Airborn

by Kenneth Oppel

Matt Cruse is cabin boy aboard the Aurora, an airship which truly is lighter than air. Since the discovery of hydrium, a gas that renders even the heaviest vehicle as light as a feather, airships travel all over the world in the same way as planes do today. Matt himself was born on an airship and it is there that he feels most at home.

Matt has high hopes for promotion to junior sailmaker on this voyage - until Kate de Vries, one of the wealthy passengers, arrives on the scene. She's feisty and brave, and won't let social distinctions get in the way of her friendship with Matt. And all their bravery is required when one night, in the middle of the ocean, they are boarded by pirates and caught up in adventures beyond all imagining ...

• ISBN10: 0756947944
• ISBN13: 9780756947941
• Publish Date: 24 May 2005 (first published 15 April 2004)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 501
• Language: English

Reviews

[jnikkir]

Giving this book a solid 3 stars. Honestly it probably ranks somewhere between "liked it" and "really liked it", and I should probably round up... It just doesn't measure up with other books that I've given 4 stars to, though, so 3 it is.

I was excited to read this because it was heralded by many reviewers to be a "steampunk Treasure Island". Well... it was definitely that. By which I mean, it had the feel of a much older, piratey classic, rather than a modern YA book. It was published in 2004, granted, but that's not that long ago. ;) I was hoping for some more in-depth plot and character-development. What Oppel delivered was pretty simple in both areas: a plot driven by airship shenanigans and island mystery; and characters that I felt weren't given enough depth to be taken completely seriously.

That being said, the reason I did "like/really like" Airborn were those airship shenanigans and island mystery. There are plenty of twists and turns in this adventure, and the setting couldn't have been better. I'm a sucker for a good airship, and the Aurora was great.

There just wasn't enough spark for me in the character department, so sadly I don't think I'm terribly interested in what happens to Matt and Kate in either of the sequels.

[nannah]

What an adventure!! And what storytelling. :)



Kenneth Oppel has a wonderful way with words--it is so easy to lose myself in this book. The imagery is stunning and all the actions and dialogue happen so smoothly and naturally.



The characters were fresh and marvelous -- who can resist Matt? :3



All in all, I'm so glad I have finally found my way into this trilogy. It seems like it will be such a fun read. I can't wait to pick up the next one! :D