Acquired Book By: I started hosting blog tours with The Write Reads in 2020 and prior to hosting with Dave (who runs the tours and has built an incredible community of the socially bookish behind it) I was following their feeds via Twitter. I took an unexpected hiatus from hosting their tours until this Summer, 2024 wherein I reconnected with Dave and started to get back into the tours as they were available to join. I love finding new Independent publishers as much as I love finding new niches of fiction and Non-Fiction alike in which to absorb a story or style of narrative I haven’t yet come across and through hosting for The Write Reads I am finding my journey of discovery is regularly heightened to travel into new spheres of where story can take us all.
I received a complimentary copy of “Flightless Falcon” from the publisher Brown Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I will admit, I almost took a pass on reading Flightless Falcon – though for a reason you might not be aware of – for a while, here I refer to ‘years’, I’ve taken a step back from reading war dramas and/or any story fiction or otherwise that is set within a timeline of war. I used to consume a lot of Historical Fiction set during the world wars and I know I burnt out on reading them. There were a few which hit quite hard emotionally and psychologically and I knew for my own sanity, I just needed to step away from them. And, of course, then, in (2018) another novel perked my interest to read which was writ differently than others I had come across and I read it – though I had a feeling I’d have to take another break from stories of war as I began it.
The novel I am referring to is The Fourteenth of September which was published by She Writes Press – a publisher I have the tendency to be drawn to read more times than not. You can read my review and find out my thoughts on behalf of that novel, too. It takes place during the Vietnam War era as well. What drew my eye into accepting to re-open this door on the Vietnam War era and for stories set around war was the opportunity to view that timeline of our American History through a different portal and through an alternative route one man took during a tumultuous period of our lived history. I personally love Autobiographical Fiction, and I love being on the open road as a traveller – and that in part, influenced my choice to read this novel. There is something to be said for travelling by road and for getting out in the open country – seeing America outside of the larger cities and just moving town by town and city by city – having conversations with the people you meet along the way and seeing different slices of life as you travel, too.
I had a feeling this novel was going to be introspective as it was going to be emotionally compelling – and just by the statistics you are presented when you first open the pages to read it – you are brought back to the harrowing realities of that era and time in our history. Somehow, I still find myself compelled to read these kinds of stories, but I am seeking out different ones to read than I used too, and I feel I am a better read for those choices I am making as I carve out my own path into read the stories which talk about war through different perspectives and experiences.
Flightless Falcon
Source: Publisher via The Write Reads
In this Vietnam-era coming of age novel, a young man abandons military life and becomes an eyewitness to America’s deep divisions over the war. Adrift and alone in 1969 America, a young man takes to the road.
When Sam Roberts resigns from the Air Force Academy, his father is furious. His mother is understanding but offers little support. All Sam knows is he doesn’t believe in the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War and he can’t be part of it any longer.
Cut loose from a life he once believed in and the woman he once loved, Sam hitchhikes across the country in search of himself. As a passenger in the countless cars who stop to offer rides, he encounters people from all walks of life: Hispanic youths on their way to a quinceañera, retired WWII veterans with surprisingly different perspectives on the war, even a hippie who just left the military himself. His journey is an eye-opening tour through the polarized politics of 1960s America, a transporting exchange of ideas that sends Sam on his way to becoming the man he’s meant to be.
Places to find the book:
Format: Paperback Edition
Published by: Brown Books
Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook
Converse via: #ComingOfAge
as well as #TheWriteReads & #FlightlessFalcon
My Review of Flightless Falcon:
Before I began reading Flightless Falcon – the title had me contemplating its meaning and if it were either a reference to the Air Force Academy itself or a metaphor for the man’s journey within the story. It could also have been a reference to an injured falcon, but something told me the author of the story wasn’t going to take that route. Happily, soon after I began the novel, it was revealled and part of me smirked because it made better sense what it alluded to vs what it could have been after all. I was a bit surprised we started off on the road awaiting Sam to be picked up by someone who would let him hitch to transitioning back into the Academy itself. Part of me didn’t feel the transition worked and part of me wished we had started at the Academy and then, saw Sam on the highway sorting out if anyone would pick him up and take a chance on an airman who was suddenly stranded on the road.
