Sprouting Wings: Book One in the Alan Ericsson Series

By: Henry Faulkner
Publisher: Two Harbors Press
Publishing Date: December 2014
ISBN: 978-1-935204-60-2
Reviewed by: Mary Lignor
Review Date: January 2015

This novel is listed as the first novel in the Alan Ericsson Series by Henry Faulkner. It is, by far, a fascinating countdown of the 1940’s leading up to the beginning of World War II. Lieutenant Junior Grade Alan Ericsson is an officer in the Navy on assignment at the US Navy Newport Torpedo Station. Lt. Ericsson is thinking about his next assignment and hopeful it will be better than what he is currently doing. While the Germans have goose-stepped over Poland, France and Norway, Ericsson has had to serve at a desk job after disagreeing with some of the Navy brass after he was one of the survivors of a new submarine that went to the bottom (during peace time) and some men were killed.

Alan decides that he will ask to be transferred to Naval Aviation, preferably on an aircraft carrier. Meanwhile, he has proposed to his girl Jennifer, she has accepted and then he has to go off to his training which is quite far away from his fiancée. She has also started a new position in Naval Intelligence in Washington, DC.

In the spring of 1941, after Alan finishes flight training, he and Jennifer get married and are blissfully happy. Alan is assigned to a carrier squadron in Norfolk so they are able to spend many weekends together. However, good times don't last as Jennifer is transferred to Pearl Harbor and Alan goes into the North Atlantic on a carrier. His work as a carrier pilot is going well when the ship comes to dock in Norfolk in December, 1941.

When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the United States realizes that war has arrived on its shores even though it has been hovering over America for quite a while. There’s a scramble to get Alan's ship ready for the Pacific and Alan is waiting for word that Jennifer is OK as she works at Pearl Harbor.

This story is fictional but is full of historical facts relating to the prospect of the United States going to war. In the back of the book are illustrations and photographs of planes and ships along with a glossary of abbreviations, codes and Names of Aircraft Carriers and Destinations.

Quill says: This book is a find for readers who are WWII buffs. Looking forward to more books in this series!