At the beginning of World War II, Britain was in the deepest trouble imaginable. 5 minutes flying time away crouched a monster. Alone against it, Britain called out to her Empire. For pilots. From all corners of that Empire, they volunteered. Only the best & brightest were chosen. Australian Daniel Quinn was one of these young men who came to fly against the monster. They had a 1-in-3 chance of survival. “Nor the Years Condemn” is based on the true story of the young Australians who flew Spitfires against the all-conquering might of Nazi Germany. In their late teens and early-20s, for the job at hand they had to be the ‘shining ones’, rendering the death of so many of them doubly heart-rending for the reader. Daniel Quinn, flanked by the often hilarious young men of his elite ilk, leaves his peacetime life behind to fight tyranny in this portrait of doomed, brilliant youth. With in-the-cockpit flying sequences that readers have described as ‘cinematic’, “Nor the Years Condemn” is also a story of the mothers cursed to relinquish their wonderful sons to war, of first love, of strategic deception and betrayal, of brotherhood and once-in-a-lifetime friendship on a knife’s edge. It is a story of shining young men destined never to grow old, and of those who do: the survivors ‘condemned by the years’, and to their memory of friends who remain forever young. "Nor the Years Condemn" has been published to Excellent Reviews - See the link to read: http://crackernight.com/2012/01/17/great-reviews-of-nor-the-years-condemn-by-justin-sheedy-now-available-in-print-on-demand-paperback-at-amazon
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Justin Sheedy had his first book, "Goodbye Crackernight", published in 2009, a comic memoir of growing up in 1970s Australia, back in a long-lost era when a child’s proudest possession was not a Playstation but a second-hand bike. "Goodbye Crackernight" was so warmly received by Australian readers that it secured Justin a place on the program of the prestigious Byron Bay Writers’ Festival 2010 and is currently orderable through all bookstores and online. For details and to read excerpts and rave reviews of "Goodbye Crackernight", visit Crackernight.com. There you’ll also find Justin’s many short stories and articles, all free to read and enjoy. Justin is now delighted to see his latest book, "Nor the Years Condemn", published and in print. Based intensively on a chapter of true World War Two history largely untold in fiction format, "Nor the Years Condemn" is the heart-rending story of shining young men destined never to become old, and of those who do: The survivors, 'condemned by the years' and to their memory of friends who remain forever young. The book has already received precisely the sort of reader responses that Justin has long hoped for: “Finished it and loved it! An excellent perspective and I’m a big fan of Factional (fact mixed with fiction) writing. A splendid job, Justin. You can tell a lot of effort was put into the research to get things right. More please!! Cheers, Justin.” To read the book's excellent reviews in full, see the link: http://crackernight.com/2012/01/17/great-reviews-of-nor-the-years-condemn-by-justin-sheedy-now-available-in-print-on-demand-paperback-at-amazon. Justin is currently writing the sequel to "Nor the Years Condemn", reading excerpts available at Crackernight.com. He would love to hear from you and to share your thoughts on "Nor the Years Condemn" at Crackernight.com, at the book's Facebook page, at his personal Facebook page or on Twitter. He lives in Sydney, Australia.
Justin Sheedy's first book, "Goodbye Crackernight" (a comic memoir of growing up in 1970s Australia, back when a child's proudest possession was not a Playstation but a second-hand bike) is available on Kindle and in Print-on-Demand format here at Amazon. It's a portrait of an era, a tale of simpler times, and of an Australia now long-gone. See excerpts & reviews of "Goodbye Crackernight" at Crackernight.com (http://crackernight.com)
Justin's latest book, "Nor the Years Condemn", is an historical fiction NOW available here at Amazon in Print-on-Demand (PAPERBACK!) format, also in Kindle format at Smashwords and all ebook formats. For ebook lovers, please do see the direct link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87708 where you can download a Free 80+ page sample.
NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN...
At the beginning of World War II, Britain was in the deepest trouble imaginable. 5 minutes flying time away crouched a monster. Alone against it, Britain called out to her Empire. For pilots. From all corners of that Empire, they volunteered. Only the best & brightest were chosen. Australian Daniel Quinn was one of these young men who came to fly against the monster. They had a 1-in-3 chance of survival.
"Nor the Years Condemn" is based on the true story of the young Australians who flew Spitfires against the all-conquering might of Nazi Germany. In their late teens and early-20s, for the job at hand they had to be the 'shining ones', rendering the death of so many of them doubly heart-rending for the reader. Daniel Quinn, flanked by the often hilarious young men of his elite ilk, leaves his peacetime life behind to fight tyranny in this portrait of doomed, brilliant youth.
