Customer Reviews

Air Ferrets Aloft

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A friend left this book in my hangar this afternoon and I read it cover to cover at home tonight on my deck, rocking in a big rope hammock before the sun could set. Listen to the words here, dear reader and discover all over again the joy of flight and love, wrapped in humor and caring. For the pilots among us, at last a flying parable with integrity we can read to our children and revel in ourselves.

Air Ferrets Aloft is right up there with my other Bach favorites Illusions and Running from Safety. It is a gentle, beautiful story of destiny and true nature told in a wonderful way. I particularly like the audio version where Richard reads the story himself. I bought the book when it first came out and didn't read it until this week because, frankly, I'm not a fan of ferrets (sorry Richard!). Waiting was a mistake. Don't let the fact that this is a children's book or that you don't like ferrets, deter you. It is CLASSIC BACH.

I expect excellence from the author of Johnathan Livingston Seagull and this pleasantly read book is no exception. Like Johnathan, it has a child-like quality of storytelling that is amenable to the adult heart and ear as well. It is the first of the ferret series I've come across and I listen to it on my daily journey to and from home and work or school. The underlying themes of spiritual awareness and analogizing flight to an expression of spirituality is akin to JLS and a comfort to a reader who has read JLS to her children, husband, and grandchildren. I look forward to finding more unabridged tapes such as this as it is the only way this late-in-life law student has the time to listen to a good book anymore! My husband gets this tape next, then my eldest granddaughter. Or maybe I'll buy the CD for her...Who knows, with the fabulous descriptions of what goes on during flight she might opt to become a pilot some day. Great fun! Richard Bach has an excellent voice for this, as well. I'm hearing impaired and can understand him with the greatest of ease!

Richard Bach has created a work that changes potentially dry flight discipline into a thrilling, spiritual journey that will enchant young readers. My 11 year old daughter loves flying, so she was amazed by its technical accuracy and captivated by the plot. As many adults have done with Richard Bach's other works, she consumed it in one marathon sitting.

And she's a reluctant reader!

I have one bit of advice - listen to the audio version of this book! It is incredible!! Bach can tell a story like few others. This one is a fantastic, on-the-edge-of-your-seat adventure, with a love story woven throughout. I'd read it twice and liked it both times, but the audio version is even more amazing. I could SEE Bach's word pictures, feel what his characters felt. That's darned good storytelling!

My husband and I listened to this on a long trip recently. We enjoyed it enough for me to order Rescue Ferrets at Sea and Writer Ferrets. They all seem to drag a little in the middle but they come to great conclusions and we enjoyed them very much. Had sent them on to my kids.

In a sequel to his Rescue Ferrets at Sea, Bach introduces a new cast of mustelid characters, including some who aren't quite alive anymore, the corps of "angel ferret fairies," former mortals who, piloting miniature helicopters, invisibly watch over the aviators of the ferret culture. Stormy Ferret is a female "freight dog," a pilot specializing in heavy freight such as ferret food, toys, blankets and hammocks, and since most ferret fliers fly at night, it can be a nerve-wracking job if a storm comes up. She loves her work, but it doesn't leave much time for a social life, and she's still unmated. But her guardian angel knows that she should be, and who to: Strobe Ferret, the friend and private pilot of a mustelid media mogul. "If they meet...[they will] change the world for a lot of animals. But this is the last chance, on our timeline, to make it happen," says Taminder, the chief of the angel ferret fairies, and he assigns a crew led by the recent addition Baxter to carry out the mission. Baxter, as it turns out, has a connection to Stormy: his grieving grandkit Willow, whom he's been unable to reach mentally to assure her he still exists, is from the same family as she is.

Bach is a devoted amateur flier himself, and there's a fair amount of aviation technicalese in this volume, but the fairies and the developing relationship between Stormy and Strobe (yes, they do meet!) balances it out. The storm in which the two pilots are struggling to reach their destinations is vividly described, and there's a good leaven of suspense in the first 70-odd pages as they battle with the forces of nature. The author also begins to inject some more background about his Universe into the story (did you know that 80% of the music recorded by humans features ferret studio musicians?).

I truly loved all the ferret series, the reason I bought the first one is I do have pet ferrets, but after reading one i bought the whole series, the books seem simple but have a lot of thought and caring--who knows, if the world lived by the ferret principles of being nice, it would be a better place

Another tremendous book by Bach. As a Bach fan for years and a ferret lover too, I find these stories inspiring and touching.

I have been a keen ferret lover and my father is a pilot, so this book gives something for both. While the pilot vocabulary can be difficult for those with little experience in flying, the story is simple and enjoyable. I like to think of Baxter as the true hero, I named my own ferret after him. And the spritual transcendence of Bach's books like Jonathan Livingston Seagull are again reflected, which seem to parallel with concepts of the afterlife and how our departed loved ones are much closer to us than we think. A wonderful read with a very heartwarming narrative for both children and adults, and for those who simply love ferrets and flying. Thank you, Richard Bach.