Customer Reviews

The Aviators

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An author who can write a good enough story that you forgive him or her for some consistent faults has got to be something special. _The Aviators_ is a good example of this all around.

Like all of Griffin's military novels, the strength of the book is the successful portrayal of the dialogue and character of military men. His lieutenants behave like lieutenants; sergeants major like sergeants major; generals like generals, and so forth. There is a great mix of dedicated warriors, check-collecting spuds, out-and-out incompetents, and solid but unimaginative types. Griffin excels at painting the picture through the way he describes expressions and tone of voice, and he always tells a great story.

But he also needs to understand that some of his themes grow repetitive. The Rich Loose Cannon, the private suddenly rocketed to sergeant and then to commissioned rank, and the Immediately Deflowered Virgin are his favourite themes. In every book, you know these are going to show up. The above don't really happen all that much in real life, and it gets a little old knowing that they are going to be in every Griffin book, including this one. His other weakness is inconsistency and overuse of certain names from book to book. He often forgets facts about a character from book to book or gets the name, branch or other distinguishing characteristic wrong. _The Aviators_ contains a number of such mistakes, ones that aren't apparent unless you have read the rest of the series.

It is a tribute to Griffin that he keeps turning out excellent stories despite the above tendencies. The humour value is also fairly high, if you like dry military wit and understand it. He certainly doesn't suffer from Clancy's Disease--the overglorification of United States arms and people to the detriment of all others. He is one of the best in the genre.

The Aviators is one of W.E.B. Griffin's best, I read a lot of war novels and the only recent one that can compare to The Aviators is Rustad's THE TRIUMPH AND THE GLORY. The Brotherhood of War is a great series and The Aviators continues the tradition in an outstanding manner.

Like all WEB GRiffin's books, this one combines humor, personality studies, and adventure. I wish I had the whole series. He is great.

After plowing through Griffin's Presidential Agent series I needed something to hold me over until the next in the series, The Outlaws, is published. So I checked out The Aviators and was not disappointed. The protaganist, Johnny Oliver, is a lot like the presidential agent, Charlie Castillo and the story is pretty good too. If Griffin ever tires of writing about Castillo, perhaps he could resurrect Oliver.

I get the indication that the author is sort of reaching in an attempt to prolong this series. Better to leave it as is and go off on another track, in my opinion.

Just one more exciting story with familiar characters set in true historically accurate US war campaigns ranging from WWII through the Korean conflict. W.E.B. Griffin has a smooth pen, a keen sense of accuracy and characters you'd love to sit down with at a bar and discuss their experiences during their service.

Of all the books I've read by Griffin, which are too many to remember, each in a series of 7-10 books on one subject, the Scotch Whiskey which is mentioned over and over again as the drink of choice for officers and the well to do, happens to be a real brand with is relatively inexpensive and a wonderful tasting scotch.

These series are so good that each book is essentially a one sitting read and leaves you yearning for the next in the series and dreaming of how great a movie each series would be and as you read you are easily placing actors in the places of each character. A true storyteller with stories which captivate you.

From the death of Scotty Laird to the beginning of the escalation of the Viet Nam War, this book represents an accurate and very readable history of the birth, childhood, and adolescence of Army Aviation. As a member of a family of charter members of the W.P.P.A. who sspent some childhood years at Camp Rucker, Alabama, during the infancy, I can attest to the accuracy of this book. Though this book is part of a marvelous series, it is easily read alone. Anyone who is a military history buff, this book - this series - is a must

W.E.B. Griffin is one of my favorite authors so as a person who went through the Army Warrant Officer Aviation Program in 1965 I had to have this book. It does not disappoint as his desciption of being an Army aviator is spot on. If you enjoy good writing W.E.B Griffin is a must addition to your library. He's right up there with Tom Clancy.

I have all of WEB Griffins books and rate him along with Wilbur Smith as my all time favorite author. His sagas span several different action themes, but they are all either military, police or intelligence services. The author has residence both in Texas and Argentina and has spent a great deal of time with our military so he uses his familiarity with these settings and people to cast a very nice spell in his work. My wife also enjoys the books so I would say they are suitable for all readers.

Typical WEB Griffin Book - A great read. I have been going back and ordering the entire series so I can read them in the order that they were published as the "story lines" will make more sense... but it is not necessary however.

Enjoy, I did...