Double Eagle (Novel)
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| Author | Dan Abnett | |
| Performer | Toby Longworth | |
| Publisher | Black Library | |
| Followed by | Interceptor City (Novel) | |
| Released | June 2004 | |
| Pages | 320 (2004 & 2010 edition) 416 (2005 edition) | |
| Editions | 2004 hardcover: ISBN 9781844160890 2005 softcover: | |
Double Eagle is a novel by Dan Abnett, and is a spin off from his popular Gaunts Ghosts series. It was first published as a hardback in 2004, and released as a softback in 2005.
Contents
Cover Description[1]
When the elite fighter pilots of the Phantine XX arrive on the beleaguered world of Enothis, they know it is a desperate hour. The forces of Chaos are closing in and their final push could well wipe out all human life on the planet. Thousands of refugees flee the dark armies and the infamous Chaos fighter pilot Khrel Kas Obarkon is always hunting the skies for more prey…
And so it falls to the brave men and women of the Phantine fighter corps. Can they hold off the Chaos advance until reinforcements arrive? In the high-speed, white-knuckle terror of aerial combat, can they defeat an enemy possessed by daemons?
Plot summary
The war between the Imperium and Chaos forces on the world of Enothis is going badly for the Imperials. The armies of the Imperial Guard defeated and retreating, the Enothian air force all but annihilated, the fate of the world rests squarely on the shoulders of the pilots of the Imperial Navy and one very special Guard unit.
The Phantine Air Corps, the only dedicated aviator unit in the Imperial Guard, find themselves in the thick of the fighting. Most of their number are the veterans of the Phantine liberation such as Bree Jagdea, commander of Umbra Flight, and the fatalistic Oskar Viltry, a Marauder pilot who believes he already should have died twice over. There are also some new recruits in their ranks just waiting to prove themselves in combat, such as Vander Marquall, who desperately wants to become an Ace.
Allied with the Imperial forces, the remnants of the Enothian air force don't seem to be able to offer much. However, perhaps men like the wounded veteran August Kaminsky and the raw cadet Enric Darrow can still make their contribution to the war effort.
The odds are stacked against them however, as seemingly endless waves of heretic fliers test the Enothian defences, and a Chaos Ace Khrel Kas Obarkon, is seemingly picking off Imperial pilots with impunity.
And whilst the aerial combat blazes overhead, embattled tanker Robart LeGuin of the 8th Pardus Armoured is just trying to get his men, and his tank, safely back to friendly lines.
Publication history
Double Eagle was first published in 2004, with a paperback edition released in 2005. In September 2019, to correspond with the release of Aeronautica Imperialis, a new edition was released in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats.[2] In September 2021, a limited edition was released, featuring a new introduction by Abnett.[3]
Images
2005 softback cover
2019 cover artwork
Continuity notes
- The novel takes place during Warmaster Macaroth's offensive into the Khan Group, and roughly contemporaneously with the events of the novel Sabbat Martyr, since Ayatani Kautas makes reference to the apparent reincarnation of Saint Sabbat on Herodor.
- It also features the reappearance of the 8th Pardus Armoured Regiment, which appeared in the novel Honour Guard.
See also
Sources
- 1: Black Library (last accessed 11th January 2022)
- 2: Warhammer Community: Skies of Death! (posted 31 August 2019) (archived from the original dated 11 October 2019, last accessed 1 October 2024)
- 3: Warhammer Community: Double Eagle Leads a Daring Raid in This Week’s Black Library Pre-orders (posted 11 September 2021) (archived from the original dated 4 October 2021, last accessed 1 October 2024)
| The Founding | A Ghost Return • First and Only • Of Their Lives in the Ruins of Their Cities • Ghostmaker • Necropolis • In Remembrance |
|---|---|
| The Saint | Honour Guard • The Guns of Tanith • Straight Silver • Sabbat Martyr |
| The Lost | Traitor General • His Last Command • The Armour of Contempt • Only in Death • The Iron Star |
| The Victory | Blood Pact • Salvation's Reach • The Warmaster • The Anarch |
| Ghost Dossiers | The Vincula Insurgency |
| Anthologies | Sabbat Worlds • Sabbat Crusade • Sabbat War |
| Other Short Stories | Vermilion Level • Killbox • Viduity • Ghosts and Bad Shadows |
| Background Books | The Sabbat Worlds Crusade • Tactica Imperialis |
| Spin-offs | Double Eagle • Interceptor City • Titanicus • Urdesh: The Serpent and the Saint • Urdesh: The Magister and the Martyr • Volpone Glory |
