Pirate's Gold

I will give Kenson credit for his air combat sequences, but he is badly in need of geography lessons. If one escapes from a POW camp in Germany, the escapee better fly east not west to get to Russia. If it were just this once it might be forgivable but he has Western ally pilots fly west to head into German lines from France. This is not like any European map I've ever seen. The problem is that silly mistakes like this destroys the suspension of disbelief, which is like an unwritten contract between the writer and the reader. The writer who doesn't care enough to get very basic geographical facts correct basically insults his or her readers' intelligence. There are a few other weapons errors. Lugers don't click like a revolver. Enlisted men don't carry rifles and side arms in the WW I German army. I'm just glad he didn't follow the line of all Germans being inhuman beasts that so many writers fall into. That stereo type is past stale.

This book is the prequel to the computer game and gives a really good back story. It follows how Nathan Zachary got his start and set himself up as a pirate of the air. There were a few mix-ups compared to the game, but the book explains better and makes more sense, if you liked the character, read it. Otherwise the world of this book is amazing on its own.

I must say that this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I own the Crimson Skies computer game and love it also. This story kept me hooked to the book, I couldnt put it down. The only reosen I gave it 4 stars insead of 5 is because in some areas it gets kinda cheesy and there are some noticeable errors throughout the book, other than that it is a simply riveting story and I was sad to finish the last page.

Nathan Zachary pops up a lot in CS fiction, such as "Wings of Fortune #1: Rogue Flyer" and some of the online short stories at the game's Website, and this brought me up to speed on him. The dogfight scenes were exciting, although some of the World War One dogfight manuevers like the Vrille and Renversement were lost on someone who's used to the more-modern Immellmann, Split-S, High Yo-Yo and Scissors. It requires familiarity with the game to make complete sense, but it's easy to read and quite enjoyable.