THE WILD GEESE (1977) by Daniel Carney
Monday, 17. April 2006, 07:23:48
By all accounts the unpublished manuscript was the basis for the movie of the same name. After the movie came out the book was then published.It tells the tale of Allan Faulkner, an almost washed up mercinary commander whose last mission was a disaster. This mission to rescue deposed Julius Lambandi is his chance at redemption. He recruits 50 mercinaries to join him in the mission, five groups of ten men. The novel follows the leaders of these groups Rafer Janders, Jeremy Chandos, Peter Coetzee, Shaun Fynn and R.S.M. Sandy Young.
The plan to get the deposed leader is simple and works well until the owner of the plane which is picking up the men refuses to land and pick up his passengers as he is under fire. Faulkner and his men are forced on the run, losing men.
The group finds another plane but only a handful of the orginal fifty mercinaries survive. Faulkner is wounded and left behind and presumed to have been killed.
This novel has a number of good character moments as it follows the mission from initial suggestion to completion. It is bleak and realistic, with many members of the team actually dying on the mission. Ex-mercenary leader Col. Mike Hoare is quoted on the back cover "The story is fast, gripping and exciting. It reflects faithfully the spirit of men who fight for money or adventure."
Well recommended.
A group of mercenaries called the Wild Geese appear in the vampire manga Hellsing. Its implied that they are the same group from the movie with a new commander. The manga is basically about a gun-toting vampire named Alucard who kills other vampires for a British para-military organization. It's not the place to go if you want a tender character study but if you want to see a horde of Nazi vampires in zeppelians attack London you might want to check it out.
By anonymous user, # 12. August 2006, 20:33:49
What issue(s) do the Wild Geese appear? Nazi vampires in Zeppelins, that I gotta see.
Although the term Wild Geese is an earlier term applied to a group of Irish Mercenaries this seems like a good lead. This adds to my discovery of Wild Geese references in Warhawks and Mark Hazzard Merc. So thank you very much for this information.
By AggressorBrad, # 12. August 2006, 21:31:54
They appear in the second or third tankobon (paperback collection). It is applied that it is the same group as in the novel, or at least it mentions them having a bad mission in Africa that sounded like the plot synopsis you posted. They have a different leader than Faulkner too.
By anonymous user, # 13. August 2006, 00:08:11
After payday I'll see about getting these. If I could get some more details (either here or at aggressorbrad@hotmail.com) so I can properly credit you when I do the review. This is part of why I started this blog so that we there is a forum to voice these sorts of facts. (also there is the Aggressor series forum at Yahoo)
By AggressorBrad, # 13. August 2006, 01:19:54
Hellsing runs to 8 volumes, which actually is not a lot for a manga. I've read volumes 1-7. There are a lot of references to other works of fiction in the series. Alucard is implicitly Dracula being bound by magic to serve the descendents of Van Helsing. There are references to the work of Washington Irving. There are even references to Dune in that a gun manufacture who creates Alucard's weapons is named Harkonen after House Harkonen. There was an anime of the series but it had a totally different storyline and the Wild Geese don't appear in it.
By anonymous user, # 13. August 2006, 18:38:38
The last post is by me. I forgot to change the name.
By anonymous user, # 14. August 2006, 01:37:53
I forgot to mention that the books are published by Dark Horse comics over here in the States. I don't know who does it in Australia.
By anonymous user, # 17. August 2006, 22:20:28
I'll keep an eye out.
By AggressorBrad, # 18. August 2006, 08:23:00