during World War 2. Ossie is an American pilot in the RAF. He belonged to a rich family in USA and travelled to Spain to fight as a flyer for Franco in the Spanish Civil War. After the bombing of Guernica he changed sides and flew for the Republic until they lost. He escaped to England and joined the RAF. He is portrayed as a hard bitten killer determined to defeat fascism. Kit Curtis is a middle class Englishman with a conscience.
"Blue Man Falling" introduces the main characters and a group of others and is set during the "Phony War" and through the Fall of France. "Band of Eagles" is set in 1941 and follows our heroes through the Italian and German attacks on Malta. In the 3rd book "To Play the Fox" the heroes find themselves fighting in North Africa. Kit Curtis is full of angst about killing and has now joined a photographic unit flying an unarmed Spitfire; and Ossie Wolf is determined to destroy more of the enemy by being seconded as a flyer to a secret Guerrilla type force, where he pilots a Storch dressed in German uniform. None of the plot lines are resolved by the end of the 3rd novel, leaving the novelist with the opportunity to continue the tale into (at least) a 4th novel.
I found the air combat sequences described in the books to be tense, exciting and well described. However I think the main characters are quite caricatured and it was easy to see that they were being deliberately constructed to be opposites to each other in so many ways. This didn't always add to the tension, quite often it just resulted in me thinking "here we go again". Most of the other characters in the books were quite 2 dimensional too, none of them were really well drawn IMHO. Plot lines were likewise either predictable or fantastical - especially in "To Play the Fox", which at times I found quite ridiculous - rather like a "Boys Own Adventure" type of story. I reckon I first encountered this level of ridiculous, coincidental plotting during my reading of "Biggles Defies The Swastika" (which I loved when I was about 12, but I have moved on a lot since then).
On the civilian "front" subplot, there are also a couple of unresolved murders that I am sure the main characters will also get around to solving, when they have a bit more time to do so.
I bought "Blue Man Falling" first and thought it was okay although I did not enjoy it that much there were a number of "flat" sections that could have been removed by the editor. Unfortunately I bought "Band of Eagles" before I read "Blue Man Falling", else I probably would not have bothered. I picked up "To Play the Fox" from a remainder shop for a couple of bucks just as I finished reading "Band of Eagles". I did find "Band of Eagles" to be the best read of the 3, "To Play the Fox" was, I thought, definitely the worst of the 3.
The author certainly knows about his planes, flying and the stuff that happens on airfields. His writing suffers in dealing with his creation and interplay of characters, both major and minor. Personally I won't bother reading any more of Barnard's books from this series that may be released in the future.
"Blue Man Falling", Band of Eagles", "To Play the Fox" Author:
Frank Barnard ISBN:
VARIOUS Category:
Fiction Format:
Paperback Summary:
These 3 books "Blue Man Falling" (ISBN: 0 7553 2554 0), "Band of Eagles"(ISBN: 978 0 7553 2557 3) and "To Play the Fox" (ISBN: 978 075533892 4) form a trilogy (so far) by author Frank Barnard. They are fictional and follow his characters Ossie Wolf and Kit Curtis. The books are set during World War 2. Ossie is an American pilot in the RAF. He belonged to a rich family in USA and travelled to Spain to fight as a flyer for Franco in the Spanish Civil War. After the bombing of Guernica he changed sides and flew for the Republic until they lost. He escaped to England and joined the RAF. He is portrayed as a hard bitten killer determined to defeat fascism. Kit Curtis is a middle class Englishman with a conscience.
"Blue Man Falling" introduces the main characters and a group of others and is set during the "Phony War" and through the Fall of France. "Band of Eagles" is set in 1941 and follows our heroes through the Italian and German attacks on Malta. In the 3rd book "To Play the Fox" the heroes find themselves fighting in North Africa. Kit Curtis is full of angst about killing and has now joined a photographic unit flying an unarmed Spitfire; and Ossie Wolf is determined to destroy more of the enemy by being seconded as a flyer to a secret Guerrilla type force, where he pilots a Storch dressed in German uniform. None of the plot lines are resolved by the end of the 3rd novel, leaving the novelist with the opportunity to continue the tale into (at least) a 4th novel.
I found the air combat sequences described in the books to be tense, exciting and well described. However I think the main characters are quite caricatured and it was easy to see that they were being deliberately constructed to be opposites to each other in so many ways. This didn't always add to the tension, quite often it just resulted in me thinking "here we go again". Most of the other characters in the books were quite 2 dimensional too, none of them were really well drawn IMHO. Plot lines were likewise either predictable or fantastical - especially in "To Play the Fox", which at times I found quite ridiculous - rather like a "Boys Own Adventure" type of story. I reckon I first encountered this level of ridiculous, coincidental plotting during my reading of "Biggles Defies The Swastika" (which I loved when I was about 12, but I have moved on a lot since then).
On the civilian "front" subplot, there are also a couple of unresolved murders that I am sure the main characters will also get around to solving, when they have a bit more time to do so.
I bought "Blue Man Falling" first and thought it was okay although I did not enjoy it that much there were a number of "flat" sections that could have been removed by the editor. Unfortunately I bought "Band of Eagles" before I read "Blue Man Falling", else I probably would not have bothered. I picked up "To Play the Fox" from a remainder shop for a couple of bucks just as I finished reading "Band of Eagles". I did find "Band of Eagles" to be the best read of the 3, "To Play the Fox" was, I thought, definitely the worst of the 3.
The author certainly knows about his planes, flying and the stuff that happens on airfields. His writing suffers in dealing with his creation and interplay of characters, both major and minor. Personally I won't bother reading any more of Barnard's books from this series that may be released in the future.