Sky Masters [Hardcover]

Dale Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

Dale Brown's powerful tale of America's greatest challenge since the Gulf War: a crisis on the oil-rich islands near China...

"A knockout." (Clive Cussler)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brown's expertise in depicting modern sea-air combat makes his latest techno-thriller a heavy contender for a hot summer read. In 1994, confrontation between China and the Philippines over the oil-rich Spratly Islands flares into a shooting war. A nuclear strike on the Philippine navy brings America into the game, and an anxious president commits the First Air Battle Wing, whose core is a force of B-52s, B-1s and B-2 Stealth bombers crewed by the elite of the Strategic Air Command, to smash a Chinese invasion fleet heading for Mindanao. Brown's presentation of the Sino-Philippine dispute is unconvincing, and his two-dimensional characters, including Air Force Col.Mac MacClanahan (from Flight of the Old Dog , do little more than advance the plot. Moreover, his conviction that aircraft can ultimately overwhelm seaborne defense systems and his insistence on the continued importance of manned strategic bombers are not likely to be universally conceded. These shortcomings, however, are far outweighed by Brown's ability to convey the technological tactics of modern warfare, especially the decisive role of electronics in cockpits and on ship's bridges, and to integrate these details into an exciting war story. Author tour.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

War erupts almost immediately when America pulls out of the Philippines and China slips in to fill the power vacuum. A few of the characters flying Brown's gadget-filled war planes previously appeared in Day of the Cheetah (1989). Glossary entries (176) and a warm dedication to strategic air power generalissimo Curtis LeMay accurately signal the approach of a superacronymic, high-tech military adventure. The casus belli this time is Chinese enforcement of that country's ancient claim to the Spratly Islands--a tiny, uninhabitable, barely visible, mineral-rich chain halfway between the Asian mainland and the Philippines. The Philippines, at last free of their long-term American tenants, also claim the Spratlys, and a shootout in the atoll between the two Asian nations' navies escalates much too quickly into full-scale war as the Chinese, led by a maniacal admiral, pop off a small nuclear device and then take the opportunity to invade the Philippine mainland--where the leftist first vice-president in the coalition government is only too happy to welcome them. A very unhappy American government has to throw together a battle plan on very short notice, but thanks to the inventive skills of the military-industrial complex's most talented techno-weenie, the Air Force has use of a new generation of spy satellites that, when paired with a souped-up B-2 Stealth bomber turns the air war into an immense video game. Genuinely exciting fight scenes are swamped by oceans of technical detail of interest primarily to the pencil-protector crowd. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: San Val (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417801409
• ISBN-13: 978-1417801404
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,066,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 21 action-adventure "techno-thriller" novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996), FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN, (1999), WARRIOR CLASS (2001), WINGS OF FIRE (2002), AIR BATTLE FORCE (2003), PLAN OF ATTACK (2004), ACT OF WAR (2005), EDGE OF BATTLE (2006), STRIKE FORCE (May 2007), SHADOW COMMAND (2008) ROGUE FORCES (2009), EXECUTIVE INTENT (2010) and A TIME FOR PATRIOTS (May 2011). Fourteen of his novels have been New York Times best-sellers. He is also the co-author of the best-selling DREAMLAND techno-thriller series and writer and technical consultant of the Act of War PC real-time strategy game published by Atari Interactive and the Megafortress PC flight simulator by Three-Sixty Pacific. Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 12 million copies.

Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon. Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course. He was also an Air Force instructor on aircrew life support and combat survival, evasion, resistance, and escape.

Dale supports a number of organizations to promote law enforcement, education, and literacy. He is a Life Member of the Air Force Association, U.S. Naval Institute, and National Rifle Association. He is a command pilot for Angel Flight West (www.angelflightwest.org), a group that donate their time, skills, and aircraft to fly medical patients free of charge. He is also a mission pilot with the Civil Air Patrol, flying a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his Piper Aztec-E airplane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, scuba diving, and soccer. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MEGATONS OF ACTION!!!!!!!, April 5, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Birmingham, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sky Masters (Mass Market Paperback)

What a winner! 10000 out of 10 for Dale Brown! I have read about his novels on this Amazon website and have been dying to read one for ages, and I was in for a treat! Sky Masters is so well written and frighteningly feasible as well. The plot about China laying a claim to the Spratly Islands was stolen by Tom Clancy for SSN(which was also excellent, but this is much better!), but the use of tactical nukes by the Chinese added a further dimension. Add a dithering Prez of the US, and a reluctant General who wants to use force to retaliate . . . Great action through and through! Dale Brown`s writing technique is also superb. He explains in a great amount of detail yet so simple anyone who is not familiar with military technology can understand it about the awesome B-2 stealth bomber, SAC, satellite technology, his `customised` EB-52 Megafortress(a fictional conversion, but such technology is feasible on a B-52, another of my favourite aircraft). All the acronyms such as CINCSPACECOM and AMRAAM are also properly explained and defined as well. As far as his fictitious ALARM satellite and NIRTSAT satellite projects go, on thinking about it, his descriptions are so realistic he could build one himself. Very feasible, launching a booster rocket plus satellite from a DC-10. All in all, a book that throw the action in yer face! I couldn`t put this down and lost loads of sleep one Sunday night, much to the annoyance of my wife!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brown takes a flight of B2 Stealth Bomber!, May 28, 2004

By 

Pierre Arronax (Herman) (Jakarta, Indonesia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sky Masters (Mass Market Paperback)

This is my first book of military aviation thriller that I read. I was at the height in flight enthusiast hobby. Very sophisticated words which Brown accurately wrote the story. I felt myself hearing someone speaking from the communication channel during the flight also I could feel I was sitting next to Patrick Mc Lanahan and wondering around the board-flight panel of B2 stealth bomber. I did not realize the technology was so sophisticated in the story and a bit hard to understand. But then time was needed to read until I enjoyed the story through the high blow ending. Brilliant!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Brown Triumph, May 16, 2000

By 

Larry Eischen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sky Masters (Paperback)

Dale Brown serves up another "what-if" techno thriller. This time China and the Philippines go to war, dragging the US into the action' As Usual, it's up to Patrick McLanahan to develop a plan to stop the aggression. Another excellent thriller by Brown