Fata Morgana
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4.3 • 49 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
At the height of the air war in Europe, Captain Joe Farley and the baseball-loving, wisecracking crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress Fata Morgana are in the middle of a harrowing bombing mission over eastern Germany when everything goes sideways. The bombs are still falling and flak is still exploding all around the 20-ton bomber as it is knocked like a bathtub duck into another world.
Suddenly stranded with the final outcasts of a desolated world, Captain Farley navigates a maze of treachery and wonder—and finds a love seemingly decreed by fate—as his bomber becomes a pawn in a centuries-old conflict between remnants of advanced but decaying civilizations. Caught among these bitter enemies, a vast power that has brought them here for its own purposes, and a terrifying living weapon bent on their destruction, the crew must use every bit of their formidable inventiveness and courage to survive.
Fata Morgana—the epic novel of love and duty at war across the reach of time.
“With Fata Morgana, Steven Boyett and Ken Mitchroney have created a work that defies categorization, unless that category is “engrossing, brilliant story-telling.” They breathe life into the past and the future, in a book that manages to be both thought-provoking and thrilling. I loved it!” -Jan Burke, New York Times best-selling author of Bones and The Messenger
“Gripping adventure stuff: a perfect updating of a classic mode of science fictional storytelling, modernized without losing any of the charm of those old, glorious war novels.”
-Cory Doctorow, New York Times best-selling author of Walkaway
“Action, adventure, cool speculative events, well-drawn characters, and an ending that sticks the landing: Fata Morgana pushes all my happy buttons.” — John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author
“The twists, turns, and adrenaline never stop flowing in Fata Morgana. You will be transported to another world in more ways than one. Easily one of the hardest hitting science fiction books of 2017!” — Nicholas Sansbury Smith, USA Today bestselling author of Hell Divers
“So gripping and real it felt as if it were logged just minutes after landing. Fata Morgana is squarely in the ranks of the most classic and ingenious science fiction—a masterwork of purest cinema, relentlessly charming and inventive to the end.” — Chris Sanders, director of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon
“A rip-roaring adventure full of heart, duty, and sacrifice, Fata Morgana is a perfect combination of historical-novel authenticity and space-opera splendor. I couldn’t put it down, and the ending made me cry.” — Brooke Johnson, author of the Chroniker City series
“Fata Morgana is genre-bending, epic, and wholly original: an unexpected, fascinating page-turner.” —Lee Kelly, author of A Criminal Magic and City of Savages
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Writer Boyett and film director Mitchroney team up for this fast-paced alternate-world tale that opens at the height of WWII. Capt. Joe Farley and the crew of Fata Morgana, a B-17 "flying fortress," are in the midst of a harrowing bombing mission when they're hurled across time and space into a strange new world. Once there, they must adapt to their environment while fighting off villains wielding centuries-old destructive technology. The prose is energetic, combining some of the gentler wit of Catch-22 with riffs on dystopian fiction clich s. Boyett and Mitchroney elevate the pulpy vibe with unusual and fully developed protagonists. The fated-romance plotline is familiar to the point of triteness, but it only drags the rest of the story down a bit. Fans of fun SF will enjoy this tale in the tradition of Forstchen and Morrison's Crystal Warriors books and Taylor Anderson's Destroyermen series.
Customer Reviews
See AllFata Morgana
Sweet enjoyable story.
Two Thumbs Up
"Fata Morgana" is a great yarn - highly enjoyable; not like anything else; and impressively believable, given that most of it is science fiction. It must be because the World War II set-up is so realistic - since I learned to trust the book in the first section, it was easy to keep up that willing suspension of disbelief when things went weird. History became science fiction and I went along gladly, as confused as the crew of the bomber when they were pulled out of their world - but very glad to be on the journey.
The characters are well-thought-out and appealing; they each maintain their motivations throughout (and you know that's rare in so many books, when lesser authors ignore the fundamental natures they gave their own characters so as to write their way out of a jam - but not these authors!). The plot is innovative and not like anything else you've read (well - not like anything else I'VE read, and now I regret that; I want more!). And the humor is deft and neatly interwoven. I was sorry to realize I'd burned through half the book without realizing it, and I'd say that's as good a recommendation as I can give. I'd recommend this to a friend - so I recommend it to you!
By the way - I'm always a little suspicious of effusive reviews; is the writer a friend of the author's? Work for the publisher? Hired to bump up the good press? I'm none of the above; just a reader like any other in search of a good story. This time I found it.
History perfectly seamed with science fiction
The most important part of any novel is if you enjoyed reading it. Fata Morgana was completely enjoyable. The historical elements were well rendered. I am no aviation or history expert but I am familiar with both and this book was faithful to both. The science fiction elements were simple and familiar but were used in the story to excellent effect. There were minor plot conveniences but none so glaring as if to distract from the overall story. The main feature was the overall readable quality and consistent pacing that made this a very enjoyable read. This is a style of story that I miss these days: good story telling with likable characters with no major lesson to teach. Fun to read in every way!