Wings of Fortune: Pirate's Gold (Crimson Skies) (FAS8904) (Paperback)

~ Stephen Kenson (Author) "I've always been lucky, although you wouldn't necessarily know it to look at me..." (more)
Key Phrases: hangar bay, Nathan Zachary, Herr Zachary, Jack Mulligan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Ace's Dream I've always been lucky, although you wouldn't necessarily know it to look at me. Take now, for instance, 15,000 feet off the ground in the seat of a baby Nieuport, Archie bursting shells all around me, German Pfalz buzzing around like someone stirred up a wasps' nest, machine guns tracing lines of fire through the air. But not a single bullet-hole marring the canvas of my Nieuport, much less me. Like I said, lucky. A Pflaz roars past, guns chattering. I pull back on the stick hard, pulling up my machine's nose and climbing up after him. I roll to the side and come up right behind. The Hun pilot doesn't even see me. With a grin I get him in my sights and hit the trigger on the paired machine guns mounted on the nose of my machine. They yammer out 650 rounds a minute, tracers lighting the way to the Pfalz's tail. I see smoke pour out in a steady stream and the Pfalz starts to go into a dive, the wind fanning the flames spreading across his tail. He! 's finished. I don't bother watching him go down, not when there are so many other tempting targets to deal with. I climb up to 20,000, the ceiling of my little Nieuport, and look down, spotting another Pflaz some 4,000 feet below. I bank to the left and come down in a dive, putting the Hun directly in my sights. Machine guns roar and the tracers announce my attack, but too late. The Pfalz banks one way, then the other, trying to get away, but I stay on him, my rounds ripping through canvas and cracking framework, looking for a vital spot or the pilot himself. I find it when some rounds reach the Pfalz's engine, which starts to smoke and the machine goes into a long, slow dive, trailing smoke like a flag of surrender. Making a close pass, I give the Hun pilot an ironic salute as he starts to drop, almost close enough to imagine he can hear me, even over the roar of the wind and the crackle of the flames starting to spout from his crippled engine. "When you get to ground, tell 'em Nathan Zachary sent you!"

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: FASA Corp. (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555604072
• ISBN-13: 978-1555604073
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,031,585 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good background material on a recurring character, December 19, 2000

By	Jeffrey A. Cross "His Illustriousness" (Marblehead, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nathan Zachary pops up a lot in CS fiction, such as "Wings of Fortune #1: Rogue Flyer" and some of the online short stories at the game's Website, and this brought me up to speed on him. The dogfight scenes were exciting, although some of the World War One dogfight manuevers like the Vrille and Renversement were lost on someone who's used to the more-modern Immellmann, Split-S, High Yo-Yo and Scissors. It requires familiarity with the game to make complete sense, but it's easy to read and quite enjoyable.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book based on the popular character, May 7, 2007

By	M. Neinfeldt "Loki" (Center of Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is the prequel to the computer game and gives a really good back story. It follows how Nathan Zachary got his start and set himself up as a pirate of the air. There were a few mix-ups compared to the game, but the book explains better and makes more sense, if you liked the character, read it. Otherwise the world of this book is amazing on its own.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, A must for anyone who loves an exiting read, January 9, 2001

By	Apophis (In your head) - See all my reviews

I must say that this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I own the Crimson Skies computer game and love it also. This story kept me hooked to the book, I couldnt put it down. The only reosen I gave it 4 stars insead of 5 is because in some areas it gets kinda cheesy and there are some noticeable errors throughout the book, other than that it is a simply riveting story and I was sad to finish the last page.