1950s action action-packed adaptation adrenaline adrenaline-rush adventure aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare air-combat air-force aircraft ambition american-literature anthropology arctic atmospheric aviation aviators beautiful-prose betrayal bravery brotherhood camaraderie character-driven character-study combat coming-of-age community competition comradeship conflict courage cross-cultural cross-cultural-experiences cultural-exchange cultural-exploration cultural-immersion culture culture-shock customs danger dangerous-missions death destiny determination drama duty emotional endurance espionage excitement exhilarating exhilaration existential existentialism expat expat-life experiences exploration fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots fish fishermen fishery flying folklore foreign foreign-land foreigner foreigners friendship geography geology geothermal grief gripping heroism history honor hunters iceland icelanders icelandic icelandic-culture icelandic-language icelandic-literature icelandic-society identity immersion immigration intense intensity introspection introspective isolation james james-salter journey korean-war landscape landscapes language language-barrier language-barriers literary literary-fiction literature loss love love-affairs love-triangle loyalty masculinity memoir military military-fiction morality mortality mythology nature non-fiction nonfiction nordic nordic-countries norse-mythology northern-lights novel observations obsession outsider outsider-perspective outsiders outsiders-perspective passion perseverance personal personal-growth personal-journey personal-narrative pilot pilots poetic post-war psychological pursuit redemption relationships remote resilience reykjavik risk risk-taking rivalries rivalry romance sacrifice sagas salter self-discovery society solitude squadron storytelling strangers strategy struggle survival suspense suspenseful teamwork tension the-hunters thrill thriller thrilling tradition traditions tragedy trauma travel travelogue triumph victory vietnam vietnam-war viking viking-heritage vikings vivid-imagery volcanoes war weather winter world-war-ii