Russia, 1941. The day the Germans invade, 16-year-old flying prodigy Aelya Makarova is giving flight lessons and thinking about summer vacation. Within weeks, her hometown is destroyed. When the Soviet Air Force starts recruiting women, Aelya knows how she can fight back: at the controls of a fighter plane. But the Nazis aren't the only foes she needs to face. Her female squadron is split by petty rivalries, male pilots treat them like a joke, and the perfect motherland she thought she was fighting for doesn't exist. Thrown into the hell over Stalingrad, Aelya will learn not only the limits of her abilities, but what she is willing to sacrifice.

The pilots of Sparrow Squadron are back. Russia, 1943. The Red Army advances after the hard fought victory at Stalingrad, but the Nazi war machine is far from defeated. The invaders mass once again for an all-out attack. One of those ready to face this onslaught is fighter pilot Aelya Makarova, a veteran who carries her own scars from battle. But now, her comrades need her to stand up and be a leader—whether she wants to or not. Among those counting on her is Roza Kulik, whose exploits have transformed her into a famous fighter ace with a German bounty on her head. Now she has a chance to wipe clean the record of her family’s persecution, in a country where the wrong family history can cost you your life. But Roza’s quest for a life free from the shadows of the past collides with Aelya’s growing responsibilities, just as a deadly new enemy stalks them in the skies.

Abandoned. Lost. Hunted. Nazi-occupied Russia, 1943. After a year of fighting, 18-year-old Soviet fighter pilot Aelya Makarova's worst fear has come true: she's a prisoner of the Germans. With a concentration camp and almost certain death ahead, the only choice is escape. Trapped behind enemy lines, unsure of who she can trust, and knowing even her own country will consider her a traitor for getting captured, she faces her toughest challenge yet. What follows is a harrowing test, not only of Aelya's will to survive, but of her courage to find hope and good in the face of war's cruelty. The epic trilogy inspired by the Soviet women fighter pilots of World War II comes to its gripping, heartfelt conclusion.