Biggles Breaks the Silence
Sep. 19th, 2023 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosanicusAfter a very shaky start I have to say that this book absolutely rocked.
Obviously the entire premise is hugely up my alley -- my other active fandom at the moment is The Terror, which is a show that is perhaps the only piece of media to use the term 'pack ice' more often than this very book -- and I love a good old fashioned ghost ship as much as the next horror fan. There's something so fun about reading more and more Biggles and gaining an appreciation for the way that Biggles will so often outright refuse to do something and then go 'unless.....' and lay out the exact plan they will be enacting within the next ten pages. He simply cannot stop coming up with plans.
I also loved the team interactions in this one, even with Algy and Bertie off page for the middle two thirds there was a lot of gentle bickering and some nice h/c with Ginger after he has his minor panic attack at seeing a ghost(!). The entire saga with Larsen is really well realised and I was very pleased when Biggles received news that he was mostly recovered and back out at sea on a whaling ship (as much as I am morally opposed to whaling I imagine the Norwegian job market wasn't very diverse for sailors).
The to-ing and fro-ing with the gold actually made sense in this which was also good, especially the part where it was moved by the natural movement of the pack ice and Ginger was fantasising about his own imminent death. The polar regions are perfect settings for this sort of melancholy adventure, where Ginger trips over a grave and ends up in a ship frozen solid beneath the ice. All the descriptions of the interior of the ship are genuinely fantastic, Johns is clearly having a great time with his metaphors and there's a very clear image being painted. I do like the idea that a ton of gold has just been sitting on a table for 70 years though, it must be a mightily strong table. The return of Lavinsky at just the right time was also great, I think Johns can sometimes rely too much on coincidence but sometimes... it is so good.
I liked Grimy and Jumbo well enough, although the bit in chapter one where Jumbo is being moderately racist about the Japanese benefactors of Lavinsky's seal poaching operation was a definite low point. Thankfully the characters are then not mentioned until about page 150 and in fact never speak on page. Bullet dodged frankly. The Canelo edition (which is the one I read, I also have this as part of an omnibus) opens with a little disclaimer about period typical views in the text which I think is a good way of framing it in a book which is at least partly marketed to children. As I commented to my partner the other day, my current watermark for children's books is that if a book is less offensive than The Horse and his Boy I will consider it for a class library.
The book also had some excellent flying sequences and a good amount of Algy as the dramatic rescuer coming in at the end, which was nice. I also enjoyed Ginger being mortally worried for Algy's safety to the point he runs out under a hail of bullets to try and warn him off -- they really do all love each other a lot, it's very nice. OH JUST REMEMBERED: Bertie going deer stalking with Gimlet King = a story I must read immediately. And obviously I think Bertie and Gimlet should kiss.
My real take-away from this is that all stories can be improved with the addition of temperature based jeopardy (the sequence where Ginger has to fix a hole in the engine while his fingers are literally freezing to the metal!!! Bestill my heart) and a ghost ship bound in pack ice. So basically everyone needs to watch The Terror.
My current fic writing is all slow going, but I did start writing a fic yesterday set in the 30s where Biggles Algy and Ginger meet a dragon in the mountains of Northern Wales so at least the ideas continue to flow. The dragon may or may not be related to Idris from Ivor the Engine.
Obviously the entire premise is hugely up my alley -- my other active fandom at the moment is The Terror, which is a show that is perhaps the only piece of media to use the term 'pack ice' more often than this very book -- and I love a good old fashioned ghost ship as much as the next horror fan. There's something so fun about reading more and more Biggles and gaining an appreciation for the way that Biggles will so often outright refuse to do something and then go 'unless.....' and lay out the exact plan they will be enacting within the next ten pages. He simply cannot stop coming up with plans.
I also loved the team interactions in this one, even with Algy and Bertie off page for the middle two thirds there was a lot of gentle bickering and some nice h/c with Ginger after he has his minor panic attack at seeing a ghost(!). The entire saga with Larsen is really well realised and I was very pleased when Biggles received news that he was mostly recovered and back out at sea on a whaling ship (as much as I am morally opposed to whaling I imagine the Norwegian job market wasn't very diverse for sailors).
