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1917: Machines of War

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This book should be compulsory reading for all teenagers

This book should be compulsory reading for all teenagers

I have read the first three books in this series so had been looking forward to reading this one - and I have to say, I think it is the best so far. I found that I could not put the book down; Bob, the hero of the story, is the same age as many of the high school students I teach today - and it is amazing to read about the maturity and heroism of so young a person who should never have had to face the reality of war and battle carnage. But those were the realities of war - young people were sent off to fight for their country when they should have still been enjoying their teenage years. Sadly, many of them did not make it back home. And many more sustained terrible injuries which affected them for the rest of their lives.
I found the style of the book compelling. It is told in the first person by young Bob, and reading between the lines I could tell just how quickly he had to grow up and how deeply affected he was by the deaths of those around him. Having lost his brother and assumed his identity so he could join the Royal Flying Corps as an observer - with the aim of eventually becoming a fully-fledged pilot - he experienced serious injury, institutional bullying, and the realities of air battle all within the first days of arriving at the 48 Squadron HQ. The dating of each chapter so it looks like a diary entry shows just how quickly events unfolded.
The battle scenes and the unbelievable casualty count are described in graphic detail; the shock value is not played down for its target readers (young adults) and I would agree with this: it is important that the horror of war is made clear to young people while they are still learning to make informed decisions. There are times when the sheer adrenalin rush of Bob's aerial gymnastics make them appear like a gloried computer shoot-'em-up but then the reality hits as a plane goes down and with it a mate that might have been socialising with Bob only hours beforehand.
The inclusion in the book of a glossary of acronyms and other war-related terminology, a referential timeline of the events, author's notes on the real (as opposed to fictional) characters, and archive photographs of the Bristol Fighter and Sopwith Camel aircraft (as flown by Bob) and the Fokker Dc1 flown by the Red Baron all helps to authenticate the story. Although this is a work of fiction, it is based on real events and experiences and is a sobering reminder of just how much members of the armed forces had to go through in order to defend their countries. As a New Zealander, Bob is typical of many young people (mainly boys) who had to leave their homes and join forces with the British and other allies overseas.
This book should be compulsory reading for all teenagers, both boys and girls. It provides a strong message about the evils of war and the way that technology can be used for both good and bad. I would like to see it available on the bookshelf of every secondary school.
Jo - Kiwi Reviews
April 2017
A gripping and realistic World War One novel for Young Adults

A gripping and realistic World War One novel for Young Adults

It is 1917 and the Great war is a jagged scar across the face of Europe. Soldiers cower in mud-filled trenches, hurling bullets across the war-torn landscape. Above them flies 17-year-old New Zealander Bob Sunday, of the Royal Flying Corps. Before long, Bob finds himself flying against the great German air aces, including the infamous Red Baron, as their warplanes whirl above the battlefields of Arras, Passchendaele and Cambrai.
Over the years, I have read many children’s and young adult war war books but none have focused on war from a pilot’s point of view. It is illuminating to see how World War 1 played out in the skies above the battlefields, from the eyes of pilot Bob Sunday. There were so many things I didn’t really know about. I was surprised by the debate over parachutes which becomes part of Bob’s many conversations. The descriptions of the different planes and the people involved provides a well-researched account of the events at the time.
It is great how we get to see the impact of war from pilots from different sides of the war. Enemies at times, showing a sense of respect for each other as they battle for the skies. Bob Sunday arrived fresh from New Zealand with revenge in his heart but over the year you can see his growing maturity and change of ideals. Author Brian Falkner tells it straight but I did find myself smiling a few times over clever and witty dialogue. We know from our history books that war was brutal and a tragic waste but through Bob Sunday’s eyes we see it first-hand.
A smell began to assail my nostrils. An unbreathable stench of death and decay. I held my breath as long as I could, trying not to gag, but eventually I had to breathe in and waves of nausea and dizziness almost overwhelmed me. I don’t know what I was crawling through …
Bob is a believable and likable protagonist facing up to his fears and living in incredible times.
I think this would make a great read for a novel study for older students or a book club choice. Do make use of the teacher notes here.
This is the fourth title in the Kiwis at War series with a final book to be published in 1918. Each book looks at a different year of the First World War.
booktrailers4kidsandya
April 2017
A gripping tale of heroism and despair

A gripping tale of heroism and despair

“The plane continued downwards, spinning out of control. I didn’t have time to dwell on it because another plane had already closed in on us, blood-red…Richtofen himself.”
This novel, 1917: Machines of War, is a real page-turner.
1917 was a turning point in world history and Brian Falkner has brought it back to life in a gripping tale of heroism and despair. The machines of war of the title are fighter planes and tanks. By a shrewd feat of storytelling, Falkner manages to have his main character, ‘Keith’ Sunday, inveigle his way into the Royal Flying Corps as an Observer/Gunner using his dead brother’s identity. He is only 17 when he has his first taste of combat. The experiences that follow are so grim that it is hard to believe that the Keith we see at the end of the book is still a teenager.
As well as experiencing aerial combat – and describing it vividly – Keith also spends a few hours in the trenches, equally memorably described. He is even dragooned into a brief spell as an impromptu tank-gunner in the world’s first major tank battle, Cambrai. All these events are described with the rich detail of careful research.