With in-the-cockpit flying sequences that readers have described as 'cinematic', "Nor the Years Condemn" is also a story of the mothers cursed to relinquish their wonderful sons to war, of first love, of strategic deception and betrayal, of brotherhood and once-in-a-lifetime friendship on a knife's edge. It is a story of shining young men destined never to become old, and of those who do: the survivors 'condemned by the years', and to their memory of friends who remain forever young.
Justin very much hopes you enjoy "Nor the Years Condemn" and looks forward eagerly to your responses and thoughts on it. Reader & Press Reviews so far have been all he ever dreamed of yet never expected.
GOODBYE CRACKERNIGHT by Justin Sheedy - Tale of a Lost Era.
"My inspiration to write this book was the across-the-board and instant enthusiasm I received from anyone of my own generation or older to whom I ever mentioned the word, 'Crackernight'. For anyone slightly too young to remember, 'Crackernight' was, until the early 80s, Australia's annual fireworks night, when kids and adults alike would set off fireworks (or 'crackers') in the back yard, on ovals and reserves in every suburb and country town across Australia. For children of the 1970s (Gen-X), this one night of the year rivalled your birthday and Christmas, though it had been an even bigger deal for our parents and grandparents, for whom Crackernight had been called Empire Day since 1905. (They got a half day off school to get ready for the big night, lucky bastards!)
My story traces the demise of Crackernight through the 70s (until it was banned in the early 80s) in parallel with the passing of our childhood. A childhood that children today probably wouldn't even recognise: Just about everything we did for fun cost little or no money. Unlike today's kids (Generation Z), we weren't wired in to computer technology. There wasn't any. Amazing, but somehow we survived without mobile phones. (Somehow we survived Crackernight every year, at least, most of us did...) Yes, we needed electricity to watch "Lost In Space" every day after school but, unlike today's 'plugged-in' kids, if there was a power blackout, most of the time we'd scarcely have noticed as we'd be outside - playing with other kids in the street, riding our bikes, or damming up a creek down the bush. In a way, we made our own electricity, we were the electricity. We relied on our imaginations. We had to.
Australia was a far simpler place in the 1970s. Because it was, we made our own fun. It was a blander place, a White-Bread World. There was one Chinese kid in my whole school, and Jo Bashir, the school's pioneering 'immigrant', became my instant best friend as he had Lebanese bread in his lunchbox. Yet just as we were growing up, so was Australia, and evolving into the multicultural society we know and love today."
Justin Sheedy 2012.
Check out excerpts, news and reviews of "Goodbye Crackernight" and "Nor the Years Condemn" at Crackernight.com
"Nor the Years Condemn": Where to start? The writing. Excellent. Everything flowed and, from the first chapter to the end, was fluid. Hints here and there as to what may happen in the future were freely dropped along the way. This kept me engrossed, kept me reading.
The story. Again, excellent. The history behind these young men (and women), the planes they used, the circumstances surrounding this time frame, et cetera - all well done. I thoroughly enjoyed the "story" of each character and how they interacted with each other. There were some shockers in there; war is hell, no? I also liked the hint of "espionage" involved.
"Nor the Years Condemn", to me, was a fantastic read. I can but recommend this book to others and impatiently await Justin's next work.
The book Nor The years Condemn is a must have for any history buff. Not only for an insight into what it was like at the start of the war, but also an insight into Sydney at the time. Not only for the boys everyone will take something away from this. Could definitely see this made into a mini series or movie. The author sucks you in from the start it is very hard to put down. You can tell that the author did alot of research when writing this book and is passionate about the story and characters. Hoping there will be a sequel.
"Nor the Years Condemn" recounts the horrors of war as seen by one elite and effective unit of WWII. The author puts us there, in that time, by depicting: language, description of locations, the attitudes of the people and the spirit of the nation that would see it prevail through its darkest period of history. The reader is shown in clear, flowing narrative how war can touch us all, from the other side of the world, to the heights of the clouds.
The characters feel so real, we are sure they must have existed. The flying is portrayed so brilliantly, we feel an ace fighter pilot must have possessed Justin's head while he wrote this. The planes themselves become characters, even though mere machines, they became tools of victory and a symbol of ingenuity, technology and bloody determination. This is a testament to the research undertaken by the author and his wordsmithing we see as the end result.
We should count ourselves lucky today that the whole world has not since been embroiled in a such conflict and we hope it never will be again. Recounting the bravery of these men, and the staggering odds against their surviving, should make us never forget. We will remember them. Martin Zitek Sydney, Australia.
