Ace of Aces Books

Those who have seen the movie "Conan the Barbarian" will no doubt remember Jemes Earl Jones' excellent portrayal of the snake-loving bad guy, Thulsa Doom, Priest of Set. What they may not know is that he originally was the nemesis of another Robert E. Howard hero, Cormac Mac Art, the protagonist of the four stories in this book. Mac Art's exploits are chronicled in seven volumes, of which this is the fifth, and last by Howard's hand. Mac Art is an Irish expatriate, pirate, and warrior par excellence living at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. His companion, Wulfhere Hausklifer, is a Danish Viking, and it is with him that Cormac sails, in search of adventure. His love interest, the Irish princess Samire, also makes her appearance in one of the stories. Confronting supernatural opponents like the Druid Zogar Sag, they manage to prove that courage (and Conan-like martial ability) conquors all. The final confrontation with Thulsa Doom has to wait for the final book, "Sign of the Moonbow," however. If you like historical sword-and-sorcery tales, this is one of the best. -Lloyd A. Conway

I think this was the first novel that I ever read cover to cover and loved every minute of it. I was floored to find out that there was more than one in the series, I was so excited I immediately bought all three over again.

This is the fun story of two buddies that are exposed to a distopyic world for the first time ever. They find out that they've been prepareing for a counterstrike that never came. The book is filled with weird concepts for my young mind at the time, dinosaurs that flew in flying saucers, a future that was much less advanced than the world we even live in now... If you can get over the sillyness of the pretense it's quite enthralling

I've been a fan of John Morressy after reading "Stardrift" (aka "Nail Down the Stars") when I was a teenager. It finally occurred to me a few years ago to see if I could find some other books. I found a couple of others & then this one about 3 years ago. I found this book to be a great read. The story was very interesting and moving. It really sucked me into the feel of the world he was creating and quite haunted me for days after I'd read it...in a good way. I definitely suggest giving it a shot. You may not love it as much as I do but it's definitely a gripping read.

Ross Murdock's a convict in a federal facility. As the 1958 Andre Norton The Time Traders opens, we see Ross in his cell. We don't know what he's in for. Probably spying for the Soviet Union. A guard enters his cell and tells him the judge wants to see him. He's taken to the chambers of Judge Orde Rawle where he's given a Hobson's choice. He can either join a top secret government program which will give him a chance to redeem himself, or go to prison. He chooses the top secret government program. The judge then addresses Major Kelgarries, who's standing in the shadows, and they go up to the courthouse's roof where an atom jet's waiting to take them to the headquarters of Operation Retrograde, which is located in Alaska. Upon his arrival, he meets Fritz, a Communist mole, who encourages Ross to run away and presumably defect to the Communists. Kelgarries and the base's security track him down and bring him back. Kelgarries tells him that Fritz was a plant and he should consider himself lucky that he didn't meet Fritz's paymasters. Fritz is killed and Ross is returned to base. He's assigned to an archaeologist named Dr. Gordon Ashe. Ross and Ashe are sent back in time to meet with an advance team led by "Sandy" Sanford. However, when they arrive at their stockade, they find it in ruins. Fritz's people had gotten there first. Ross and Ashe, under strict orders not to interact with the Beaker folk, in a way that would be detramental to timeline, finally have no choice when a rival tribe, egged on by another power. Ashe and his team soon find an alien spaceship encased in the ice.

A well-trod theme, this book chooses the best stories about time travelling from the first decade and change of IAsfm and compiles them for your benefit. Every angle has been done before, of course, but that's what makes this one so good -- you know what you're getting yourself into and you can ride that boat as long as she'll float. Light a fire, chill the champagne, and settle in for a good evening's read.

"In this book, aside from telling what I hope was an entertaining story, I tried to convey a sense of the people and events that led to the American Revolution. In order to do that, for the sake of the story, certain events have been compressed, but with the obvious exception of those events involving my fictional characters, most of the events that I describe here actually occurred pretty much the way I show them happening."
- from the author's note at the end of the book, which then discusses the real history

"Gentlemen, the Sons of Liberty are bent upon visiting their deviltry upon us. They give us deviltry, I say we rebel against it and give them hellfire!"
- Loyalist gathering, herein

Apart from the unavoidable spoilers for THE IVANHOE GAMBIT and THE TIMEKEEPER CONSPIRACY, which introduced the main characters among the Time Commandos, this tenth volume of THE TIME WARS contains major spoilers for THE KHYBER CONNECTION (the plot is summarized by one of the participants for a medic at the end of an examination) and THE LILLIPUT LEGION (one of Dr. Darkness' free-lance temporal adjustments and the introduction of Reese Hunter), and minor spoilers for THE ZENDA VENDETTA (which introduced Nikolai Drakov) and THE DRACULA CAPER (which gave Drakov a very effective tactic to avoid being eliminated from the series by anything so mundane as death). If you haven't read those books and want them to be a surprise, shoo.

