Biggles Defies the Swastika, by W. E. Johns

During WWII, Biggles is sent to Norway under a fake identity to map out possible airfields in case it gets invaded, on the understanding that he'll be pulled well before that could happen. He joins a private flying club so he has a reason to fly all around the country.

But one morning he wakes up in his hotel room to a strange lack of the usual morning noises. When he gets up to investigate, he finds that the streets are full of German troops. Norway has been invaded, and he's in the middle of it. I love the creeping "Something seems off" feeling, and it's evoked very well here.

I won't say more about the plot outside of a cut as it has so many delightful twists and turns and reversals, and it's more fun coming in cold.

This is one of the very best Biggles books, up there with Biggles Flies East - exciting, fun, well-plotted, and full of clever bits. If you like secret identities and people juggling multiple identities and going undercover and other forms of identity porn, this book is GREAT for it. Between that and some incredibly brazen bluffs Biggles pulls, the book has a bit of an early Vorkosigan novel feel. Algy particularly shines in this book, but Ginger is great too and even the minor characters are well-drawn. It's also, somewhat embarrassingly, excellent for Biggles/von Stalhein interaction.

Disclaimer so my ancestors don't rise from the grave and slap me so hard my head flies off: My headcanon for all WWII books is that von Stalhein was either a double agent during WWII or was secretly working with "let's murder Hitler" forces within Germany or both, believing that it was the only way to save Germany from itself. And then his handler dies or hangs him out to dry, his plots fail, and he ends up depressed and bitter and unable to ever go back. Honestly it would explain a lot. (Particularly in this book, actually.)

I'm okay with this as 1) I consider the Biggles/Worrals books similar to long-running comics canon in that there's enough weird inconsistencies that you can pick and choose your canon, 2) this series has a genuinely unique issue in that von Stalhein was introduced well before WWII happened in RL, written into the WWII books while the war was literally ongoing, vanished for the rest of the war while Johns clearly thought better of it and reappeared afterward in a different role while everyone decided to just forget that ever happened, 3) Johns himself was explicitly and very vocally anti-Nazi.

Anyway, below the cut you will learn all about how great this book is. Don't click if there's any chance you'll read it - it's really such a fun ride and best unspoiled.

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I'm happy to email an epub of this or any other Biggles book - just ask if you want one.

Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow

A giant snow storm is incoming. If you don't hear from me when you expect to starting tomorrow, I'm fine but have lost internet access.

Crestline is expecting 8 - 12 inches of snow! I have obtained plenty of wood and my generators are charged, so I will be quite cozy. My gas oven has electrical components so it doesn't work (even the burners) in a power outage, but I can cook on the woodburning stove in a pinch.

I do need to clean out the chicken coop and pile up new bedding today so they'll be cozy, get all the wood out of my car and park the car on the street so it doesn't get stranded, etc. In between clients, as I see them on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. (Wednesday this week being somewhat doubtful.)