As in all the novels in the Kiwis at War series, there are links to previous volumes. Here Manu from 1916: Digging for Victory (2016), who has been helping dig a mine under German trenches, meets Bob in a casualty clearing station. This neatly prepares the way for the moment when Bob looks down at Messines Ridge and sees the mine erupt below. “A great ball of scarlet fire spewed up out of the ground, large enough and bright enough to turn night briefly into day….The air seemed to come alive around us, grabbing the aeroplane, tossing us about the sky.”
The most striking aspect of Falkner’s description of the air war over the Western Front is that he has skilfully incorporated the exploits of many real fliers, some of them Australians and New Zealanders. The most improbable characters and events in these pages are all genuine. This makes the Author’s Note and Bibliography a splendid starting-point for any reader inspired by this book into finding out more about the pioneer fliers on both sides of the conflict.

Trevor Agnew - Agnew Reading
May 2017
Machines of War is a gripping piece of storytelling

Machines of War is a gripping piece of storytelling

Part of the focus of this fourth title in the Kiwis At War series is the increasing dependence on machinery—planes and tanks in particular—and on an even more virulent form of chemical warfare (mustard gas) as the Great War grinds on its weary way.
This is a war like no other, says one of the pilots. It is a war of technology, and the side with the best technology will win.
Bob Sunday, the protagonist of this volume, witnesses the devastation wrought by technology as he flies above the battlefields, firstly as an observer/gunner and then as a pilot. His experience of flying changes, too, as he moves from Bristol Fighters to the more agile Sopwith Camels, noting that the Gosport tube —a simple rubber tube facilitating communication—was modern technology at its finest: perhaps an ironic nod by the author to the much more sophisticated methods used in future warfare.
Death and destruction meant that few pilots lived for long but Bob is one of the lucky ones. At the end of the book he is still alive and flying, having battled legendary German flying aces, the Red Baron and Werner Voss. Readers will perhaps be astonished how young these soldiers are but how they speak and behave in ways that seem, to modern ears, so much older than their actual age.
Bob himself is just seventeen when he arrives in France, having assumed the identity of his older brother, killed at Gallipoli. Bob’s attitude to war is later summarised in one paragraph: I had arrived in France as an excitable boy. Within days I had been consumed by darkness ... a bloodlust. That had been replaced by a deep sadness ... Now ... what was left was a strange detachment ...
Bob finds a love interest during his pilot training in England; Elisabeth initially refuses to date him as his chances of survival are so slim but just when it seems that there may be hope for them, tragedy strikes. This, as much as anything, underscores the emotional impact of Falkner’s story. Tightly written and fast-paced while still containing a full measure of sombre reflection, Machines of War is a gripping piece of storytelling as well as a salutary reminder of the horrors of war. At the book’s close, Bob Sunday gives a group of new air recruits the same message he received when he joined the squadron: In history, and in the hearts of the people, you will live forever.
In writing this story, Brian Falkner has helped fulfil that prediction.

Bill Nagelkerke - Magpies Magazine
May 2017
An Excellent Series Continues

An Excellent Series Continues

The latest title in Scholastic’s Kiwis At War series, this follows the story of a 17-year-old New Zealander (initially named Keith, and therein lies a story) who is determined to become a pilot. He trains as an observer (flying in the rear seat of the bi-plane, back to back with the pilot, operating the Lewis gun) and the story opens when Keith is posted to La Bellevue Aerodrome just behind the lines on the Western Front. He arrives while the Germans are bombing the airfield, and manages to rescue a man from burning rubble, assist with pushing some Bristol Fighters out of a burning hangar, and prevent the armoury from exploding.
It’s not till the next day that Keith is able to report for duty, sporting bandages on his burned hands. He’s berated by the Squadron Commander for being late, and promised a disciplinary hearing. But he has no time to ponder on the unfairness of this – he’s asked to go up with one of the flying aces, and soon they spot and engage with an enemy aircraft.
The flying adventures come thick and fast after that, and it’s not long before Keith trains as a pilot. The death rate of these air crews in their flimsy aircraft was horrifyingly high, and the author has no compunction about telling it like it was – many of the characters we meet disappear from the story. But the focus stays firmly on Keith and his reactions to the fighting – his excitement turns to fear and disgust and then to cold-blooded determination. Every day he has to face the likelihood that he will be shot down.
A form of light relief is provided by the escapades of the youthful air crew, the descriptions of the engagements with the great German air aces such as the Red Baron, and a friendship/romance with a British nurse.
It’s a great read for teens (probably boys) who are interested in aircraft, war history, and the technology that eventually won the war – fighter planes, tanks, and armaments. Highly recommended.
Lorraine Orman - Kids Books NZ
May 2017
Falkner has woven a gripping story using a factual basis

