Customer Reviews

Sky masters

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

 

 

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!

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!

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

Excellent U.S. versus China scenario in this book. A very good read with a lot of accurate details (based on my personal experience).

"Skymasters" follows the typical formula for Brown's technothrillers, though the execution rises above the pack in comparison to other books.

In "Skymasters", the development of a new technology for launching surveillance satellites from the backs of modified airliners coincides with Chinese aggression against the Philippines. An overzealous Chinese admiral attacks the Philippines with a nuclear weapon. Rather than hit back with stealthy forces, Americans use a wide array of warplanes - B-1's, B-52's, the "Stealth Bomber" in what comes closest to WWIII than you'd get in most of Brown's other novels. Though Pat Mclanahan is here, "Skymasters" is very much an ensemble piece, rising above being the story of "the world v. Mclanahan", and the brute force required to fight the Chinese means that the battle isn't the clean push-button warfare that typifies Brown's other books. You get a better sense of being inside the cockpit of one of these airplanes than in other books, though it's still largely a matter of reading from computer screens. Definitely a worthy Brown read.

When the United States leaves the Philippines, war immediatly breaks out. Patrick McLanahan is called in to help the USA. He is to fly his brand new, B-2A Spirit Stealth Bomber, over to the Philippines, to destory Chinese targets there. Like all of Dale Browns' books, this one is an excellent book. 5 out of 5 stars for sure. Go out and get this book and all of the Dale Brown books. Now start reading!

As the title suggests, Sky Masters is a novel of considerable power. In it, it has Dale Brown hero, Patrick McLanahan flying my favorite aircaft, the B-2 Stealth Bomber against a Chinese invasion force in the Phillipines. It is probably Brown's most ambitious plot yet, with kilotons of action and suspense. Also, it uses mostly real-world technology, which sets it apart from many of the author's previous novels. I liked the way it had a plausible, yet still shocking plot. Good stuff, Mr. Brown!!

Prepare to be drowned in technical avionics details, at the expense of character development, suspense, and storyline. If you enjoy the intricacies of warplane operations, then you may enjoy this book. However, the storyline is forced and Brown depends on cliches to develop his characters. The planes are very real, but the individuals who fly them are poorly painted. In sum, only read this one if you're a white-collar defense electronics guru.

When I read Dale Brown's debut Flight of the Old Dog, I was impressed by the writing and eagerly awaited the chance to read the follow-ups. Now that I have read the immediate follow-up, my feelings are a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment.

The premise of this book is a Chinese war against the Philippines and the American response, with Patrick McLanahan once again in the cockpit of an advanced aircraft, in this case a B-2 stealth bomber. The tone of the action is quite different from FotOD, with the heroic lone super-bomber against the best defenses in the Soviet Union of that novel replaced by a larger engagement in which McLanahan's B-2 is just part of a larger wing of bombers that faces off against a massive Chinese invasion force. It's not any better or worse, but it is different.

Although the action is just as well-written as its predecessor, Sky Masters compares unfavorably to it in several ways. The biggest problem is the technicial exposition. There's more of it in this book, and it's inserted in a clunkier way than in FotOD. In some cases, I wondered if that much description was even necessary. Other faults include poor characterization that doesn't measure up to the original and worse pacing.

While still entertaining, Sky Masters is noticeably inferior to Flight of the Old Dog. Those who haven't read Dale Brown should get that book instead of this one, but someone who likes his other works may enjoy it.

China on the move in the Spratlys. An ineffectual president who wonders what to do next. An Air Force that is running out of assets. Nahhhh...never happen...