The to-ing and fro-ing with the gold actually made sense in this which was also good, especially the part where it was moved by the natural movement of the pack ice and Ginger was fantasising about his own imminent death. The polar regions are perfect settings for this sort of melancholy adventure, where Ginger trips over a grave and ends up in a ship frozen solid beneath the ice. All the descriptions of the interior of the ship are genuinely fantastic, Johns is clearly having a great time with his metaphors and there's a very clear image being painted. I do like the idea that a ton of gold has just been sitting on a table for 70 years though, it must be a mightily strong table. The return of Lavinsky at just the right time was also great, I think Johns can sometimes rely too much on coincidence but sometimes... it is so good.
I liked Grimy and Jumbo well enough, although the bit in chapter one where Jumbo is being moderately racist about the Japanese benefactors of Lavinsky's seal poaching operation was a definite low point. Thankfully the characters are then not mentioned until about page 150 and in fact never speak on page. Bullet dodged frankly. The Canelo edition (which is the one I read, I also have this as part of an omnibus) opens with a little disclaimer about period typical views in the text which I think is a good way of framing it in a book which is at least partly marketed to children. As I commented to my partner the other day, my current watermark for children's books is that if a book is less offensive than The Horse and his Boy I will consider it for a class library.
The book also had some excellent flying sequences and a good amount of Algy as the dramatic rescuer coming in at the end, which was nice. I also enjoyed Ginger being mortally worried for Algy's safety to the point he runs out under a hail of bullets to try and warn him off -- they really do all love each other a lot, it's very nice. OH JUST REMEMBERED: Bertie going deer stalking with Gimlet King = a story I must read immediately. And obviously I think Bertie and Gimlet should kiss.
My real take-away from this is that all stories can be improved with the addition of temperature based jeopardy (the sequence where Ginger has to fix a hole in the engine while his fingers are literally freezing to the metal!!! Bestill my heart) and a ghost ship bound in pack ice. So basically everyone needs to watch The Terror.
My current fic writing is all slow going, but I did start writing a fic yesterday set in the 30s where Biggles Algy and Ginger meet a dragon in the mountains of Northern Wales so at least the ideas continue to flow. The dragon may or may not be related to Idris from Ivor the Engine.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-19 07:52 pm (UTC)Ginger trying to fix the engine with frozen fingers was a particular highlight, as was him risking his life to protect Algy, and him being convinced he was going to die when the ice floe floats away... sorry Ginger, apparently I enjoy your misery. But in a loving way <3
no subject
Date: 2023-09-20 04:16 pm (UTC)It's so good!! The Ginger whump this book was incredible, he really needs a cuddle and a hard drink after all that (and I'm sure Algy will provide both <3)
no subject
Date: 2023-09-20 04:22 pm (UTC)Ginger definitely needs a cuddle and oh no I guess that's getting added to my list of plot bunnies /o\
no subject
Date: 2023-09-19 09:09 pm (UTC)This one is really classic thrill-a-minute stuff from WEJ, it's one of my son's favourites. I do love the bit where the ice breaks off and Ginger floats away, that's such an amazing sequence.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-20 04:26 pm (UTC)I am unsurprised Cub loves it, having taught Year 6 multiple times this week I am very in tune with the literary tastes of most preteen boys and constant action with a lot of drama is exactly right (and to be fair is also about my current literary taste). Although all these Year 6s are reading Dragonball instead of Biggles for some reason, can't imagine why.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-20 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-20 05:41 pm (UTC)I can't say I've read any Dragonball personally so I can't recommend either way but as most of the boys are reading that, Alex Rider or Lord of the Rings (or nothing at all, the boys not reading curse continues) I'm sure one of them might appeal.
no subject
Date: 2023-10-05 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-10-16 06:16 pm (UTC)