Aces tells at the same time an exciting, entertaining and dramatic story. A love-story set against the background of World War II, which examines anti-semitism, human corruptibility and a fascination with flight technology at its dawn. It approaches its historic subject unbiased and tells a tragic romance in the confusion of the Nazi-era and the war. The concept of a woman torn between an American Jew and a German industrialist's son…offers big emotions and heavy strokes of fate. Very satisfying. The further development has numerous action and war elements, but is concentrated on the personal relationships of the three main characters, with history in the background. Aces is an exciting and entertaining historical work.
Michael January's "Aces" is a roaring, aviation-fueled dogfight of a read, filled with romance, suspense, twists, turns, wonder and danger, perilous but so worth the flight. Well researched and enjoyable.
In the 1930s, Aaron Miller and Michael “Miki” von Steuven are both students at Princeton University and the best of friends, despite hailing from radically disparate backgrounds. Aaron’s father is a Polish immigrant who moved to New York nearly penniless and built a wildly successful construction business. Miki grew up in Westphalia; his father is a German noble and the family’s prestige and wealth are tied to an ancient pedigree. But both students are talented pilots, and bond over the amateur races they enter and routinely dominate. These competitions are thrillingly portrayed. The pilots’ friendship, though, is complicated by a shared passion for Lacy Dunbrough. While she loves Aaron, she’s perpetually frustrated by his unserious impetuosity, and her family unabashedly prefers Miki. Miki proposes to Lacy and she accepts. The two move to Germany but she is quickly dismayed by Hitler’s increasingly ominous rule and the malignant treatment of the nation’s Jewish population. Miki joins the Luftwaffe and is sent to Spain, and Lacy begins to worry that he has changed in some profound way she cannot countenance. Meanwhile, Aaron decides to decamp for Canada to join the Royal Air Force, eager to do his part as war finally breaks out in Europe. A grand showdown seems…inevitable, and the emotional stakes are effectively raised when Aaron believes Miki has shot down one of Aaron’s closest friends. In his propulsive tale, January vividly captures the fast-paced terror of combat in the air, and the peculiar mixture of precision and bravado displayed by the best pilots. An action-packed melodramatic war tale.
It begins with a thrilling flying competition…a rivalry between two former friends…turned to enemies fighting on opposite sides. The author weaves themes of friendship, romance, love, war, and loyalty into a perfect story…made more intriguing by numerous twists and turns. Fascinating… Action-packed... Astonishing… 4 out of 4 Stars!
“I’ve read and reviewed many World War II historical novels, history books and biographical accounts, and was most moved reading this book. Unforgettable…Compelling and real… Most Highly Recommended…” 5 Stars!
