Fans of Ben Kane discussion

General Discussion on Ben Kane.

Michael & Cynthia, thanks for joining its appreciated.

Alan,

Happy to be here. We love historical fiction, and the subjects Kane writes on, are fascinating.

Cheers Cynthia, yes they are and Ben really does his homework on subject matters, he walked the length of Hadrians Wall last year in full Roman attire for charity and last month walked from Capua to Rome.

Alan wrote: "Cheers Cynthia, yes they are and Ben really does his homework on subject matters, he walked the length of Hadrians Wall last year in full Roman attire for charity and last month walked from Capua t..."

Wow, that is dedication! We've taken a look at the books, and will read them. We like his style, and historical fiction has always been a favorite of ours.

Cynthia, thanks for looking, I really don't think you will be disappointed , one of the charities he did the walks for was ex service personnel dealing with combat stress, which I thought was a nice touch.
Hey and good look with your books and travelling in your RV, I'm jealous, haha.

Thanks, Alan

I've invited my GR friend and fellow author, Bill Ward, to join the group, and see he has. I know he's read Ben Kane and really enjoyed the books.

Cynthia

Thank you Cynthia, that's very kind, I will thank Bill. :-)

A big thank you to fellow GR member and author Bill Ward for joining the group.

A big thank you to Mike for joining the group.

A big thank you to Mike for joining the group.

Thanks for the invite.

Welcome, Mike. Glad to have you with us.

I see from you GR page that you speak fighter pilot.
My uncle was a pilot with the US Army Air Corps/Air Forces in Europe during WWII, and then in the Air Force in Korea. He retired as a Major. The photo is taken in England in 1943. My uncle is standing, 1st on the left,



Cynthia (The Garrett half of Garrett Smith)

Wow, what have I missed out in here, pilots, my ole man is a retired flyer to, happy landings to everyone .:-)

Garrett wrote: "Welcome, Mike. Glad to have you with us.

I see from you GR page that you speak fighter pilot.
My uncle was a pilot with the US Army Air Corps/Air Forces in Europe during WWII, and then in the Air..."

Cynthia, Thank you for that photo...they really are the Greatest Generation. How proud your family must be for his service. He was there during the toughest stretch of the airwar. Did your uncle tell you about his experiences in WWII and Korea?

Alan wrote: "Wow, what have I missed out in here, pilots, my ole man is a retired flyer to, happy landings to everyone .:-)"

What did your dad fly? Clearly he must be an exceptional guy. :)

My uncle told us very little about WWII and less about Korea. I do know that in the early days of WWII his plane went out with 99 others on a mission, and only his plane and 2 others returned without any casualties. Many of those planes went down.

He did tell me about some reconnaissance flights that he flew late in WWII to take trained French resistance back into France, some of them women. They would land in fields by the light of a farmer's lantern. He spoke very little of the danger, and mostly of the humor they all used to keep their spirits up.

We are very proud of him. He never lost his courage or concern for others, or his sense of humor. He's been gone for some time now, but he is still loved and missed.

Cynthia

Hi Mike, he passed his ATPL/IR many years ago but decided to stay as a flying instructor to the young kids, biggest he flew was a 747/400 which he had to pass out on. With the instructing it was the normal 4 seat Cessna or 150 and Kingair.

Cynthia, I don my hat to your uncle what a guy.

A big welcome to Simon, thanks for joining the group.

Welcome, Simon.

Hi Steven, thanks and welcome to the group, thanks for joining.

Welcome, Steven.

Ben is also on Twitter, if you would like to follow him you can at @BenKaneAuthor.

Ben's new book which he's writing at the moment will be called, Eagles At War.

Welcome to the group Andrew, thanks for joining.

Andrew,

Welcome to the group. I see from your GR profile page that you are an expert in both ancient and modern geopolitical conflict. The connection of the ancient to the current was made clear to me in the summer of 1991 when I was studying law in Budapest. The war in Yugoslavia broke out and was a very big concern there. I asked a young Hungarian attorney what the war was about and he began, "Well, in the 1400's..."

All the best
Cynthia (The Garrett half of Garrett Smith)

One thing that I love that the Romans gave us is a nice steam, can't beat it. :-)

Hey there, happy Monday to you all, if any members have read any of Ben Kane's books it would be great if you could post a review.

Cheers

Alan

My first "Kane": https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mike, thank you for posting all reviews are helpful.

Hey Mike, do you have a PPL and what plane do you fly?

Michael and Cynthia, hope you are both well, any trips planned in the RV?

Alan wrote: "Hey Mike, do you have a PPL and what plane do you fly?"

I have a Piper Cherokee 180 (with a partner). An old one (kinda like me) but it gets around nicely.

Mike, that's excellent how many hours do u have in your log book and do you get up often? My ole man has retired now so only time i fly is on commercial these days.

