Crimson Skies [Mass Market Paperback]

Eric S. Nylund (Author), Mike Lee (Author), Eric S. Trautmann (Author), Nancy Berman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Welcome to the world of Crimson Skies. The United States is a land torn apart by epidemic and war. With chaos on the ground, America’s highways have been forced into the skies, a lawless new frontier where the flying ace—hero, pirate, villain—is king. Here are the exciting, danger-packed adventures of three such daredevils.

The Case of the Phantom Prototype. A hefty payday convinced dogfight genius Paladin Blake to fly a top-secret aircraft into the Mojave Desert. But on this job, Blake must not only save himself, but thousands of others slated for death by an unseen foe.

“Genghis” Kahn & the Manchurian Gambit. Why is the notorious leader of the Red Skull Legion pirate gang rescuing a lady in distress, returning gold, and duking it out in blazing air battles from Manhattan to Manchuria with no plunder in sight? Wonders never cease.

Bayou Blues. Ever since flying ace Nathan Zachary made a pirate ship out of a stolen zeppelin, the gentleman air-pirate and his “Fortune Hunters” gang have roamed the globe in search of money, fame, and adventure. But a double-dealing Cajun sky-thief, a crooked businessman, and a pair of star-crossed lovers may just trump this ace in a high-stakes, high-altitude con game.


Swashbuckling adventures of your favorite flying aces, in all their guts and glory, against a backdrop of blazing

CRIMSON SKIES
Crimson Skies, Xbox, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Used under license. Copyright© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Welcome to the world of Crimson Skies. The United States is a land torn apart by epidemic and war. With chaos on the ground, America's highways have been forced into the skies, a lawless new frontier where the flying ace—hero, pirate, villain—is king. Here are the exciting, danger-packed adventures of three such daredevils.

The Case of the Phantom Prototype. A hefty payday convinced dogfight genius Paladin Blake to fly a top-secret aircraft into the Mojave Desert. But on this job, Blake must not only save himself, but thousands of others slated for death by an unseen foe.

"Genghis" Kahn & the Manchurian Gambit. Why is the notorious leader of the Red Skull Legion pirate gang rescuing a lady in distress, returning gold, and duking it out in blazing air battles from Manhattan to Manchuria with no plunder in sight? Wonders never cease.

Bayou Blues. Ever since flying ace Nathan Zachary made a pirate ship out of a stolen zeppelin, the gentleman air-pirate and his "Fortune Hunters" gang have roamed the globe in search of money, fame, and adventure. But a double-dealing Cajun sky-thief, a crooked businessman, and a pair of star-crossed lovers may just trump this ace in a high-stakes, high-altitude con game.

Swashbuckling adventures of your favorite flying aces, in all their guts and glory, against a backdrop of blazing

CRIMSON SKIES
Crimson Skies, Xbox, and the Xbox Logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Used under license. Copyright© 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

About the Author

Eric Nylund has published six novels, including A Signal Shattered, Signal to Noise, Pawn’s Dream, Dry Water (a World Fantasy Award nominee), A Game of Universe, and Halo: The Fall of Reach, the official prequel novelization of the Xbox game. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in chemical physics, and is a graduate of the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop. He lives near Seattle with his wife, Syne Mitchell.

Michael B. Lee is a writer and game designer whose short fiction has appeared in the anthologies Inherit the Earth and Dark Tyrants and the upcoming Lucifer’s Shadow. An avid student of aviation and military history, as well as a devoted fan of the pulps, Mike lives in Nashville.

Nancy Berman has produced several computer games, and written for both electronic and role-playing games, including White Wolf’s Vampire: The Masquerade, West End Games’ Hercules & Xena Adventure Game, and Alderac Entertainment Group’s 7th Sea. She regularly contributes fiction to Microsoft’s Crimson Skies Web site (www.crimsonskies.com.) She has a bachelor’s degree in English and Latin and lives in Los Angeles.

Eric Trautman is the lead content developer for Microsoft’s Franchise Development Group, where he writes and edits story bibles for a variety of Xbox and PC games. He has contributed dialogue and web content to a variety of Microsoft games, including Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance, Allegiance, Crimson Skies, and Halo. In addition, he is the webmaster of the official Crimson Skies Web site (www.crimsonskies.com).

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; First Edition edition (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345458745
• ISBN-13: 978-0345458742
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,386,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Pulp Novella Collection, October 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Crimson Skies (Mass Market Paperback)

A collection of three novellas, two originally published on the Crimson Skies website, one previously unpublished. All are highly entertaining.

The Phantom Prototype pits international detective Paladin Blake against a mysterious conspiracy with a dire plot for mass destruction, to further a sinister political goal! Written pre-9/11, a simple delivery job turns into a desperate fight to prevent a devastating aerial strike on an innocent city. The Phantom Prototype was written by SF author Eric Nylund, who wrote last year's HALO novel, and gives us a portrait of Blake as hardboiled dick in a noir situation. Blake comes off a bit shinier than most hardboiled detective stories, mostly because he's too busy saving his can to misbehave.

On the flip side of the law, The Manchurian Gambit draws international pirate Genghis Khan into a web of intrigue as he tries to get free of his money troubles. Along the way, he rescues fair maidens and heads off on a quest that might free the Chinese people from a foreign aggressor-all for a buck, of course. I'd never hear of Michael B. Lee before this story, but he turns in a good story about a bad man.

Somewhere in the middle of the law, Bayou Blues is a story of Nathan Zachary and his efforts to make a buck off a town under a Louisiana despot's thumb, and maybe do a good deed. This is the original story, by Crimson Skies guru Eric Trautmann. It rocks along at a goodly pace, and comes off a lot like the good stuff in The Maltese Falcon. I never liked Nathan Zachary in any of the earlier Crimson Skies fiction, or the original computer game, but here Nathan is more a Han Solo rogue than the smarmy egotist he comes off as in other stories.

One of the things I like about all of these stories is that the heroes mostly fight and think their way through their problems, with bruises and cracked heads. Most adventure stories have the heroes more or less skate through (more in movies than books, I guess) with not much danger. The Crimson Skies stories come off more like Die Hard, with the heroes getting slammed around a bit. That gives them a bit more grit than a lot of stories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome action and adventure, February 18, 2004

By 

Damon Dellamarggio "Xenomrph" (Flagstaff, AZ (NAU)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crimson Skies (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked up this book after getting the original PC game, and having fallen in love with the storyline and setting, I figured it'd be worth it to read up on some of the fiction. I haven't played the new XBox game at all, and the plots of the three stories don't deal with the game much (more its setting and characters than its actual plot) although the third story, "Bayou Blues" implements some characters I've heard are in the XBox game.

The first story, about Paladin Blake, while interesting, came off as a little dry to me. Some of the "plot twists" were a little contrived for my tastes, but the action was solid enough, and the ending was great.
The second story, about Johnathan "Genghis" Kahn, was easily my favorite. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy a story that made the "bad guy" out to be the hero (and he IS a bad guy - he steals, he lies, he cheats, he kills for fun - he's definately an unsavory character) but the story was hilarious, and a lot of the plot twists totally broadsided me; I never saw 'em coming. It was great, especially the very end.
The third story, about Nathan Zachary, was a bit shorter than the others, and I wasn't sure I'd like it at first. The portrayal of Nathan wasn't what I was used to based on the PC game (I don't know how he's portrayed in the XBox game and if it's different) and I was expecting a wider array of characters instead of focusing mainly on Nathan. The action, however, was the best of the three stories, and the "air race" at the end was absolutely great. The story simply got better as it went along.

If you liked the XBox game, or like Crimson Skies in general, I'd definately recommend giving this book a shot. It's well-worth the money.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "It's an era where swing is king and pilots rule", February 13, 2003

By 

Jason Montgomery "Journ" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crimson Skies (Mass Market Paperback)

Crimson Skies is a game world created by Microsoft and Fasa, where it's an alternate 1937 and the United States has broken up into several independant nations. The rail lines and freeways have all been destroyed, so travel and trade is now only possible by air. This lead to the rise of airborne pirate gangs and the hijacking of cargo zeppelins. The North American nations responded by forming their own national air militas or contracting private companies to keep their cargo, and themselves, safe. It makes you wonder just how things would be like if history was just a little different.

This is a collection of three novellas, two of which were originally published on the official Crimson Skies website. Done in the style of the old pulps, each story follows one of the main Crimson Skies characters as they fly, flight, and con their way to save the day, or line their pockets their pockets in the process. Highly recommended.