Doomflight
1981 Hamlyn
Paperback, 221 pages
It is well known that I adore Guy
N. Smith’s nature-strikes-back books, but when he digs deeper than crabs,
‘gators or bats and their destruction of the human race, it can be hit or miss
for me. Doomflight is an ambitious piece of writing and it’s fairly good,
but not entirely satisfying.
A huge, international airport is
being constructed on the site of a previously failed aerodrome. That one had
failed because of countless mishaps. Y’see, the land it’s built upon is the
site of a Druid circle, the ritual stones buried deep under the cement of the
runways. Naturally, all hell breaks loose, with Druids, sacrifices, ghostly,
old-timey airmen and a massive loss of human lives. It’s huge, I tell ya.
Smith tells an intricate tale, and
the story builds and builds to a fiery climax. It would make a hell of a movie.
Sadly, I got a little impatient waiting to get to that climax. It might be that
I had some kick-ass books in my “To Be Read” pile or it was a story that just
wasn’t engaging me, but the last third became a bit of a slog. Eh, it happens. Maybe
if he threw just one giant crab into the mix…
Still, it’s hard to not recommend
any books by the master. Especially with Smith’s recent passing, we have to
savor every word he has written.
This review originally appeared in Midnight Magazine #9, March, 2022.
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