It was a great time to read this author's books and knowing that the war was coming to America soon. The author has penned many books, some very long, but this is my favorite! ( )

The incomparable L. Ron Hubbard's pulp fiction is being reprinted by Galaxy Press with a new release each month through 2014. Hubbard's talent is evident on every page of On Blazing Wings, an air adventure story originally published in the May, 1940 issue of Five-Novels Monthly. On Blazing Wings struck a chord with me, perhaps because it's a combination of fantasy and air adventure. Airman David Duane's story is not one you'll likely forget. On Blazing Wings is far more somber than any of the other air adventure stories Hubbard wrote, and its fair to say it's a love story thinly disguised as an adventure tale. But the romantic element isn't pronounced because LRH is more concerned with how David Duane arrives at a fateful decision in his life. The conclusion, which I won't reveal, is evident from the preface, but the tale is so well told that it was impossible for me to put the book down even though I had a fair idea what would happen. Of course, the ending still has some surprises and throughout the story you'll be treated to some hardboiled descriptions: "The long rows of tanks looked like otherworld beetles, and the shadowy planes, in their white covers, were like hooded vultures (p. 51)." On Blazing Wings exemplifies LRH's mastery of genre writing and discovering books like this is why I read the pulps. ( )