The Tatra Eagle

by J. Victor Tomaszek

As war in 1680s Europe rages below, BOLESLAW RADOK shepherds and hunts in Poland's High Tatra Mountains. His father like all able bodied men is off at war and has neither trained his son in close combat nor left him a sword. Boleslaw is attacked by a wolf and limps home for bandaging, then barely survives a farm raid that kills his grandfather. Four Polish knights kill the brigands then deliver Bole's fallen father's sword, a dying comrade's last wish. Boleslaw struggles with two options: stay on the farm he cannot defend well or follow his father's path to a life at war. Why are the knights reluctant to train him? The Tatra Eagle is an historical novel climaxing at the 1683 Battle of Vienna, seat of the Holy Roman Empire.

385 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2012

Reviews

[Ola · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear....I'm a polish native and this is just painful to read. I'm sorry but the level of historical, geographical and linguistic inaccuracy is off the scale. Not to mention the marry your r*pist plot.

[Kieran Kaszkowiak · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't even have to read this to know that there is so many mistakes. Szabla means saber, not sword. Author knows nothing about Poland — I see it clearly in description. Szlachta isn't a title, it is a social status. There is not polish name like Mathias, it's Mateusz. Bolek couldn't be a husarz (this how people of husaria were called) if he was poor — how he was supposed to buy two horses, armour and a lot of weapon (a weapon for husaria could be damaged very easily)? Szlachcice (people that were szlachta) were christians but they didn't care that much about Church to donate all of their money — they only cared about themselves. Szlachcic would rather die before he would touch with his fingers a job for poor people. I know this is a historical fantasy but come on, author could do some research or ask someone who's actually polish!

[Filip Zakrzewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is great summary of „polish” americans. 0 reasearch, 0 right spelling and romantication of rape. The only book that should be burned and forgotten.

[Rora · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know, there is something heartwarming about people seeking out some sort of connection to their heritage, trying to appreciate it. However, this is NOT the way to do it.
I heard about this book from an American friend of Polish descent. She was absolutely obsessed with the book and wanted to share that joy with me - her only Polish friend. So I gave it a try. Read it whole. It was very awkward when I had to tell her that this is absolute garbage and a Polish 11 year old student would handle it better than the author. While it is clear that the author tried to do some very basic research on topics like armour and clothing, the attempt was not a successful one and probably not time consuming. There’s not a single page without some insanely outrageous inaccuracy - especially when it comes to the words and phrases written in Polish. Google is free. Translating words and fact-checking them takes seconds. It is just insulting to write “Choletta” so sure of yourself when you were supposed to write “cholera”. It’s even stranger considering that this word exists in English as well, it’s just not used in the same context. The author also misspelled “psia krew” (this is how you write it properly, I REFUSE to repeat more of the lingual atrocities committed in the original text) and even translated it as god’s blood - not even remotely close to the actual meaning. I take it that the author is very much Christian, therefore I’d like to inform him that this qualifies as blasphemy - “psia krew” means dog’s blood. No idea where the god thing came from. And that’s only one example.
Now, it seems like a common issue with Americans of Polish descent who want to promote their heritage seems to be that they insist on using Polish words and sentences without elementary knowledge about the language. It’s not any different in the case of this author who is not aware of the very principal rule of the Polish language - noun declension. That means endings of nouns change for all seven grammatical cases (the author seems to be in blissful ignorance of their existence), noun gender, number and the executed function. The author writes “Góralu” which is translated by him correctly into a man who comes from the mountains, but constantly uses that word in the vocative case, when it’s not appropriate and sounds severely out of place. If you want to use Polish words while writing in English and engage in declension of every single one of them - do it correctly. But the author doesn’t even know that he’s using “Góral” (nominative case, the one which should be used) in the vocative case. Once again. Google is free. And it would do well to remember that specific noun declension by grammatical cases is not needed when using Polish words in English sentences. Just use the nominative case. Not that hard.
Sometimes it is painfully obvious that the author was using google irresponsibly, no fact checking whatsoever. It is especially visible in the sentence “no to strzemiennego” while making the first toast. My vague assumption is that J. Victor Tomaszek googled “Polish toasts”, saw one phrase, wrote it down and called it a day. It is actually hell of an embarrassment, because strzemienny is the very last toast. It’s literally a goodbye toast. It’s just ridiculous. And it only gets worse when characters in their dialogues are explaining to each other their own national dishes. Polish people. Explaining Polish dishes. To other Poles. That’s a wild thing to write, Mr Tomaszek.
But the issue is not only that the words and sentences are butchered in all ways possible, it’s also that there are some completely unexplainable inaccuracies. A person who is interested in the Winged Hussars (and even writes a book including them) should know that impoverished nobles could not be Hussars because they would have to fund their own horses, armour and weapons. Membership was limited to wealthy nobles and the Hussars were the elite of the Polish army with a high social status to their name. I get that it’s fantasy, but it doesn’t excuse zero common sense. That is very basic knowledge. In the era of the internet, being this inaccurate with the simplest aspects of your book is just sloppiness.
Now this is my personal message to the author. There is a famous Polish book that all high schoolers in Poland are required to read. The title is “Wesele” (“The Wedding”, because I can validly assume that you do not speak Polish in the slightest), it’s a play from 1901 written by Stanisław Wyspiański-one of the greatest Polish writers. I urge you to read it very carefully, because your work is exactly what Wyspiański was mocking. It seems like you’re following a trend called “chłopomania” (literal translation: peasant mania) mixed with some fascination in terms of Polish nobility and the Winged Hussars. That is not healthy, it is delusion. You’re not appreciating your Polish heritage, you’re twisting it to your liking. This is not honouring our ancestors. This is slapping them across their faces. If you ever write something featuring Polish elements again, please do so with due respect and appropriate research. Our ancestors did not fight for this. They are rolling in their graves as you’re getting wrong every single word possible.
If there’s one sentence that can describe my overall opinion on this book, it’s something like this:
A superficial, sloppy piece of modern day peasant mania, lacking any respect for the culture or the language.

[Marc Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful storytelling, in a good old fashioned adventure. Many characters of deep faith within this story. A tale filled with morals, heroism, patriotism, love, loss, duty, honor, warmth, and humor. There is such great character development contained within this book, that there is easily great potential for a prequel book, and a sequel book, that could develop the further adventures of all of the main characters in this story. I hope that the writer will write them, as I'd really like to see more of all of these beloved characters that he created. As I read it, it seemed as if it mirrored many of the same issues that Poland and greater Europe is faced with today. I don't know if the writer intended that, or if it is just a coincidence, with history repeating itself in a strange way. In any case, it's a book that is both relevant to today, and one which can transport you to another time, and place. This writer created a wonderful story here, which can appeal to many. I believe it would make a great film, in this age of so much uncreativity, and rehashing of tired, old ideas. Do yourself a favor, and give it a read.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patriotism and Christianity at its finest. This book provides the reader with a perspective on faith, reason, love, honor, good and evil that has sadly gone out of style. The book reminds me of the trilogy by sienkiewicz . Would like to read more by this author.

[yHeretic · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Tatra Eagle is a glaring example of how inconsistent storytelling and a lack of respect for historical accuracy can undermine any literary potential. The narrative is filled with historical inaccuracies, with Polish names, places, and objects twisted into bizarre, broken versions that seem made up on the spot. Cities are misspelled, and well-known terms are transformed in ways that make it clear the author did little more than guess at the language. This distracting mishmash of “Polish-inspired” words—frequently mixing letters or confusing grammar—doesn’t lend any authenticity, only a sense of laziness.

Most disturbing, however, is the handling of the protagonist, who commits a sexual assault against a female character and faces no consequences. This lack of accountability is appalling, making it impossible to feel any sympathy for him or respect for the storyline.

In the end, The Tatra Eagle reads more like a caricature of Polish history than a genuine story, made worse by careless errors and cultural insensitivity. For the record: a “szabla” is simply called a saber. Its not a sword

[Ani Lou · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a Polish person reading this I felt...confused. The polish words used were often misspelled or just straight up invented, the historical events dont add up and the details are often wrong. Its clear that the author put very little effort into research, which is a shame. This book had potential but was a flop

[Mehrunes Drejgon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Czemu to istnieje? Z jakiej nory wypełzło?
Nie wiem i nie zamierzam marnować na sprawdzanie tego więcej czasu. Nie polecam więc tego nikomu innemu.

[Mateusz Kajewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Czy można tą książkę jakoś skasować?

[Jakub Brudny · Rating 1 out of 5]

XD

[J Victor Tomaszek · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Brothers Judd:
The Tatra Eagle (2018)

Author Info:
J. Victor Tomaszek

There are those special moments in the life of any avid reader when one discovers a book or author out of the blue and from then on can't imagine never having read him before. For me, one such author was discovered at my grandparents' apartment in Brooklyn when I found a long forgotten book on the shelf in my Dad's old bedroom : Knight Of The Cross: A Story Of The Crusades by Frederick L. Coe. This stirring tale of a young Viking who is healed after a battle by a traveling holy man and whose life is then pledged to serving the new Christian religion managed to combine action and pedagogy in a way that most modern authors would hesitate at even attempting. I read it so many times as a kid that the dust jacket is long gone; the binding is cracked; and the cover is faded. When he was old enough I gave it my oldest son and he devoured it too.

