-AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND DESIGNER-
DEBBIE BISHOP
WAR EAGLES
By Debbie Bishop & Carl Macek
Cover illustration by Mike S. Miller
ISBN: 978-1595590022
Fiction
Inspired by a concept by Merian C. Cooper - the creator of King Kong.
Foreword by Ray Harryhausen.
Just prior to the start of WWII a publicly humiliated Army Air Corps test pilot, court-martialed for an unauthorized flight that endangered the life of President Roosevelt, takes the only job he can get - flying an experimental airplane around the world from South to North poles. When his plane is attacked and crashes in the Arctic, he finds himself in an undiscovered land inhabited by a lost tribe of Norsemen who ride giant eagles and, in a surprising turn of events, becomes America's only hope against a devastating sneak attack by the Nazis and their powerful new electromagnetic weapon.
What people are saying about WAR EAGLES - from Audible:
WW2 with a dash of fantasy!
I really enjoyed stepping back in time as the race for air travel was developing. One could truly feel the passion these pilots and engineers had for these magnificent machines.The twist of stepping back into a land of Vikings and dinosaurs was very well executed.
Well done to both the author and the narrator.
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Overall: 4 out of 5 stars!
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Performance: 4 out of 5 stars!
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Story: 4 out of 5 stars!
Reminiscent of Golden Age Sci Fi
This audio book reminded me of some of the 40's and 50's era tales, but what it happens to be is an alternative timeline World War II era fun adventure story. Think of a weird mash-up of a screw-up Captain America wanna-be mixed with the Land of the Lost mixed with Avatar where Hitler is the real villain and you might come close. At any rate, it's load of good fun and non stop action. But don't get distracted for a minute or you'll miss something! There are american pilots, Polish spies, Vikings, giant prehistoric eagles and, of course, Nazis! What more could you ask for to while away an afternoon? Our hero even gets the (Viking) girl! Put your feet up an get lost in what might have been.... *I was given a review copy of this audio book at my request in exchange for my honest review*
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Overall: 4 out of 5 stars!
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Performance: 4 out of 5 stars!
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Story: 4 out of 5 stars!
it's Amelia Earnhart meets WWII
This is not an accurate historical fiction book, but rather an action-packed book set an historical time. I normally listen to my books at a higher speed, however the amount of drama and action in this book I had to slow it down. I like the storyline and the narrator however, the sound effects throughout the book did kind of throw me since I'm not used to that and most audible books. still I would recommend this is a good read.
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Overall: 5 out of 5 stars!
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Performance: 5 out of 5 stars!
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Story: 5 out of 5 stars!
I Would Like to See this on the Silver Screen
Back in the late 1930s, the director of King Kong started planning War Eagles as his next block buster film. Then World War II intervened and the project languished for decades. It helps to know this background to fully appreciate this novel. It’s a big cinematic adventure waiting to find the screen. The heroes are larger than life, but more importantly, the images are bigger and more vivid than the mighty King Kong who reinvented the silver screen. And what are those images you may ask? Nazis developing super-science weapons for a sneak attack on America, Viking warriors riding gargantuan eagles in a time-forgotten land of dinosaurs, and of course, those same Vikings fighting Nazis over the skyline of New York City.
This book is a heck of a lot of fun. It starts a little bit slow but once the Vikings enter the story it chugs along at a heroic pace. There is a ton of action and colorful confrontations. Narrator William L. Hahn pulls out all the stops adding theatrical sound effects to his wide repertoire of voices which adds a completely appropriate cinematic feel to the entire story. If you’re looking for some genuinely heroic fantasy, you should try War Eagles.
I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.
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Overall: 4 out of 5 stars!
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Performance: 5 out of 5 stars!
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Story: 4 out of 5 stars!
Wonderful story
War Eagles is a really good adventure story. William H. Hahn has an excellent voice and is a great narrator.
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Overall: 5 out of 5 stars!
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Performance: 5 out of 5 stars!
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Story: 5 out of 5 stars!
"It had been one of Ray Harryhausen's dreams to see War Eagles come to the big screen. There was an accomplished film producer named Merian C. Cooper in the 1930's. Cooper created "King Kong" and other iconic films. He had written a treatment for War Eagles, but the film was never produced. Ray worked on some of Cooper's films early in his career and always liked the concept of War Eagles. He and his partner approached me to write, publish and produce it with "Ray Harryhausen Presents".
I feel like the universe had a hand in this opportunity as people who had never met before came together via "out of the blue" connections. How I met Carl was one of them. I was sitting in my studio thinking about writing War Eagles, when the phone rang. Carl Macek had dialed a wrong number. Normally you don't chat with someone when they dial wrong, but for some reason we did. It turned out that Carl was an expert in the history and technology of this era as he had done extensive research for another project.
So, we met at the counter of Bob's Big Boy in Burbank to discuss how to write it. Writing a story like this was tricky as Cooper's 1939 concept had inspired so many other films and books since his day. Although inspired by Cooper's original concept, our story had to be different in order to have it be engaging to today's audiences. In creating our new work, we added historical facts, engaging realistic characters and innovative technology of the time. What happened is that War Eagles became really interesting. A fantastic, yet, plausible retelling of "parallel" events surrounding World War II - if ancient Vikings riding giant eagles in dangerous dogfights against German planes over New York City's Worlds Fair attempting to defeat the Nazis and their General's devastating electromagnetic weapon was plausible.
It was very fun to write. I loved working with Carl. He was incredibly creative, a fantastic resource for history and technology of this time - and a really, nice guy. When my company, Angel Gate published the War Eagles novel it brought Ray's dream one step closer."
- Debbie Bishop
The new 2nd edition is now available.
Cover illustration by Mike S. Miller
