Sparrow Squadron
by D.L. Jung
Genre: YA Historical Fiction/Action-Adventure
Release Date: February 2018
Summary:
“There was a time when flying didn’t mean looking over my shoulder for death coming at me.”
World War II. June 1941. Hitler’s war machine turns to the Soviet Union.
Escaping her hometown ahead of the Nazis, 16-year-old Aelya Makarova seizes a chance to live her dream. Obsessed with flying, she joins a women’s fighter squadron to defend her homeland against the invaders. She’ll go faster and higher than she’s ever gone before.
But the harsh reality of Air Force life shatters her expectations and forces her to grow up fast. The squadron is split by petty rivalries, male pilots treat them like a joke, and the ideal country she thought she was fighting for doesn’t really exist.
Finally given a chance to prove herself in battle, Aelya is pushed to breaking point. With all her talent, the help of her comrades, and a lot of luck, she might just make it through. But will there be anything left of her humanity?
With fast-paced action and a heart-rending mix of humour and tragedy, Sparrow Squadron is an adventure novel for young adults that brings an overlooked episode of history to life.
GUEST POST
4 Books with Unconventional Means of Flying
One of the great pleasures of writing stories about aviation is immersing myself in the romance of flying. This is especially true of the early days of human flight, before technological advances gave us discount “buses with wings.” Back then, you could simultaneously sense the danger and the possibilities. Early flying machines were wonderful examples of whimsy and imagination. Some authors of the fantastical have taken the idea of aviation and gone in remarkably memorable directions. Here are four of my favourite fictional and unconventional means of flying.
Space Elevator (Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel)
The Matt Cruse series imagines an alternate history steampunk world dominated by great airships. Huge cruise-liners are kept buoyant by “hydrium” gas, a fictional element much safer than hydrogen. But the most incredible invention (besides Canada being a world power, shout out) is the Celestial Tower in the third novel of the series. This is effectively an elevator to the stars. All the flying in these novels is so vividly and romantically imagined. I’d love to live in that world so much!
Shot From a Cannon (From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne)
When most people think of flying and Jules Verne, they picture a balloon from Around the World in 80 Days. But that never happened in his novel. It was just a product of the 1956 film. In any case, ballooning is far too mundane for this post. What made the cut was Verne’s vision of space travel: shooting a capsule out of an enormous cannon! You may remember this from the 1902 silent film adaptation, the one where the capsule pokes out the Man in the Moon’s eye. The resulting personal injury lawsuit set back lunar exploration for 67 years until Neil Armstrong’s landing.
Growing Your Own Vampire Batwings (The Bloody Red Baron by Kim Newman)
Anno Dracula, Kim Newman’s alternate historical fantasy series proposes a real Count Dracula marrying Queen Victoria and turning her vampire. It goes weirder and weirder from there. By the second book, we’re into the First World War. In an imaginative stroke, Newman speculates how the ability to turn into giant bats might be used militarily. Here, instead of flying biplanes and triplanes, the Red Baron and his Flying Circus are a gang of undead man-bats terrorizing the skies above No Man’s Land.
Magical Broom (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling)
Broomstick flying is not the focus of the Harry Potter books. But undoubtedly much of the appeal, for me at least, comes from the flying scenes, whether by car or by broom. What I remember most from the first book and especially the movie were the quidditch scenes. No, I didn’t imagine myself as a player. In my (as yet non-existent) fan-fiction, I picture myself as a quidditch coach. Not just any coach, but a Belichickian innovator/evil mastermind.
The rules of quidditch are completely ludicrous and unbalanced. If the golden snitch is worth an astounding 150 points and the game ends as soon as it’s caught, what is the point of the rest of the game? I would adjust tactics to take advantage, ruining quidditch for everyone as I lead House Ravenclaw (yeah that’s right, don’t @ me) to an unprecedented seventeen year run of glory before being taken down by dubious charges of illegally using a pensieve to steal opposing
About the Author
DL Jung has been an enthusiastic student of history since grade school, when he spent lazy afternoons flipping through an old Encyclopedia Britannica set. He enjoys blogging about history and writing historical fiction. He also writes fantasy and horror fiction as Darius Jung.
Jung is married, with two children, and lives in Toronto, Canada. They are lucky enough to spend part of the time in New Zealand. Outside of writing, he has tried stints as an industrial engineer, a film and TV script supervisor, an IT consultant, a professional game show contestant, and a grossly under-qualified business wear model. Sparrow Squadron is his debut novel.
Author Links: Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│Instagram│Amazon Page
Blog Tour Organized by: YA Bound Book Tours
Thanks for hosting.
My pleasure. Good luck Sandra.
Pingback: The Sparrow Squadron Blog Tour | DL Jung | Xinlishi Press
Thanking for sharing my guest post and spreading the word about my novel. This was one of my favourite posts to do!
You did a great job and I am very happy to share it.
With the possible exception of the space elevator, I think the airplane beats out all the other methods of flying in terms of general convenience, safety and not having to become un-dead.
Great post – made me smile.
Me too, but I love that D L gave us so many options. It makes me smile every time I come back to check it out. 🙂
This sounds like an awesome read.
Something about it spoke to me too.