The portions of the story where we saw what Sam went through at the Academy tracked with other stories (both fiction and IRL) with what I had either read or heard about previously. Especially about how as a grunt you have less rights and privileges on campus than other students who are higher up in either rank or class. There is a certain order to the military and that is pooled out by both rank and how those of lesser rank are treated or the rituals they have to do in order to be kept in line. I felt Smith showcased those points quite well. He also showed how someone who knows that kind of life isn’t for them is going to buck the system and do whatever they need to do to get out. Part of me questioned why it was harder to leave the Academy than apparently it was to gain entrance? I mean, I understood they want to make sure they are making a sound choice in the matter but once you’ve asked someone a few times if that is their honest answer and response to the situation at hand, why not trust them and just let them leave? Why drag it out and make it worse for everyone involved? Of course, if you think on the timeline of this story – I am sure part of that was due to being at war and actively involved in engagement overseas. However, aside from that – if someone chooses to rescind their choice to serve, they should be given the respect to know it’s not the right fit for them, too. As from what I have gathered previously – they’d rather have those who feel it is their calling to serve than to have someone there who isn’t of the right mindset to survive the service.
As Sam starts to take his first steps outside the Academy and align his life with Cheryl, we start to see two young lovers entwined in a romance that is about to become separated by more miles than either one wants to contemplate being real. For them, life was lived in the moment and not planned out for the future. Cheryl wanted Sam to stay, and he truly wanted to be wherever she was himself – but the honest truth was of their plight is that Sam didn’t have any means to stay. He barely had a goal himself to return home – to his parents and siblings and the life he left at college. Everything had become upturnt at the Academy and in many ways, he lost more than his fair share. As Smith reveals that for Sam to lose the year at the Academy when so much life had been lived over that year for everyone else – the crueler fate was that Sam was a step out of reality in more ways than one.
He wasn’t moored to any particular destination or destiny; nor did he fully understand all the cultural and political shifts which had occurred in his absence whilst he was at the Academy. He was a man living out of step with time and because of it, was left wandering to find the route back to a life he could choose for himself and find happiness inside it. Cheryl was good for him in many respects except for the fact that her life was in Colorado and his life was still yet to be forged. They were out of step with each other and almost arriving at a moment in time that was not yet marked to be lived because of how fate had aligned them at almost the wrong timing.
This was when I realised flightless was also a moving metaphor in the storyline – about Sam’s trajectory (or lack thereof) for his life and the future he was attempting to arrive inside without having a clear map to follow to get there.
Many moments in the story I felt Sam ought to have taken Cheryl’s offer to stay in Boulder – especially when his road trek back home was becoming anything but an innocent trip to find oneself. If you consider the best ride, he was given was by the teenagers going to a Quinceanera and why wasn’t he able to travel with them to enjoy the festivities, I wasn’t sure about either? As generally those are large affairs and sometimes people can join the families celebrating even if they aren’t friends or relatives. I think that might have been an interesting twist to the road trip adventures – if he could have tagged along. Instead, he was dropped off at a hotel and what happened after that was quite awful to be truthful. The incident fit in with the mindset of the era this story is set inside of course but it was scary all the same for Sam and for the reader, too.
As Sam progressed forward on his journey, I enjoyed the travelogue and memoir tone of the story as it unfolded. We were privy to a journalled recollection of Sam’s highway travels – as each new driver who stopped to give him a ride gave him a fresh perspective of that part of the country. America has a lot of interesting states within her borders and the people who live in those states have differing opinions and politics as well. Sam found out that you didn’t have to travel too far to find out what those differences were, but I was thankful that Smith found balance between the drivers who sympathised with Sam and those who were abhorrently against him, too. I felt it would have been a much harder read if only ill will was wont against Sam rather than the kindness of strangers and the serendipitous of random conversations with people who are only meant to be in your life for the length of a conversation.
I liked it more when you were able to get a bit of a glimpse into their lives, too. Such as Travis who was trying to save the livelihood of a family farm or the generosity of Carl who took Sam home to meet his wife Edna and give him a proper room and board during a blizzard. It also showed how different the weather can become as you move West to East and how the different terrains affect how you proceed on your travels. I felt Smith did a good job of anchouring us into the geographical areas Sam travelled whilst also giving us a rounded view of the people and the mindset of that particular era, too.
Smith addressed some of the prejudices found in smaller townes and in certain regions of the states, too, especially during the year in which the story is set but also, some of those prejudicial views are still alive today unfortunately. He showed how unnecessarily violent some of those encounters could escalate and how his characters chose to diffuse those situations through diplomacy and strength of character. With a little bit of intimation, too, if the situation called for it. This also served as a way to open Sam’s eyes to the shifting points of view of America and how different people felt about everyone who calls America their home. He knew about some of it, like most of us do growing up – but to witness it firsthand and then, find himself in a defensive position I think expanded his understanding tenfold of how dangerous it can be to travel through certain parts of the country.
