Air Battle Force CD

Rating:
Summary: Dale Brown is in fine form once again!
Review: AIR BATTLE FORCE begins spectacularly as ongoing hero of Dale's books General Patrick McLanahan is leading an intel mission into Afghanistan in the war on terror. When he almost loses one of his supersecret StealthHawk UAVs, he orders a decidedly unauthorised mission to recover it using all means at his disposal, much to the detriment of the Taliban forces in the area who want the weaponry on the UAV, his superiors in the White House who want him to fail and indeed at Diego Garcia naval air station when he has to bring down a crippled EB-1 bomber! These blazing action scenes set the tone for the story. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, resurgent Taliban forces led by a General Zarazi ousted out by US forces set their sights on oil-rich neighbouring Turkmenistan, seeking the riches to fund Al-Qaeda terror cells and further their own gains. However, plans for a quick takeover are in danger from an internal power struggle from one Jalaluudin Turabi, corrupt Russian military officers seeking the rebuilding of the former Soviet Union and also US oil companies bribing the Taliban to keep pipelines open. When Turkmenistan is invaded, the US President Thomas Thorn reluctantly authorises McLanahan's new Air Battle Force in to sort out the mess before a major confrontation occurs. Using ground troops - ongoing Marine characters Hal Briggs and Chris Wohl in high-tech exoskeletal body armour armed with hypervelocity projectile weapons - and a new fleet of unmanned, virtual-computer-controlled B-1 bombers, they do all they can to bring down Zarazi's guerilla forces. But there are always complications - General Rebecca Furness, B-1 wing commander is under scrutiny from old flame Daren Mace, from CHAINS OF COMMAND. As well as these olf favourite characters, Dale Brown has also introduced a new set of younger aircrews which will no doubt feature in future novels. When the military action takes off, the pace is fast, exciting and pulse-pounding. Brown once again tells a tale which keeps you reading and sets up the next book nicely at the end with a great and unexpected twist involving the Tarubi character and a power-crazed Russian general. So if airborne action and gadgetry are your cup of tea, this book just might be for you! Well done Dale Brown.

Rating:
Summary: Military Drudgery in the [Tarnished] Name of Clancy...
Review: Dale Brown can't decide what he wants to do: Either be a military writer, or be a fiction writer. Frankly, in both arenas, he fails. Quite miserably. There is virtually no plot development in this book, and the endless drudgery of military and technological description becomes mind-numbing, even to the most adherent military fiction fans. His writing is far from fluid, rather he utilises a blocky, counter-intuitive way to write, which makes this book doubly hard to get through.

He attempts to formulate some sort of character development between Daren and Rebecca Furness, both characters in this novel. Rather than adding dimension, however, it merely makes the characters even more cardboard-y: All Brown seems good at is describing missiles and aeroplane fuselage. Which is fine, if you're writing a military guide. And not so fine if you're writing fiction.

The premise of the story is simple enough: Taliban fighters are invading Turkmenistan. In the great name of Clancy, Brown can't help but to throw in some malevolent Russian forces to take a low jab at our Gulagian friends. Additionally, he throws a General (P. McLanahan) into the mix, a General who has faced his share of trials and tribulations, as well as military drama. Finally, there is a political twist: There are two candidates running for presidential office of the United States.

Truth be told, though, after five hundred+ pages of this book, and upon its finishing, I couldn't help but ask: What, exactly, happened? One never finds out the outcome of the political race, you don't quite find out what happens to any of the characters besides in their military circumstances...The characters accesorize the guns, rather than vice-versa.

It seems that Brown tries to do too many things at once, and as a result, doesn't even marginally succeed at any of them. I bought this book as a 'beach read' and figured I'd blow through it in about three days. Wrongo. It took me upwards of two weeks to finally finish it. The novel drags its feet in all the wrong places, and doesn't have any real plot development. I'm *not* looking for a literary masterpiece in the name of "The Red Badge of Courage," I was simply looking for an entertaining read.

Not really worth your time, unless you like to read an aircraft manual thinley veiled with what seem to be the threads of a plot line.

Rating:
Summary: Air Battle Force is too much tech, too little plot
Review: Having read several Dale Brown novels now, I'm tiring of his incredible attention to technical detail and seemingly too little effort in developing a story line. Air Battle Force takes way too much time telling us every detail of every tank, fighter plane and computer system while leaving the reader waiting and waiting for something to develop amongst the characters.

I'm also wondering how much more he plans to wring out of the Dreamland story with its fancy, tech-stuffed bombers and Tin Men.
If you want a far more intriguing read still full of lots of airplane and fighter action, read James Huston.

G Sinclair

Rating:
Summary: It Loiters and is Gratuitous
Review: I have read all of Dale Brown's novels and have enjoyed his work. As an author he took his tales a step further than others in the genre by researching/creating believable cutting edge technology that was operated by enjoyable characters. He did not create super heroes that belonged in comic books, rather pilots and their teams that would read as though they could be found in the armed forces of our nation. His political players were also credible and their behavior, however unsettling, never strayed beyond what we might read or hear of in the news. "Air Battle Force", is only the second of his books that I feel is poor, and it is weak because he treads the same ground he covered in his last workm and allowed a gratuitous mean streak that may have a visceral appeal but is out of place in his collected novels.

