Double Eagle

Warhammer 40,000

By: Dan Abnett

Narrated by: Toby Longworth

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

A Sabbat Worlds novel.

The war on Enothis is almost lost. Chaos forces harry the defenders on land and in the skies. Can the ace pilots of the Phantine XX turn the tide and bring the Imperium victory?

Listen to it because:

It takes the famous Sabbat Worlds Crusade to the skies, with fast-paced aeronautical action, memorable characters and compelling emotional arcs from Dan 'Master of War' Abnett.

The story:

High-speed air combat in the war-torn Sabbat Worlds!

When the elite fighter pilots of the Phantine XX arrive on the beleaguered world of Enothis, they know it is a desperate hour. The forces of Chaos are closing in, and their final push could well wipe out all human life on the planet. Thousands of refugees flee the dark armies, and the infamous Chaos fighter pilot Khrel Kas Obarkon is always hunting the skies for more prey....

And so it falls to the brave men and women of the Phantine fighter corps. Can they hold off the Chaos advance until reinforcements arrive? In the high-speed, white-knuckle terror of aerial combat, can they defeat an enemy possessed by daemons?

Written by Dan Abnett. Running time 10 hours and 17 minutes. Narrated by Toby Longworth.

©2019 Dan Abnett (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited

Pleasantly surprised

I'm a big fan of WWII era aviation history and reading about the air combat that took place all around the world at the time, so cue my surprise when I discovered that Double Eagle read a lot more like WWII air combat stories than Top Gun.

Pacing.

Black Library novels have a really bad habit of being all over the place with pacing. But this book nails the pacing dead on. I was listening on the edge of my seat for much of the story. It rolls in and out of air battle scenes effortlessly and in a way that feels realistic for the situation at hand. The descriptions of action taking place in a 3D environment were very well crafted and it was easy to see things happening in my head as they took place. Kudo's to Dan Abnett on achieving this feat because it's not always easy to describe things that are happening when there's a whole other plane (no pun intended) to describe throughout the action.

The characters were all believable and had very human motivations and goals. Some were true patriots, some were there for the thrill, some were true aviation professionals, some were whiny bastards you wanted to slap and some were egotistical pricks. Basically just like any flight deck in any country in the world. But very few of them stayed that way through the entire novel. Most had changed by the end, which was enjoyable to see.

The only negative thing I could say about this book is that it spends 99% of the time with the "good guys" of the story and a very weird 1% of the time with the "bad guys" of the novel. Honestly, that 1% spent from the bad guys was completely unnecessary and could have been cut. If I had been the editor, that's exactly what I would have done. Let the bad guys be these nameless and faceless horrors that our hero's are fighting against. No need to cut to the bad guys for their pointless thoughts.

Other than that, I'd place this in the top five of the dozens of Black Library / 40K books I've read. Of all the ones on my list, this one I can see myself reading again in another couple of years or so when I start to forget parts of the story. It was definitely worth the purchase.

Kudos yet again to Toby Longworth for another outstanding narration. If my life were interesting enough to be narrated one day, then I'd want you to narrate it.

Amazing

This is a very good book to listen too . I would definitely recommend this book to anyone

Engaging!

Loved this, especially as someone new to war hammer 40k. Also, incredible narration. Highly recommend!

Aerial combat and character development at its finest

Dan and Toby are a fearsome duo. Double eagle is a another of my favorites from them

Pretty good too many characters somewhat

Who is a pretty good route especially at the end but it was for me kind of hard to follow along in the beginning he got a little bit easier in the end though

BATS BATS BATS

Abnett shines in this dogfight thriller, weaving varied characters and storylines into a trademark cataclysmic ending.

Stoop and Sting

Great story into the lives of Imperial Guard pilots. The showcase and descriptions were amazing and the multiple characters didn’t feel shallow or less than any other even the more main characters are portrayed as equals to their side characters. Great tale all around.

good book

enjoyed listening to the book would listen to it again will listen to it again and probably four to six months recommend it to anyone.

GREAT READ

Double Eagle is one of my favorite books. It combines two of my favorite subjects: air combat and Warhammer 40,000. Dan Abnett is a very talented 40k author.

Arial combat novel first with a warhammer 40k feel

starts slow and did not hook me Intel midway through the book. first and foremost it is a arial combat novel. with a warhammer 40k coat of paint, and that works ok just something to be aware of.