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Old Dec 6, 2009, 4:23 pm
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Airplane-related fiction
So I'm looking for some good airplane-related fiction to read. Books whose story really revolve around the airplane itself...not travel stories.

I've read "Airframe" by Michael Crichton (good) and "High Wire" by Kam Majd (not so good). Any other recommendations? (trains and boats would also be good, I guess.)

Thanks.
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Old Dec 6, 2009, 4:54 pm
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"No Highway" by Nevil Shute.
"Down to a Sunless Sea" by David Graham.
"Airport" by Arthur Hailey.
"Phoenix Rising" by John Nance.
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Old Dec 6, 2009, 6:17 pm
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Nice topic! I devoured "Night over Water" by Ken Follett. Great read.
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Over-Wat.../dp/0451173139

See link for summary and reviews.
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Old Dec 6, 2009, 7:07 pm
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Second vote for "Down to a Sunless Sea".....

The "797" is a pretty central character in the story...
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Old Dec 6, 2009, 7:27 pm
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Originally Posted by tfar
Nice topic! I devoured "Night over Water" by Ken Follett. Great read.
http://www.amazon.com/Night-Over-Wat.../dp/0451173139

See link for summary and reviews.
Second resounding vote for Night over water.
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Old Dec 6, 2009, 8:11 pm
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Originally Posted by underpressure
Second resounding vote for Night over water.
And a third. It has now been ported to the Kindle for your convenience.

Follet always tells a good story and this involves the PanAm Clipper, a special age in flying.
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Old Dec 6, 2009, 11:33 pm
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Originally Posted by underpressure
Second resounding vote for Night over water.
Originally Posted by Platcomike
And a third. It has now been ported to the Kindle for your convenience.

Follet always tells a good story and this involves the PanAm Clipper, a special age in flying.
I am honored but not surprised you liked that, too. I might well read it again because luckily I don't remember how the story ends, so the suspense should still be there the second time. It would be a very nice story for a movie. Like someone on Amazon said, it's like the Orient Express in a plane. Which brings us to Agatha Christie, of course, and fulfills the train and boat story requirements. There is also a movie called Transsibirian Express with Ben Kingsley that's quite good, by the way. Thriller type.

Till
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 7:18 am
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Sole Survivor by Dean Koontz. Although the plane isn't the central "character," it is critical to the story line, at least until it crashes.
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 7:47 am
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"Fearless".

Although not strictly about airplanes, a plane crash is the central event in the book. The movie is outstanding as well and is always on my top ten list.
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 8:07 am
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Originally Posted by tfar
I am honored but not surprised you liked that, too. I might well read it again because luckily I don't remember how the story ends, so the suspense should still be there the second time. It would be a very nice story for a movie. Like someone on Amazon said, it's like the Orient Express in a plane. Which brings us to Agatha Christie, of course, and fulfills the train and boat story requirements.
Christie also wrote Death in the Air, an Hercule Poirot mystery set on an airplane.

I remember reading a Dick Francis mystery involving a character who couriered horses on international flights, but can't think of the title of it.
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 9:45 am
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Originally Posted by mhnadel
I remember reading a Dick Francis mystery involving a character who couriered horses on international flights, but can't think of the title of it.
"Flying Finish" -- A good read.
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 1:33 pm
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Originally Posted by mhnadel
Christie also wrote Death in the Air, an Hercule Poirot mystery set on an airplane.

I remember reading a Dick Francis mystery involving a character who couriered horses on international flights, but can't think of the title of it.
I didn't know that. Thanks!

TIll
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 6:07 pm
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Not fiction (and certainly no literary masterpiece), but highly suggest 747... by Joe Sutter. Gave me a whole new appreciation for all of the corporate BS that he had to go through to get the 747 off the ground (e.g., Boeing's best engineers were allocated to an SST project, Pan Am sent Charles Lindbergh to do some mystery shopping). After all, life imitates fiction . . .
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 6:11 pm
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Small Worlds by David Lodge (Penguin paperback). It's an academic novel, about travel (plane) to Australia for a conference.
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Old Dec 7, 2009, 6:20 pm
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Mayday - co-written by Thomas Block and Nelson DeMille. Thomas Block was a pilot for US airways, and wrote the "Flying the Line" monthly column in Flying magazine for many years.
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