lordjim13's review
5.0
Fun little WWII story with a fantasy twist (of course). Just the right blend of action, character, worldbuilding, and pathos (though I quibble with some of the geography, ironically - it's probably me). 4.5, rounded up for Xmas.
tomunro's review
4.0
This is an entertaining little novella that does throw off expectations somewhat. Having read a lot of second world war aviation history, and cut my independent reading teeth on Captain W.E.Johns Biggles stories (and made an awful lot of Airfix plane kits) this book's opening plays strongly to my interests.
However, there is a clue in the blurb (and I tend not to read blurbs) that the reader would be wise to take note of. This is not the conventional wartime drama it first appears and, on entering the hanger, the story abruptly segues into an entirely different genre - albeit one that I am also familiar with and enjoy. From there the tale of our intrepid pilot and his formidable "aircraft" deftly straddles genres in pursuit of a daring search and rescue mission.
The tale feels - in someways - like an appetiser for a bigger story and there are questions left hanging in the air. Is this a parallel world, or a re-imagining of our world? After all Harry Potter is set ostensibly entirely in our world and our time, with an invisible culture and architecture of magic sitting alongside us utterly oblivious muggles.
In Ace, Matthews has pursued that same kind of dichotomy into wartime Britain, albeit with a far more open and explosive clash of the magical and non-magical cultures.
However, there is a clue in the blurb (and I tend not to read blurbs) that the reader would be wise to take note of. This is not the conventional wartime drama it first appears and, on entering the hanger, the story abruptly segues into an entirely different genre - albeit one that I am also familiar with and enjoy. From there the tale of our intrepid pilot and his formidable "aircraft" deftly straddles genres in pursuit of a daring search and rescue mission.
The tale feels - in someways - like an appetiser for a bigger story and there are questions left hanging in the air. Is this a parallel world, or a re-imagining of our world? After all Harry Potter is set ostensibly entirely in our world and our time, with an invisible culture and architecture of magic sitting alongside us utterly oblivious muggles.
In Ace, Matthews has pursued that same kind of dichotomy into wartime Britain, albeit with a far more open and explosive clash of the magical and non-magical cultures.
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