Falkner has woven a gripping story using a factual basis

Having thoroughly enjoyed Brian Falkner’s young adult novel Shooting Stars, I was intrigued to see what he did with the next instalment in this fascinating Kiwis at War series about New Zealanders in World War I. Five different authors are behind this centennial five- book series; one for each year of the war, which ran from 1914- 1918. Falkner had a tough act to follow with David Hair’s 1916: Dig for Victory exploring attitudes to race through its Maori and Pakeha protagonists.
Here, Falkner looks at the influence on war of technology — primarily planes, as well as tanks and communications — through the eyes of 17- year- old Bob, who assumes his brother’s identity so he can join the Flying Corps operating on the Western Front in France.
We’re dropped straight into the action as Bob, on his first posting, arrives at the airfield at the same time as a German bombing raid. Initially excited by the prospect of fighting in the war, Bob is soon introduced to the grim realities as he deals with the aftermath of the bombing and suffers horrible burns to his hands.
While in hospital, he meets Manu, the Maori protagonist from Dig for Victory. This is another neat aspect of this series; characters from previous books appear in the other stories, providing continuity and further character development.
Once Bob is discharged from hospital, he rejoins his squadron as an observer/ tail gunner sitting back to back with the pilot in a Bristol fighter plane. Eventually, Bob realises his dream, becoming a pilot, but it’s a bittersweet achievement as he loses comrades along the way amid death and destruction on an enormous scale.
Falkner has woven a gripping story using a factual basis; it revolves around the actual battles and has real- life characters such as the German ace pilot Manfred Von Richthofen, aka The Red Baron. Though there’s a lot of page-turning action, war is not glorified as we follow Bob’s changing attitude to battle, an emotional journey that starts with excitement and progresses through revenge, bloodlust, sadness and self- hatred to professional detachment.
Told in the first person, through an impressionable youngster’s eyes, this book should appeal to teenagers who couldn’t imagine going off to war, let alone consider it a great adventure.
Boys, particularly, should enjoy the action and be fascinated by the unsophisticated planes and tanks that were considered cutting edge 100 years ago.

Graham Hepburn - NZ Herald Weekender Magazine
August 2017
Full on flying and fighting action, but also a great storyline

Full on flying and fighting action, but also a great storyline

I will be honest and confess that action war stories are not my usual cup of tea. So, the fact that this book is up there as one of my favourite reads of the year so far (behind Shooting Stars by the same author) says something about Brian Falkner's storytelling ability!
Bob Sunday is an Enzedder in France, working as an observer in the planes flying over the front lines of World War 1. He sees some unbelievable action and. through his remarkable story, we learn of some of the terrible events of the Great War. One of the things that stuck with me was that the Royal Flying Corps would not allow pilots to use parachutes, as they thought it would encourage cowardice. The other thing that is remarkable to think about is the age of the pilots who fought in the war. Bob enlisted at age 17 (using the name of his dead brother) but mention is made of boys who enlisted at even younger ages.
Machines of War has it all... full on flying and fighting action, but also a great storyline (with just a hint of romance!!) It is the fourth of five books in the fabulous Kiwis at War series, commemorating the 100 years since World War 1, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes a good war story. And even those who don't!
Penny Walch - Southwell Library
April 2017
Falkner has skilfully connected different aspects of WW1 in 1917

Falkner has skilfully connected different aspects of WW1 in 1917

After keenly anticipating this fourth book in the Kiwis at War series, I was not disappointed. Author Brian Falkner strikes the right balance, aiming the book for the Year 7 student and older, young teens who can perhaps imagine themselves as fighting aces.
The story follows Bob Sunday, a young NZer whose brother Keith died at Gallipoli. Keen to join up, become he 'Keith' for the duration, duping the authorities without too much difficulty. He joins the Royal Flying Corps, initially as an observer/bomber flying along with a pilot, before moving on to fly both one and two man planes, showing considerable skill.
Thus there is plenty of scope for the reader to learn about these various roles, as well as the camaraderie, the jealousies and the different ways this small group of young men coped with the loss of one of their number or celebrated successes. Life expectancy is shockingly low. Punishment for those who dare to disobey orders or try to desert is harsh.
The work of Kiwis on the ground is also shown, as these pilots endeavour to make things safer for the tunnelers by giving them time to complete their work. The air force is used to create a smoke screen and noise to cover the progress of the tanks that can crawl over barbed wire and get where man cannot.
Brian Falkner has thus skilfully connected different aspects of WW1 in 1917, demonstrating the importance of both new forms of machines of war, aeroplanes and tanks.
There is no glorifying of war. Young Bob/Keith's attitude to war changes as the year progresses:
I had arrived in France as an excitable boy. Within days I had been consumed by darkness, a blackness of my soul, a bloodlust. That had been replaced by a deep sadness, and a hatred of the game I had been forced to play. Now I realised that too had passed.
What was left was a strange detachment. I was a professional. This was my job, and I would do it to the best of my abilities …

Chris Wright - Bookrapt
May 2017

Brian Falkner

1917: Machines of War