Alan, Our next big RV trip will be next spring when we will travel along to the west coast and then up to Washington state. We will return through the middle of the country.

Michael wanted me to tell everyone thank you for introducing him to the work of Ben Kane. He is about a third of the way through The Forgotten Legion and loves it. He tells me he is learning a lot as well as enjoying the read. He intends to read all of Kane's work now.

Hi Cynthia, good to hear from you and that RV trip sounds rather tasty :-)

I'm really pleased Michael is liking Bens book and wants to read the rest, they are very informative about Roman ways if battle and their gods and living practises, Happy reading.

Take Care

Alan

Here are Ben's words on himself and why he started writing.

" All about me – where to start? Well, I was born in Kenya, courtesy of the fact that my dad was working out there as a veterinarian. We moved to Ireland (where my parents are from) when I was 7, and that’s where I grew up. Did the usual school thing, whilst becoming an avid reader of just about any genre, but especially military and historical fiction. I spent nearly all my pocket money on books and devoured the contents of the local library. Favourites included Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s medieval tales, Sir Nigel and The White Company; I did love the Sherlock Holmes books too though. Other top books were Rosemary Sutcliffe’s Eagle of the Ninth and The Silver Branch, Henry Treece’s Viking sagas, as well as loads of fantasy – JRR Tolkien, Guy Gavriel Kay, Julian May, Roger Zelazny and Stephen Donaldson. I’ll stop now…

Although I loved reading, I never really thought about studying English or writing. Why, I’m not completely sure. As a real animal lover, all I’d ever wanted to be was a veterinarian, so that’s what I put on my university application form. Five years in college followed – a great time was had by all – and then a career in veterinary started. In 1996, I moved to the UK to concentrate on ‘small’ animal practice. But my itchy feet took me abroad in 1997, on a 3 month solo trip along part of the ancient Silk Road. Visiting the ruins of Merv, in Turkmenistan, started my interest in the Roman campaign into Parthia in 53 BC.

I felt the urge to travel again soon after returning, and in 1998, I set out on a trip around the world which lasted for nearly 3 years. It was during this prolonged time abroad that I first had thoughts of writing military historical fiction – sparked first I think by wondering what I could do apart from being a veterinarian.

I returned to the UK in early 2001, dragging myself back to ‘reality’ and the ‘real world’ of a career, a mortgage and so on. The terrible Foot and Mouth outbreak occurred a month or so after my return, and I volunteered almost immediately. The work took me to the stunning county of Northumberland, and the buzzing city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I was to spend nearly a year. While the work of slaughtering livestock was truly awful – to put it mildly - I was able to visit some of the amazing Roman sites and museums along Hadrian’s Wall as well.

These were places that I had longed to visit as a child, and my imagination ran riot as I stood on the craggy ridges looking north, and wondering what the Italian legionaries first posted here must have thought. How had the Scottish tribes reacted to the mighty structure which dwarfed anything they’d seen before? My determination to become a writer emerged then, and I started writing not long afterwards.

What started as a hobby soon became an obsession, and about four years later The Forgotten Legion emerged into the light. Through the hard work of Charlie Viney, my amazing agent, I managed to land a book deal in the summer of 2007. Things since then have been a bit crazy – working as a veterinarian, writing, having kids etc. but it’s great fun too. Thanks to my wife and son and newly arrived baby daughter for keeping me grounded, most of the time."

This from Ben on June 6th.

I'm involved in a new, exciting project with five other authors - it's to be a short story anthology, set in and around Pompeii at the time of the eruption...

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

Looking forward to this.

Hi, hope everyone is ok, just thought I would say a quick hello, so hello haha.

Happy Reading

Alan

I really enjoyed the TV Series Rome, hate it when they cancel a series midway through a story it's most frustrating.

On this day in 1690 The Battle Of The Boyne was faught in Ireland.

Hi all for anyone who is interested this is happening in September, please click on the following link

http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=2...

Thanks

Ben has had this to say:-

Eagles at War
Hunting the Eagles
Eagles in the Storm

These are the working titles of my new trilogy...

Book One will be set in the summer of 9 CE, and is about the lead up to the massacre in the Teutoberg, and the battle itself. It will come out in the UK in 2015.

Book Two is set in the years 14-16 CE, and is about the Roman punitive campaigns into Germania, and the hunt for the missing eagles. It will come out in the UK in 2016.

Book Three is effectively a prequel, and is set in the years 6-9 CE, and is about the Pannonian rebellion, which prevented a Roman invasion of Germany, and which took 3 bloody years to put down. It will come out in the UK in 2017.

Originally, I was going to write Eagles in the Storm first, but my editor felt very strongly that we should go out with the iconic battle. I tend to agree. The order I'll write the next two isn't certain yet - what do you all think?

And Hanno and Quintus will return, never fear. I still have two, or three, Hannibal books to write.(less)