Great Flying Stories

by Frederick Forsyth

Collects some of the best short stories about aviation by this century's greatest writers, including H. G. Wells, Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Len Deighton, J. G. Ballard, and Richard Bach. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Aviation, Short Stories

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Frederick Forsyth, CBE was a English author and occasional political commentator. He was best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan, and more recently, The Cobra and The Kill List.

The son of a furrier, he was born in Ashford, Kent, educated at Tonbridge School and later attended the University of Granada. He became one of the youngest pilots in the Royal Air Force at 19, where he served on National Service from 1956 to 1958. Becoming a journalist, he joined Reuters in 1961 and later the BBC in 1965, where he served as an assistant diplomatic correspondent. From July to September 1967, he served as a correspondent covering the Nigerian Civil War between the region of Biafra and Nigeria. He left the BBC in 1968 after controversy arose over his alleged bias towards the Biafran cause and accusations that he falsified segments of his reports. Returning to Biafra as a freelance reporter, Forsyth wrote his first book, The Biafra Story in 1969.

Forsyth decided to write a novel using similar research techniques to those used in journalism. His first full length novel, The Day of the Jackal, was published in 1971 and became an international bestseller and gained its author the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. It was later made into a film of the same name.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I was a pilot in a previous life. I had to read this book.

A simple collection of short stories, some tedious, some enjoyable, all dealing with flight. It's a fun read if you find it in a collection somewhere, but nothing too special.

The biggest problem I had is that it would go from a story that had me laughing and enjoying its ridiculousness, right into a story that tried to be supremely serious. If you're goinf to read it, only read one at a time, then put it down for a bit.

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories of flying, mostly from WWI and WWII but some even earlier. Some really odd authors like H.G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who wrote before the Wright brothers ever flew. Others who you would not associate with flying like Roald Dahl and Len Deighton, but with some classic flying writers like Flying Officer X. The wildest was the Poe story, which I at first believed to have been heavily influenced by Jules Verne. Some research revealed that Verne was a huge fan of Poe, and that it was Verne's stories that were influenced by Poe and not the other way around. Some straight up flying stories, some more like ghost stories, and a few 19th century steampunk adventures. Very entertaining.

[Fátima Fernandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uma destas histórias, da autoria do próprio editor, THE SHEPERD, é um dos melhores contos que conheço, e é certamente a história de fantasmas de que mais gosto.

[Darnoc Leadburger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd one to write a review of over a month after reading it. It's an odd book in itself - it's a collection of 'great flying stories,' which means there's a mix of historical/war fiction, macabre fiction, an even early science fiction via H. G. Wells. The latter were some of my favorite, but a couple of the horror-tinged tales - specifically Poe's and Doyle's - stuck with me too. The more 'realistic' ones haven't stuck with me very well a month later, but nothing was real boring to read.

[Natt Cham · Rating 3 out of 5]

จากปก ทีแรกคิดว่าเป็นนวนิยายที่เขียนโดย Frederick Forsyth และเป็นแนวสงคราม แต่พอเริ่มเปิดอ่านกลับพบว่าเป็นหนังสือระบบเรื่องสั้นเกี่ยวกับการบินที่แต่งโดยนักเขียนเลื่องชื่อหลากหลายท่าน ซึ่ง Frederick Forsyth รวบรวมไว้ได้อย่างน่าสนใจ โดยเฉพาะเรื่องสั้นคลาสสิคหลายๆ เรื่องซึ่งจัดได้ว่าเป็นแนว Scientific Romance เรื่องในเล่มประกอบด้วย
- เครื่องบินลำแรกของผม ("My First Aeroplane") เขียนโดย เอ็ช. จี. เวลส์ *****
- ฮันส์ พาลล์ผจญภัย "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall" ,เอ็ดก้าร์ อลัน โป *****
- มหาภัยเหนือฟ้า ,เซอร์อาร์เธอร์ โคแนน ดอยล์ ****
- เหนือฟ้ายังมีฟ้า ,กัปตันดับบลิว. อี. จอห์น ***
- ผู้ยิ่งใหญ่ ,เอ็ช. อี. เบทส์ **
- บินทะลุมิติ, โรอัลด์ ดาห์ล ****
- คนนำทาง, เฟรเดอริค ฟอรร์ไซธ์ *****
- ภารกิจยามเช้า, เลน เดตัน ***
- เกาะในฝัน, เจ. จี. บัลลาร์ด ***
- แมวนำโชค, ริชาร์ด บาค ****
- ผู้บุกเบิก, เอ็ช. จี. เวลส์ ***
- เส้นทางนรก, เอ็ช. อี. เบทส์ ***
- ข่าวสำคัญ, เอฟ. บริทเทน ออสติน **
- พระเจ้าขอมา, จอห์น บูแชน **

[Paul Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read of diverse stories about flying written over a large time period. Some stories were clearly based on personal experiences, others clearly fictional. An interesting compilation.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 2 out of 5]

174 - 2015