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The Lighthouse in the Sky: The Goosefare Chronicles Book 1
He thought he could make his fortune in the wilds of 1930s China, but never expected to become a target of the Empire of Japan. Capt. Mossfar de Crossfer Rain and the crew of the Sky-Fortress class heavy bomber Goosefare had taken a job to train aviators in the Middle Kingdom, but when they accidentally kidnap the Chinese President, they find themselves on the run from Imperial assassins. In a chance foray into the Devil’s Sea, they come across a haunting vision that theirs is not the only version of the 1900s, and that their reality hopping aircraft could change the course of history. But the Empire of Japan will stop at nothing to get their hands on the strange aircraft, and the crew must use all their wit and wiles to stay alive and save the world from the looming invasion of Pearl Harbor.
If you enjoy an alternate history epic like "Firefly meets Inglorious Basterds in 1930s China," then you'll love this thrilling adventure. Buy now before the price changes!
If you enjoy an alternate history epic like "Firefly meets Inglorious Basterds in 1930s China," then you'll love this thrilling adventure. Buy now before the price changes!
323 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 20, 2020
36 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 15, 2023
A strange anti-Japanese tale
Under the guise of a military fantasy, B.Y. Yan has created a moral tale about how the Japanese abused the Chinese during the occupation of Manchuria.
This is an alternate China, and so not all that he writes is historically accurate regarding the beginnings of the Second World War. The evil Japanese “7 star admiral”, Hirate Shigetomo, is a made up character, although Chinese leaders such as Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and his son Chiang Ching-Kuo (who in real life became president of the Republic of China on Taiwan) are important parts of the story.
The primary protagonists are of course completely fictional. Cousins from an unnamed, conquered nation, they are aviators— he is a hotshot young man with a cowboy accent in English, having learned it from an American westerner; she’s a linguistic savant, fluent in at least 8 or 9 languages, and by far the better pilot of the two. With them is the Raj of Bombay who they picked up in Constantinople, with the Raj’s pet corgi. And also, they have one really important asset— a superfortress bomber, the Goosefare, with computer technology not known to our world in the 1930s.
They also become involved with Taoist scholars and mages, the young leader of whom has a few important secrets, as well as a surprisingly important role in China’s fragile government.
The book has some real problems. I’m pretty sure that English is B.Y. Yan’s second language, although his English is excellent. There are sentences with lines such as “…containers plopped with bourbon, scotch, and strong whiskey,” leaving the reader wondering what “plopped” was supposed to mean. He describes factories filled with forced laborers working around the clock, but then says, “Workers crawled over them, banging away with their instruments.” Workers crawled over the factories? Banging on instruments? These, combined with a number of subject-verb agreement errors, make believe B.Y. Yan would benefit from a good copy editor or some native speaker Beta readers.
[He might also have someone check his military material. He apparently believes that note only is a carbine a machine gun (it isn’t), but also that it never needs reloading. A simple internet search would help here.]
There is an interesting novel here, admidst its issues, and I continued reading despite my frustrations. I’ve read a good deal of WWII history, and while this is definitely taking place in an alternate world, his descriptions of how the Japanese saw other nations and peoples, and the way in which they treated the Chinese in Manchuria and elsewhere, is sadly accurate (photos from the Rape of Nanjing show Japanese officers beheading people in the streets in an apparent competition, for example).
So, while I won’t recommend this book for its literary merit, it remains worth the read for an understanding of not just history but of how at least one Chinese author still views Japanese expansion.
Under the guise of a military fantasy, B.Y. Yan has created a moral tale about how the Japanese abused the Chinese during the occupation of Manchuria.
This is an alternate China, and so not all that he writes is historically accurate regarding the beginnings of the Second World War. The evil Japanese “7 star admiral”, Hirate Shigetomo, is a made up character, although Chinese leaders such as Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek and his son Chiang Ching-Kuo (who in real life became president of the Republic of China on Taiwan) are important parts of the story.
The primary protagonists are of course completely fictional. Cousins from an unnamed, conquered nation, they are aviators— he is a hotshot young man with a cowboy accent in English, having learned it from an American westerner; she’s a linguistic savant, fluent in at least 8 or 9 languages, and by far the better pilot of the two. With them is the Raj of Bombay who they picked up in Constantinople, with the Raj’s pet corgi. And also, they have one really important asset— a superfortress bomber, the Goosefare, with computer technology not known to our world in the 1930s.
They also become involved with Taoist scholars and mages, the young leader of whom has a few important secrets, as well as a surprisingly important role in China’s fragile government.
The book has some real problems. I’m pretty sure that English is B.Y. Yan’s second language, although his English is excellent. There are sentences with lines such as “…containers plopped with bourbon, scotch, and strong whiskey,” leaving the reader wondering what “plopped” was supposed to mean. He describes factories filled with forced laborers working around the clock, but then says, “Workers crawled over them, banging away with their instruments.” Workers crawled over the factories? Banging on instruments? These, combined with a number of subject-verb agreement errors, make believe B.Y. Yan would benefit from a good copy editor or some native speaker Beta readers.
[He might also have someone check his military material. He apparently believes that note only is a carbine a machine gun (it isn’t), but also that it never needs reloading. A simple internet search would help here.]
There is an interesting novel here, admidst its issues, and I continued reading despite my frustrations. I’ve read a good deal of WWII history, and while this is definitely taking place in an alternate world, his descriptions of how the Japanese saw other nations and peoples, and the way in which they treated the Chinese in Manchuria and elsewhere, is sadly accurate (photos from the Rape of Nanjing show Japanese officers beheading people in the streets in an apparent competition, for example).
So, while I won’t recommend this book for its literary merit, it remains worth the read for an understanding of not just history but of how at least one Chinese author still views Japanese expansion.
March 14, 2024
An unusual book for these modern times. It seems to have been written in the style of an English turn of the century novel and a 30's pulp crammed together. It's very slow to get started and outside of political conflict nothing happens until halfway through the book. The main characters are locked away and the reader seems to be as well. When they finally make their escape it is to another confusing imprisonment, a confusing battle and a confusing escape to another world. I won't be reading book two.
December 14, 2020
OK read
This was an interesting read. This is not the type of book that I normally read and while it held my attention it had a fairly transparent plot.
This was an interesting read. This is not the type of book that I normally read and while it held my attention it had a fairly transparent plot.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews