Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Canadian Book Challenge - British Columbia
Airborn is a very inventive tale that takes place in an imaginery past in which airships (think Hindenburg) rule the skies. The characters dress and act in a manner that reflects the early 1900's. This particular airship, The Aurora, has a remarkable cabin boy, Matt Cruse, who is always in the thick of the action. And this novel has plenty of action. Matt spies a damaged hot-air balloon and helps rescue the dying passenger. A year later, that man's granddaughter boards the airship to find the strange creatures her grandfather wrote about in his journal. The journey includes a run-in with air pirates, the discovery of a non-charted tropical island, and the beautiful but dangerous flying cat-like creatures. It's really a great fantasy with believable and interesting characters. Oppel truly captured the uncertainties and angst of a fifteen-year-old boy along with his passion for flying. Kate de Vries, the intrepid granddaughter, is a curious and courageous young woman who has the very privileged's disdain for rules. She is the cause of much of the trouble which accors on the island but her dealings with her chaperone, Miss Simpkins, are very funny. A great swashbuckler of a tale and wonderful for young adults, Airbord has won several awards and has a sequel, Skybreaker, which I plan to read.
As far as the Canadian Book Challenge goes, this book deals very little with Canada. Matt's home town is Lionsgate City which is actually Vancouver. Kennneth Oppel was born in Vancouver and spent his childhood in Victoria and Halifax. Rating: 4.25

Posted by Framed at 11:39 AM
2 comments:
Nicola said...
I'm really looking forward to reading this. Gad to hear you enjoyed it. I'm currently reading Oppel's book Sunwing (2nd in a series) and enjoying it very much!

1/01/2008 1:34 PM
Booklogged said...
Another one to add to the list. Yippee! Sounds good.