Walt Shiel

Once a Knight is the first book in Walt Shiel’s Dawn of Aviation series and tells the story of ex-Texan Ranger turned British Royal Flying Corps pilot, Everett Ross.

Alongside Ross in the telling of this story of romance and aerial combat are the over-drawn caricatures of a supporting cast; Scottish Captain Bruce MacDougal, upper-crust English friend Lieutenant Christopher Yeates, and French love interest Genevieve Gauthier are all pitch-perfect in playing to type, down to carefully spelled out accents. Ross himself is also forced into this trap thanks to a liberal salting of ‘damn’ and other Americanisms over every other sentence he speaks.

The result is that the reader, having these characters so precisely sketched out for them, is unable to form an accurate picture in their own right.

The style of writing leaves me with the opinion that Walt Shiel initially set out to write this story as a movie script, and to that purpose it would be very well written. It is certainly a movie I would pay to see.

The story in and of itself stands up well despite what was sometimes too much technical detail, the romance audience is very different to the WW1 historical novel audience and by trying to cater to both, Shiel’s experience as an ex-pilot and military historian shines through and dominates.

Regardless of these criticisms, Once a Knight still provides an enjoyable read. Everett Ross is a likeable character who, understandably as the hero, has obstacles to overcome in order to win the affection of Genevieve. And, of course, he also needs to win over her mother, who sees him as little more than the latest swaggering pilot with an eye for her young daughter.

The battles constructed by the author certainly lend historical accuracy to the tale, and a level of seat-of-the-pants excitement that you wouldn’t get from an author without Shiel’s own experience and depth of knowledge. The detail embedded in the narrative elicits sympathy for Ross when he undertakes his quest to find the evacuated Genevieve, a dangerous journey which leads him behind enemy lines.

I read this book imagining it played out before me either on the screen, or as a serialised radio drama, which helped me overcome the issues I had with stereotyping. What was left was a good story.… (mehr)

The year is 1916, and former Texas Ranger, Everett Ross joins the Royal Flying Corps in England to help with the war effort. America did not officially get involved in World War I until a year later. Ross and his fellow pilots using Nieuport biplanes are involved in dogfights in France with the Germans. There are many crashes and some deaths as they battle the Germans in the air while the infantry fights on the ground. Lieutenant Ross loves the adventure but also enjoys his time off visiting the local drinking establishment. There he meets Genevieve, a French girl whose mother owns the bar and protects her daughter from the soldiers. Ross does not know the French language but he does know the international language of love and though the mother tries to keep them apart Ross does not give up but pursues Genevieve.

After time off one night, Ross returns to the barracks to find they have a new leader. With him also came the newest combat aircraft, the Sopwith Camel. Ross is a great pilot but even he is challenged when he takes this airplane up and puts it through its rounds. It takes some getting used to but with practice, Ross sees that this airplane gives much more control to the experienced pilot.

Author, Walt Shiel, himself a former Air Force pilot gives the reader the excitement of the combat and enough information about flying without getting too technical. The aerial duels seem very real and you as a reader are in the cockpit with Ross as he goes on missions. The story moves quickly and Shiel does well to combine the action and the romance. You are definitely rooting for Ross as he finds himself behind enemy lines looking for Genevieve. How does he get himself out of this mess? You will have to read Once a Knight to find out.

This book is part of The Dawn of Aviation Series and I look forward to reading more from Shiel who as a historian and pilot himself gives a personal touch to his stories.… (mehr)