Then, twenty years later, W. S. Kuniczak began publishing new translations of the novels of a forgotten Nobel laureate, Henryk Sienkiewicz. Actually, not totally forgotten; his Quo Vadis? remained an all-time best-seller, in the manner of The Robe and Ben-Hur. But his cycle of Polish historical novels had long been out of print, owing in part to their awkward original translations by Jeremiah Curtin. In their newer versions they resembled nothing so much as the Star Wars movies, with a young hero joined by a trio of knights, including two who have to have influenced R2D2 and C3PO. Here again were tales of derring-do, patriotism and Christian faith.

So when J. Victor Tomaszek wrote to us and offered his own novel, a conscious sequel to Sienkiewicz's On the Field of Glory, we snapped it up. Sienkiewicz had died before completing his story of the second Siege of Vienna, so Mr. Tomaszek finishes it for him.

The story opens in the Tatra Mountains, where young Boleslaw Radok desperately tries to protect the family farm from wolves and raiders. His father is away fighting the King's wars and has not been able to train his son for combat. But he has been raised on stories of the glory of battle by his grandfather.

When their village is attacked once again, grandfather is killed, but the brigands are defeated by the timely intervention of four knights. They have come seeking to fulfill the final request Boleslaw's fallen father, to deliver the elder's sword to the son. The four, of course, stay on to train the boy and then take him with them to join King Jan Sobieski's war to liberate Vienna from the siege of the Turks under Kara Mustafa.

There, our heroes play a central role in the Battle of Vienna (1683), which saw Sobieski and an army of 80,000 defeat 130,000 Turks. Sobieski himself led the greatest cavalry charge in history and the tide was turned against Ottoman incursions into Europe.

The author proves a worthy successor to the tradition of Sienkiewicz, Coe and others like Alfred Duggan (whose novels also captivated me as a boy). For not only does he give us a rousing tale of adventure, he also infuses the text with beautiful passages expressing love of Polish patriotism, liberty and democracy and Christian duty. It is a novel that is just as edifying as it is exciting, a real Boys' Own throwback.

(Reviewed:23-Dec-14)

Grade: (A)

[J Victor Tomaszek · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Professor David Moran:
It is amazing and wonderful to at last encounter a book where the hero is human, believable, so real that we know instinctively that even we could be that hero. (“The Tatra Eagle” J. Victor Tomaszek)

Jim Tomaszek writes historical fiction in a way that takes us directly into the era of his hero Boleslaw Radok. The woods, the mountain snows, the markets and the village life become our own as we are led into his life and the character of his culture and environment. As we watch him grow in courage and capability, we are drawn into his very being and wrapped in the same joys and terrors into which he is thrust.

The time is the late Seventeenth Century. The Tatra Mountains of Poland are seeing war break out again all around them. Waves of invaders have swept across the land enslaving and destroying the people. Few are able to resist. Only the eagle of the Tatra peaks is really free among all of the creatures that inhabit the land. All the rest are tied to their earthly destinies.

And now the latest hoard of invaders, the Muslim Ottoman Turks, sweep in from the East and threaten to take Vienna, the gateway and last barrier to a complete loss of Europe and the destruction of Christianity. The call to arms goes to all of Europe, “Protect and defend Vienna at all costs, else we are all lost.”

Young Radok is caught up in this call, torn between defending his family in their village from marauding terrorists and fighting for history, he is borne forward by four knights who teach him that art of war and defense. His mission takes him to the besieged gates of Vienna where he accepts his final destiny.

Throughout his saga, there is no doubt that we are with him in mind, body and soul; we join in his quest, and through the power of Tomaszek’s prose, we become one with Boleslaw Radok.

[Timothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

J Victor Tomaszek does a masterful job of painting the scene of Poland in the 1680s and especially their critical role in the battle of Vienna, seat of the Holy Roman Empire. The story is a coming of age of young Boleslaw as the devastation of war is experienced. Priest, one of the four knights that effect Bole's maturation, is a character I would like to read about as a main character, perhaps in a prequel or sequel.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. It gave an excellent view of life in rural southern Poland in the late 17th century. Descriptions of different classes and how they interacted. The focus was on the Polish military and their famous battle at Vienna against the Muslim Turks. Wove in stories of preceding Polish military history, theology and philosophy. Excellent.