|ZiR| said:
I haven't been (un)fortunate enough to read Caidin's two novels yet. I've heard the "more like an aircraft manual" critism before. Are they really that horrible? What is it, like constant aviation descriptions/references throughout the story?
ZiR, I wouldn't say they were horrible, just not Indiana Jones.
It's rather like biting into an oatmeal raisin cookie, expecting it to be a chocolate chip. I don't hate the former - but when I'm in the mood for chocolate chip, it's a bit of a let down.
There are very lengthy technical expositions on Trimotor aircraft, the special modifcations, the freight capacity, air speed, altitude, caliber and type of machine guns....etc...etc...etc...and then detailed specs on German airships, how many gas compartments holding how much hydrogen, what the cruising range is, what the fabric covering the tanks consisted of....etc...etc...
If you are an aviation buff, I suppose you'd really like it, but it gets a bit dry otherwise.
IJ also does next to no archaeology here; he's more like a pure special agent. (How did he know so much about aircraft technology?)
This read like Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy.
BTW - the second of the two Caidin novels,
The White Witch, is much better and reads a bit more like IJ, but still not to the same degree as McCoy or McGregor. Between the two, this by far the best IMO. Indy is more like Indy again (he's like pigs on roller skates trying to learn to fly a plane), there is interesting archaeology / mythology involved once again, and the technical aircraft jargon is toned down. It almost seems as if Caidin got negative feedback from
Pirates, and took a bit of a different tact for the second book.