Skybreaker

I was so eager to get to SKYBREAKER after AIRBORN I ordered it from the bookstore, started it and five hours later was done. I couldn't put it down. After AIRBORN I had no idea what else could happen to Matt and Kate, but Oppell continues to surprise and astound you with his vivid imagination and talent to bring his story to life. As I read about their adventures in obtaining a mystical, ghost-like air-ship in the sky, I felt as if I was seeing the movie in my head. His attention to detail and ability to bring the characters to life leave you wanting more. You also find yourself cheering on Matt and Kate, and a few other new characters, as they try to obtain what everyone else has failed at...the elusive HYPERION. Now, I'm am anxiously awaiting a 3rd book! This second book was just as good as the first, similar to Harry Potter in nature this book will appeal to all kinds of adults and children. I would recommend reading AIRBORN before reading this one to get the full background on our hero, Matt Cruse!

I loved this book! I simply couldn't put it down. Kenneth Oppel has a great way of keeping my eyes glued to the book. I couldn't hold the suspense most of the time; I found my eyes skipping to the bottom of the page. Luckily, I forced myself to go back and read it so I would understand what was happening! This book took me 2 days to finish reading, it was very captivating and I had a hard time putting it away. I like the way he told the story because every chapter continued from the last and it was very exciting to read on although it was a long book. I predicted that there wouldn't be treasure on the Hyperion. But, there was gold...so I was wrong about that! I think that the story plot was very original, imaginative and creative. Everything was very detailed and I could almost picture every scene. Especially when they were hiding from Rath and his crew, and when they (______) Hyperion. I think he described Hal, Kate, Nadira, and Matt's personality very clearly. When Nadira was being accused of leading Rath and his crew to the Hyperion, I knew it wasn't her because of the shadow in Matt's room. I think that the idea of flying squid-like things (aerozoans) and cloud cats and flying spiders with wings were very creative. When Kate and Matt were hiding in the wolf case from Rath and Barton, I thought that Rath knew that they were in the room somewhere and was waiting for them to come out of hiding. Also, when Matt was saving Kate from Rath and Barton, I thought of the idea of shooting the glass separating the aerozoans from them; and that's what Matt did! At the ending, I predicted that Kate and Matt would find the blueprints in the ornithopter but instead, they found something else. Overall this was an excellent book, and I would rate it 9 out of 10.

I loved Oppel's Airborn. I describe it as shades of Titanic (in the air) with a touch of Mysterious Island and Pirates of the Carribean thrown in. In this sequel, Oppel takes us back to the world of graceful hydrium ships and into a search for gold. As a Paris Airship Academy cadet, Matt Cruse is serving on a rust bucket freighter when the crew sights a long-vanished phantom ship, the Hyperion. Like the Flying Dutchmen of shiplore; the Hyperion is more rumor than fact. The ship is at an unreachable altitude but Matt's captain is foolishly determined to capture it. As the crew falls victim to the crushing altitude, Matt is able to save their lives by disobeying a direct order from his captain. Back in Paris after this episode Matt is wondering if he has a future at the Academy or with the lovely Kate de Vries. Kate wants to prepare an expedition to find the Hyperion though she is more interested in scientific discoveries than the legendary treasure. Matt alone knows the the ship's last position and others want his knowledge. Should he let the dream of wealth overtake him and join in the hunt for the Hyperion or should he plug away at his studies and forget the whole thing? Like treasure hunters searching for Spanish galleons at impossible ocean depths, the team will have to break the sky in their quest. A beautiful gypsy girl, a privateer with questionable motives, a prim governess, brilliant Kate and brave but confused Matt make up the party and are in for the flight of their lives. As Kate suspects, there are other lethal creatures in the sky besides cloud cats. The other presence in the story is the Captain Nemo/Howard Hughes-type eccentric who built the Hyperion so many years ago. Is his spirit ready to part with the secrets of the ghost ship? Horation Hornblower meets Jules Verne -- this is a cracking read. I hope Oppel will visit this world again. His fascination with bats continues by the way.

As a teenage first year student at the Airship Academy, Matt Cruse like all other new pupils, was sent on an on the job assignment. He sails through the air on the dilapidated cargo ship the Flotsam. However, when the crew spots the legendary ghost SKYBREAKER the Hyperion at about 20K up from Antarctica, Captain Tritus gives the order to soar upward so that they can grab the vessel and claims its rumored millions that belong to a wealthy inventor. However, the Flotsam is not built for high stratospheric conditions and the crew begins to suffer from hypoxia. Matt intercedes before they all die from mistakes caused by the increasingly thin oxygen. Someone from the crew sells the sightings story to the newspapers, while Matt's tells his best friend from the Aurora escapade Kate de Vries that he was on the Flotsam and saw the Hyperion. Kate persuades Matt that they should salvage the Hyperion. She also brings Captain Hal Slater of the Saga to pilot their expedition and they are joined by Gypsy Nadira. Passion is heating the Saga though that must stay in the background as sky pirates and deadly rivals such as the Sagarmatha are also AIRBORNE racing for the prize. Readers should picture a Victorian teenage Indiana Jones who performs courageous feats in the stratosphere to understand the concepts behind the exciting SKYBREAKER. The story line is action, action, and more action, but the key cast members seem real due to the feisty amusing relationships. The rectangular romance augments the capers so that teenage action adventure fans (both genders) will appreciate Kenneth Oppel's latest thriller, the sequel to the exhilarating AIRBORNE in which Matt was a hero. Harriet Klausner

This is one of the most perfectly paced novels I have ever read, and I have read hundreds of books in my life. Like many writers, Oppel can make you care about his characters, but that is just one of the levels on which SKYBREAKER succeeds. His ability to twist a cliche sideways and make it ring true is superb. His tactful descriptions of Matt and Kate's feelings for each other are realistic and enjoyable. The adventure aspects abound, yet never seem rushed or over done. All in all a very entertaining book, and one that I hope is just the second in a long running series.