Double Eagle

40k novels are their own universe. There are few better introductions. Connections to the wider Gaunt Ghosts is excellent for veterans and will give new folks a way to make the transition. These stories tell the struggle of human order and good verses almost overwhelming evil. This author has little illusion of the flaws of man. Heroics by flawed humans are all the more impressive.

Having read most but not all of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels, I was already impressed with Dan Abnett, but Double Eagle simply floored me. Abnett is one of those few magnificent authors who could have flourished in any genre, and if he ever turned to "more serious materiel" it's a certainty that he would be winning more critical acclaim than he knew what to do with. Instead, he writes Warhammer novels; because he loves it, and because he's the best there is at what he does. Doubble Eagle is indeed an archetypal retelling of the battle of britain, but dismissing a story because it uses an archetype is short-sighted. Warhammer and Warhammer 40K have been so successfull precicely because they shamelessly and tenaciously rely on the power of archetypes -the best parts of our legends and history- to drive their universes. Consequently, their images, stories and settings are able to strike deep and resonating chords. This book is exceptional, and not just for Warhammer fans. In fact the avid players may like it least of all, as the book is completely character and story driven and spares very little time for the various toys of the 40K universe. It's the casual fans, the people who have admired the story and setting of the game but never invested the money to actually play, who will find this book both satisfying and addicting. I'll be forcing Double Eagle on many of my friends, and I have no doubt that it will soon have them as addicted to Dan Abnett (and the Warhammer universe) as they are to David Webber or George Martin. It's just. that. good. You won't be disapointed.

Dont listen to any the book's detractor's. This is by far the greatest WH40K ever written. It is a near-perfect mirror of the Battle of Britian and follows the Phantine XX and other characters through the "air" phase of the war of Enothis. If you need more info go out and read this masterpiece, you wont be dissapointed.

For most WH 40K novels, the reader needs a fair bit of background knowledge to fully apreciate the story line. This particular novel however manages to be a great WH 40K novel without alienating the uninitiated. For WH 40K fans, it provides a fresh new aspect of the WH 40K universe that is seldom mentioned let alone written about. For the casual SF reader, this is a great way to ease yourself into the genre. The aerial combat sequences are well written, the reader is "shown" the actions rather than "told" what is happening, a feat in itself for War / SF novels. Having read all of Dan Abnett's WH 40K novels in print, I believe this is one of the most engaging.

I have read some of the Gaunts Ghosts books and I thought they were good but not really my sort of books. Double Eagle is very much the kind of thriller I like to read usually outside WH40K fiction so I was amazed to read it in the Warhammer world! The air war is brilliantly written and I could not put this down. I hope this will be the start of a new series of books like his Gaunts novels.

Double Eagle sees the focus put on the pilots of the Imperium, specifically a group of fighter- and bomber-pilots who were first seen in one of the Gaunt's Ghosts novels. As per usual, Abnett has superior character development. This book, as with all his others, is truly a page-turner. Something of an aside to the Ghosts storyline, this novel takes place on a planet suffering from a Chaos invasion in the Sabbat Campaign that Abnett has written so much about. (In fact, there are some references to the Ghosts storyline, but not so that the reader is left confused.) As with Abnett's other works, we see comparatively little of the enemy in terms of internal thoughts, only getting that before they interact with the heroes. There is only one such villain, actually, an ace of aces who seems unstoppable. He makes several appearances, always defeating those he faces, or driving them to extreme measures to flee. One of the primary characters is the flight commander of the Phantine XX fighter wing. She is a great character, mixing in-combat skill with concern for her wingmates. Others in the unit also provide great characters, the old nice guy, the new kid trying to prove himself. The planes are also like characters, given their jinxes and idiosyncrasies. The unit really is a whole, from machine, to tech, to pilots. Another arc of the story deals with a bomber pilot who is in another unit. He was saved by one of the Ghosts in another novel, and feels he is on borrowed time, that he should be dead. He meets a woman who has lost pretty well everything, and they find in each other that which they were missing. This is really my favorite part of the book. The human side. There is a great deal of air combat, which Abnett delivers with exquisite skill. I could feel all the losses and exult in the victories as though I were there. There are a number of close calls, tight squeezes, near-misses. All those things that make such situations interesting to read. This novel shows again that Abnett is the best of the WH40k authors, at least in my opinion. Despite the lack of a well-determined enemy, this book is a great read. After all, the reader is supposed to feel for the Imperium, not those who hate all life. In that respect, the lack of depth in the enemy is perfect. However, as has been occurring more and more of late in new release books, there were a number of typos. Not the British-American differences in certain words, which I have grown accustomed to through Abnett and the rest, but simple lack of proofreading, I believe. The story was so great, though, that I overlooked that entirely in my rating.