Hawke does a fine job of making THE HELLFIRE REBELLION a stand-alone book; as usual, the initial briefing of the Time Commandos involved in the current temporal adjustment mission introduces the regular characters in such a way that a returning reader is entertained just as a new reader is brought up to speed. The only series plot summary really needed is provided by A CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE TIME WARS (which prefaces the story proper and can be skipped), some information embedded in Andre Cross' introduction to the story, and the spoilers mentioned above. Hawke-style historical background - the situation in colonial Boston and character sketches of the major players - is very well handled in the form of briefings to the Time Commandos and Nikolai Drakov, particularly the latter with his goal of identifying changes he can introduce to derail the course of history. An extra complication is added by the fact that the potential disruption was spotted Reese Hunter, who comes from an alternate universe in which the Revolution turned out differently than in the Time Commandos' version of history. Even granting that he's willing to exchange his cooperation for a chance to return home, can he correctly identify disruptions on *this* timeline?

Hawke does a good job of bringing 1760s Boston to life, especially the bits one may not learn in an American history class: the Justice whose library (including a history he'd been writing for decades) was burned when the Sons of Liberty looted and destroyed his house; *both* sides of the argument about regulating further westward expansion; and the double-edged issue of taxation. While mentioning the genuine grievances of the citizens of Boston (smoothly done, as men of all shades of opinion tend to hold forth in pubs), Hawke makes sure to mention the grievances of *both* sides, and to show that each side had unsavory aspects, from the Royal Navy's press-gangs to the fact that "liberty and property" was a battle cry not respected in regard to Loyalists. Sam Adams' genius for manipulating public opinion isn't prettied up, right down to the letters he wrote under pseudonyms in response to his own editorials.

And to get back to the Time Wars aspects of this, figuring out what's going on and who's who is a challenge for the players, let alone the reader. The Time Commandos have been integrated with the Temporal Intelligence Agency, complete with deep-cover agents. There are at least three illegal time-travelling organizations, ranging from simple army deserters and illegal profiteers to terrorists of various stripes. And as an added extra, the Time Commandos' own time has very advanced plastic surgery and implant educations, just to name one set of possibilities in planting ringers.

A good entry in a fun series. Hawke does have weaknesses - for instance, although time travel has been conducted on a large scale for over a hundred years by the protagonists' time, they never seem to encounter travellers from their own universe but other times. That could be excused, however; the situation is complicated enough, and the whole point of this particular story is that it's set far enough in advance of the Revolutionary War that the War could be averted, so an ordinary arbitration conflict from years past wouldn't be set there. On the plus side, time travel has dangers and complications, and more uses than the simple one of getting all the characters in place.

"If he wanted to, he could've hidden ordnance all over Boston."
"He probably has. Wouldn't you?"
- herein

For any one who has ever dreamed of going to the rodeo but never had the chance, this book is the way to get there! Lynn Hall is so enthusiastic and explanatory in writing the details of this book 'Tin Can Tucker'. I give it 5 stars just for that.

This book is about someone that I can relate to. A young lady who loves to ride horses and she finds herself in an unfamilar situation conserning love, in many formes of the word. Love between herself and her father and love between herself and Jake. It touches on many aspects of being a teenager. For example being in love, in school and life in general. It also has a sence of reality, simply because the problems that accure are problems that everyone has when they are in love for the first time. Great book. I will read it over and over again.

This is a marvelous romance with a mystery about a young American orphan, who travels to France to find her Father.
This is no easy task,having never been acknowledged by her father, and her mother declining to name him. The only clue our heroine has, is her mother's postcard of his home, the Chateau Ferrancolles.
She travels to the Chateau under false pretenses. There her undeniable family resemblence causes some slight consternation amongst her shocked, suspicious relatives.
Isabel, longing for a father and a family, does her best with these cold,
uninterested relatives and her supposed, newfound, distant father.
There are dark family secrets, nefarious relatives, cases of mistaken identity and finally a loving relationship for the heroine.
This is a very enjoyable novel with interesting, imperfect characters.

This is a really well written & researched history of Commonwealth Aces & their actions in the Desert, New Guinea & the Pacific Areas. These Airmen are often overlooked in WW2 History & they achieved great results in Aircraft that were nowhere near as competitive as the Spitfire, Mustang & Thunderbolt etc.
The pictures are extremely good, great colour drawings of many Aces Aircraft & good first hand quotes. Highly recommended!