In the tale it is mentioned that all but 2 of the original crew from his first novel are gone. The majority of members are missing and those that remain are embittered and often place their own personal feelings and vendettas ahead of any manner of rational action. This is not the first book that stretches credibility by having his players break every manner of law without consequence, some now engage in behavior they once would have routinely condemned, and practice conduct the author would not have written of. When some of the, "good guys", engaged in electric shock torture I nearly put the book down. This type of vigilante behavior may appeal to the lowest common denominator of hatred but I don't believe it has any place when it is our armed forces that are portrayed as the practitioners. The armed forces are made of imperfect people but this does not mean their imperfections create monstrous behavior by default. It kills the credibility of the tale even though this is a work of fiction.

Dale Brown is also too established a writer to opportunistically use events in The Middle East for 2 consecutive books. The racist rhetoric went well beyond what was credible until it deteriorated in to simplistic bigotry. To read this book as well as his previous novel is to be subjected to the idea that every person who fights and is a Muslim is a deluded, violent psychopath who believes he is God's Instrument. This type of thinking is simplistic and not worthy of this writer.

I will again pick up his next book with the hope that he will once again bring new high technology and a great tale to readers, and will not recycle the same gadgets that have appeared in previous novels together with clichés about people and their beliefs that are as misguided as they are destructive.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: I read this book as a pre-read from the publisher. There was no synopsis on the back, so I really had no idea what the book was about. After reading it, I still can't figure it out. There really isn't a central plot thread. It's almost like this entire book is just the setup for the next one (which could be about a US-Russian shooting war, which would be great). One plot thread is about the evolution of the Air Battle Force, another is the adventures of the Taliban/Turkmen soldiers roaming around. And these threads really don't collide at all; the climax is a quick one-sided battle with the Russians that felt more like a Dale Brown technological briefing than a good battle description. Ever since the Old Dog was shot down in an earlier book, it seems like the climaxes of Dale Brown books are just ridiculously one-sided. To be fair, I haven't read all of his books.

Having said this, the book is definitely a page-turner, unlike some of his other recent novels that I just gave up on. Fun to read, but not in the same league as Old Dog or some of Tom Clancy's early books.

Rating:
Summary: this book stinks
Review: I've read every Dale Brown book published. This is not the same old Dale Brown we are used to. Hope it gets better from here, or I am done.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best but still good
Review: I've read every single one of Mr. Brown's books and this one is by far the weakest. Still good though but not his best. It was nice to see old characters like General Furness and Colonel Mace. But Thorn has to go. Hopefully he gets ousted from office in the next book. The plot in this one is kinda a weak but it seems to set up the next book nicely. (A war with Russia?) The robot planes are totally unbelieveable though. It breaks my heart to see Mr. Brown, a former navigator himself, take the real heros out of the picture. Whats the fun in flying if your gonna do it from the ground? A lot seems to be missing from Air Battle Force. But hopefully its just a set up for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best but still good
Review: I've read every single one of Mr. Brown's books and this one is by far the weakest. Still good though but not his best. It was nice to see old characters like General Furness and Colonel Mace. But Thorn has to go. Hopefully he gets ousted from office in the next book. The plot in this one is kinda a weak but it seems to set up the next book nicely. (A war with Russia?) The robot planes are totally unbelieveable though. It breaks my heart to see Mr. Brown, a former navigator himself, take the real heros out of the picture. Whats the fun in flying if your gonna do it from the ground? A lot seems to be missing from Air Battle Force. But hopefully its just a set up for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Really the same plot
Review: Like many reviewers I have read all of Dale Brown's books. But these last few seem to be the same thing over and over. General Patrick McLanahan disregards orders and saves the day. I am just getting a little tired of the plot always involving The President and his administration threatening/demoting/giving McLanahan a cold cup of coffee or whatever.

I also agree with a previous reviewer that there really isn't much suspense at the end, you know the high tech weapons will easily save the day. Its hard to connect psychology with high tech weapons, the humans seem to play second fiddle. Finally I have a really hard time with a Taliban hero.

Rating:
Summary: Still Keeps You Turning Pages - But The Story Is Uneven
Review: This is more like 3 1/2 stars. I have read them all - From Flight of The Old Dog to this one and while I always enjoy reading of flying of any kind, the more interesting aspect of this story to me was that of the Taliban incursion into Turkmenistan. The characters are interesting, believable and command your attention. However, you don't read Dale Brown without getting your regular dose of Patrick McClanahan and his latest additions to the United States ariel arsenal. Given the realities of todays military and politicians, it is doubtful that McLanahan would still be wearing a uniform unless it was orange, however, in Dale Brown's world he is the Energizer Bunny of the Air Force. The technological explanation of the weapons systems can get a bit daunting and the repeating of past stories to explain current situations and characters gets a little old, but Mr. Brown clearly likes the genre and continues to do it well.