Airborn

The creature was no more than twelve feet in front of us, and I felt a tremendous fear in me. I could see the fish's broken spine on the ground, its severed head and dead eye jerking with every pull from the creature's jaws. She ate the fish. She could eat us. Airborn, by Kenneth Oppel, begins with young cabin boy Matt Cruse aboard the Aurora luxury airship. One day, he meets a passenger, Kate de Vries, a passenger who is determined to see the amazing airborne creatures her grandfather once saw. However, before her dream comes true, the ship is attacked by the notorious pirate Szpirglas, and the Aurora is shipwrecked on a small tropical island. In the end, Matt and Kate find the creatures, great misty white "cloud cats," and get rid of Szpirglas once and for all. Airborn is the perfect fantasy adventure, combining suspense and excitement to create an excellent book. One aspect of the story that I enjoyed is how it is set in an alternate past. Airborn takes place in an imaginary time where airships rule the skies, but the author makes this seem real throughout the story. For instance, little tidbits about how the Aurora works make these huge blimp-like airships more conceivable. When you are introduced to the crew and learn about all their jobs, this effect is considerably enhanced. Finally, Matt's grief over his deceased father, his efforts to become a sailmaker, and his troubles with Kate all add an air of realism to the entire novel. Some other parts of the novel I found appealing are the sections with Szpirglas and his pirates. For example, the scene where the pirates first invade the Aurora has you almost fearing for the crew and passengers, and those fears are confirmed when the wireless officer Mr. Featherstone is shot and killed. Matt and Kate's escape from the pirate camp is filled to the brim with suspense, and the thought that Szpirglas may wake up at any moment is always at the back of your mind. Lastly, the final fight against the pirates onboard the airborne Aurora is the most dangerously exciting part of the book. One other feature of the book I found intriguing is its endless surprises. Like when Matt discovers that the man he saved on the hot air balloon was Kate's grandfather. Or, more unfortunately, when Bruce Lunardi ruins Matt's chances of becoming a sailmaker. However, the biggest shock of all is when dozens of magnificent cloud cats fill the sky around the repaired Aurora. Perhaps my favorite part of Airborn is the cloud cats. Described as "amazing creatures," they are majestic white panthers, but with a pair of four-foot wings. Born in the air, they are true creatures of flight, never touching the ground their entire lives. Ending with that, Airborn is a fantastic novel with a part for everyone, regardless of interest. Wade H.

A boy named Matt Cruse has spent his life as a cabin boy on an airship. When pirates attack, the airship is stranded on a seemingly deserted island. When Matt travels farther inland, however, he discovers that the island is home to the pirates! To add to the suspense, a mysterious animal has been spotted flying around the island! This fast-paced, highly suspenseful novel is full of action and adventure. As a middle school student, I highly recommend it to middle school and high school readers. Also, it's worth noting that this book was one of the Young Reader's Choice nominees for the Senior Division (10th - 12th graders) for 2007.

Actually, I only bought this book because Tamora Pierce is in the cast of the audio version. (I prefer books, so I bought it in book form, but I took that fact as a recommendation.) I was so glad I'd taken a chance on this book, too. I don't particularly care about airships, but in my childhood, I crossed the Pacific several times on cruise ships, and this book has the flavor of those trips. The author writes with zest, and the book is rich for all the senses. The scent of mangoes, the taste of the chef's specialties, the tactile sense throughout the book, in addition to the sights and sounds evoked by his writing made it extremely satisfying. The characters, the most important part of any book to me, were wonderful. There was depth to them, and there were even minor characters I really liked. The plot was clever, plausible, and full of adventure. I hope Oppel writes more like this!

Kenneth Oppel, best known for writing about bats, seems to be channelling the spirit of Jules Verne in "Airborn," a wildly imaginative new fantasy book. Between mysterious flying beasts and pirate attacks, Oppel gives readers a glimpse of life aboard an airship... if airships, not planes, were the major way to travel. Matt Cruse is on the crow's nest, as the "ship's eyes," when he catches a glimpse of a sinking airship. The dying balloonist dies shortly afterward -- but not before telling Matt about glorious winged creatures. Matt dismisses these as hallucinations -- but one year later, a routine cruise on the airship Aurora becomes something more when the dead man's granddaughter Kate arrives. Wealthy but treated like a nuisance, Kate is determined to find whatever her grandfather saw. She shows Matt her grandfather's writings about these winged creatures, and Matt is slowly convinced that the old man wasn't just hallucinating. But their investigations are interrupted by a sudden pirate attack -- which leaves the Aurora sinking from a rip in its envelope. Soon the airship and her crew and passengers are stranded on a deserted island, which may hold the secret to Kate's winged beasts... but it also holds the pirates. Oppel really hits his stride in this book, mixing science with science fiction and wrapping it in a fantasy tortilla. While his bat books were quite good, "Airborn" has the rare quality of slipping readers into his imagined universe. It's one of those stories that can be easily imagined as a reality, even if we do have planes and not airships. He even describes how creatures like the cloud cats could fly, were they real. After the initial rescue, which gets readers hooked into the story, Oppel takes his time to unfold the plot, described in careful detail and with plenty of rich skyborne atmosphere. His setting seems to be, like Hayao Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky," a mix of old and new -- while it's full of airships and similar technology, the attitudes seem to be that of the Victorian or Edwardian era. The pre-pirate plot is a bit slow, but very necessary -- Oppel introduces readers to the Aurora, her chummy crew, and the rich passengers they ferry over the ocean. It also gives Kate and Matt time to get to know each other -- for real, not merely "we're two teens in the same place, we're friends! And maybe more someday!" Speaking of Matt and Kate, they are definitely good lead characters. Matt is "airborn," a kid born in an airship and now at home nowhere except in the sky, even though his father died there. Kate is a good counterpoint, since she is everything Matt is not -- wealthy, adventurous, and all too willing to let people know when she is frustrated. The supporting characters, from the prissy chaperone to the genial captain, are also well-drawn; the only exception is rich boy Bruce, who doesn't get much time. Reportedly he is working on a sequel, which is not surprising. Kenneth Oppel created a rich new fantasy world

Matt Cruise is a cabin boy on a tremendous airship that sails hundreds of thousands of feet above the ocean, ferrying enormously wealthy passengers from city to city. The airship is known as the Aurora, and Matt is ecstatic to have the chance to fly upon this ship day in and day out. It's what he's always dreamed of, as he often images himself as the gas that powers the ship. One night while aboard the Aurora, Matt meets a dying balloonist, who tells Matt about all kinds of beautiful creatures that drift through the skies. Matt, knowing that this sounds crazy, ignores what the man says. But later, when he meets the man's granddaughter, Matt realizes that the man's ravings could very well have been true. And that the creatures in which he spoke about, are completely true. As a fan of Kenneth Oppel's SILVERWING trilogy, I was ecstatic to hear about his newest addition to the literary world, AIRBORN. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed in even the slightest way. AIRBORN is an exciting thrill-ride of an adventure, that takes the reader through space, and clouds, where we get to meet up with pirates, voyagers, and all types of other humans and creatures who tour the sky day and night. Matt was an exciting character, who will be loved by readers, as he is very optimistic, and intelligent, and his imagination is much like a childs, what with his constant fantasies about sailing through the sky, and being the gas that powers the airship. Fans of Oppel's SILVERWING trilogy will find it hard to put down AIRBORN.Erika Sorocco