The Brittle Sky Review

 

 

In The Brittle Sky, Book 3 in Tom Kane's Brittle Saga Trilogy, Richard Blackmore returns home to discover it no longer exists. While aiding the British Navy during World War I, he had learned that Magda, her daughter Ava, and her ward Kim were living nearby and awaiting his return. Better yet, Maggie—Magda's kind and loving personality—had asserted control. Now he learns his house has burned down, and Maggie, Ava, and Kim have fled without revealing their destination.

 

Magda's brother Peter struggles to make a new life in Germany. The 1918 Flu Pandemic took Peter’s wife and in-laws. Peter brings his son Eric to Munich, where he reunites with a soldier he fought alongside during WWI. His friend Adolf helps him find a job and a new purpose in the social movement he’s forming.

 

Maggie and the girls have settled in Oklahoma. The economic recession following WWI left many unemployed. Maggie and the girls establish a camp on their farm where they house and feed needy families. Jackson Hale--a pilot and former barnstormer--brings his son to live with them. While only 11 years old, Jake's full of ideas. Yearning to become a pilot like his father, he suggests Maggie and Jackson establish a crop-dusting business.

 

Matthew Turner III sold Magda's cannery in Alaska and bought a grand home in Fort Worth, Texas. He travels east to visit his henchman, William Harker, in Hell's Kitchen. In his prime, Harker was a prime example of why the New York City neighborhood needed a crime fighter like Marvel's Daredevil. Now, Harker shows little interest in carrying out Turner’s revenge upon Magda. Still, Turner leaves hopeful. He's discovered something intriguing about Harker's children, Fenella and Phillip.

 

While The Brittle Land covered the entirety of WWI, Tom Kane’s vision expands in this third volume. The Brittle Sky covers an astounding 27 years, from 1918 to 1945. Richard Blackmore’s search for his lost love will prove longer than the miles that separate them. As the years pass, Maggie will struggle to repress Magda from asserting control.

 

New characters arise and mature to make The Brittle Sky a generational saga. Fenella will flee her abusive and bullying father for the safety of Matthew Turner. Peter’s government service makes him an unwilling party in the Holocaust, while Adolf Hitler helps his son Eric pursue an interest in rocketry. Prohibition disrupts lives in the United States. Aircraft development and an oil boom in Oklahoma open up travel opportunities. And all the while, Matthew Turner burns with an unreasoning hatred for the wife who left him.

 

Love blooms, people pursue their dreams, soldiers defend their countries as war once again sweeps across our world, and the vengeful strive to settle old scores in The Brittle Sky, the third volume in Tom Kane’s epic saga. 

 

Thanks to author Tom Kane for providing a copy for review.

Related Links

The Brittle Sky is available at Amazon.com and other fine internet sellers. 

Read my review of The Brittle Sea.

Read my review of The Brittle Land.

Explore the entire trilogy, novels, travelogues, and science fiction stories at Tom Kane's website.