Back on Track

New reviews coming soon! I'll be importing my work from the past two years, but in the meantime,
I'm reclaiming my small place on the web.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Fiction Review

Loop the Loop
by Dan Spencer
ISBN-10: 1411639936
Review by Heather Froeschl

The newest thing to hit the nation draws crowds of spectators anxious to marvel at the skies overhead. Airplanes take the stage and their pilots make names for themselves through daring stunts and death defying (for the most) acts. It is 1912 and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss is stealing the thunder of the Wright Brothers. Or is he? Curtiss planes become much sought after. And the star of the expositions, stunt flyer Lincoln Beachey, outdoes himself with every new trick. When Herkimer Dawes witnesses a stunt show he becomes smitten with the prospect of flying.

Born into considerable wealth, Herkimer is unused to having to struggle for goals. He wants nothing to do with his family's soap making business though, and sets out to become a pilot. It turns out he has a natural talent and his flying is as graceful as that of a hawk. He eventually becomes second fiddle to his own inspiration, Lincoln Beachey.

Herkimer's life is quite the up and down ride. He becomes involved with an up and coming young actress, whose goals include the new flickers. Eloise is not quite what she seems, or at least Herkimer doesn't see her for what she is until it is too late. He travels with expositions where lesser pilots lose their lives in attempts to imitate the great Beachey. His family life is in uproars with his brother a major league baseball player, his sister somewhat timid, and his father working diligently to keep the business afloat.

Will Herk come to emulate his hero or will he continue down his own path with his talent at flying to soothing sounds of Brahms, demonstrating a perfection of flight?

Dan Spencer has a talent for immersing the reader into an earlier time. Opinions, attitudes, social customs and patterns of speech are all a bit different than what we witness in 2005. The feel of his novel, Loop the Loop, is enticing and interesting as one is transported back to the Progressive Era. It is exciting to witness the growth of airplanes, moving pictures, and baseball, as we know it. The story is a personable one, the characters real and humanly flawed. I very much enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in aviation, or the early 1900's.

No comments:

Post a Comment