Yet at the heart of this story is a romance – between Cheryl and Sam and the interwoven lives they led both together and apart. Part of me wished we could have spent more time seeing Cheryl’s life as she lived it away from Sam and less of the memories of the Academy – as once Sam started his journey back home, I felt that might have made their connection to each even stronger for the reader as it would show how both their lives led-in to their future. Also, I missed seeing what happened when Sam finally arrived home – as it sort of had this weight attached to it. Would his father forgive him and find a way to patch their relationship together? Would his Mom be overjoyed to see him after so long apart? And, what about his sisters?! I was on bated breath waiting for the reunion at home that simply never came to pass. I was disappointed about that to be honest. It just felt like I had taken this journey with Sam only to miss out on the most important part of his arrival.
In respect to how the story concludes, I had hoped it would end on that happier note and it did. I just wished some things had been included in that ending that weren’t and that some other things could have been omitted. I especially was happy to see where Sam chose to lay his head and heart and where he chose to build a career. And, yet ironically the falcon played such a key role in the story and yet, in the end, Smith didn’t tether it back into the narrative and concluding chapters. It was implied of course, but as it had such a strong presence and a special meaning to Sam, I thought it might have been mentioned again at the conclusion.
Overall, it is a good story but there were moments where I felt my attention drifting due to the reasons I’ve mentioned on this review. It is definitely a primer of a story to read for anyone who hasn’t read about the Vietnam War and wants to find traction inside that timeline of American history and also of the mindset of those who were stateside. Whilst it endevours the reader to take an unexpected cross-country journey walking alongside a young man who was not just in search of himself but of where he truly wanted to call ‘home’. And, that is something I think most people can relate to themselves – where do we feel ‘home’ is and what does ‘home’ mean to each of us?
On the writing styling of James Charles Smith:
One thing that comes through strong and clear is how the Academy closed ranks and reacted to the fact that Sam wanted to quit his military service and leave the Academy outright. They definitely did not trust those who choose to leave, nor did they give them any ounce of humanity and acceptance at that choice either. You could tell they would prefer you to buck up and deal with whatever uncertainties you had and still do your duty and serve your country – even if it was against your own conscience and heart. Likewise, there are some stronger words asserted here or there for context and empathsis at different intervals of the story and I was not surprised by them being present given how the story was presenting itself to be told.
Being Gen-X, I could also relate to the passage about ‘duck and cover’ drills with desks – for me, growing up it was referencing not just attacks of that nature but also protection from tornadoes which in my young mind I readily debunked as being ridiculous and I told my teachers so at the time, too. I mean, who would blatantly believe that the flying glass and debris through the windows wouldn’t inflict injury on those of us who were under our desks? It was beyond absurd, but I also knew they had no other options to protect us, and I guess that in itself was a method of trying to assuage our fears than anything else.
Smith developed the relationship between Cheryl and Sam quite quickly – as two fiercely burning stars exploding together and becoming dearly attached to one another at the same time. Their romance was bright and fresh and new – explosively charged and newly formed out of years of friendship. Smith showed how despite their youth, they simply wanted to celebrate the here and now and remain in that romance for as long as they could without the worrisome realities of their age to shadow over their relationship.
As an Autobiographical work of fiction, I wasn’t sure where Sam’s life diverted from Smith and vice versa – however, what was compelling about how the story is told is how Sam tries to constantly rise out of the ashes of his life. He had tried to live up to the expectations of others and felt himself falling short of them only to realise that his path was set to a different course like so many other young people who are just starting to find their voice and their path in life to walk. Smith attempts to showcase Sam’s life on that emerging path – where the boy becomes a man and where a man chooses how wants to live his life on his own terms.
Small Fly in the Ointment:
The only parts of the story that felt out of alignment for me were the back and forth between the Academy and the current timeline of Sam’s life now. Once he was released from the school, I thought we would simply shift forward rather than continuously move back and forth through his timeline. I was enjoying picking up the threads of his life as he travelled to Boulder and where he was starting to sort out the pieces of his life from there. Going back and forth didn’t work as well with me in this narrative as other stories have in the past which shift perspectives and do a bit of time slip between the past and the present.
Except in this instance, the slips weren’t too far back and seemed unnecessary in some instances, too. In other words – I was most eager to see what the road had in store for Sam as he started his journey back home and the constant return of the Academy and the life, he lived there was becoming a bit overly stated and visited. A credit to Smith who had done a wicked good job of nabbing it the first go round and didn’t need to constantly return to it for us to gather the fuller scope of how much it had left an impact on Sam.
After a while, I noticed the stronger language started to take root in the story and almost became commonplace – though, it thankfully took a backseat again. It just ebbed and flowed in the background and personally, I could have used with a little less of it.
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