Airborn

501 pages

English language

Published March 1, 2005 by EOS.

ISBN:
978-0-06-053182-9
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
60450130

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4 stars (6 reviews)

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the Aurora, a huge airship that sails hundreds of feet above the ocean, ferrying wealthy passengers from city to city. It is the life Matt's always wanted; convinced he's lighter than air, he imagines himself as buoyant as the hydrium gas that powers his ship. One night he meets a dying balloonist who speaks of beautiful creatures drifting through the skies. It is only after Matt meets the balloonist's granddaughter that he realizes that the man's ravings may, in fact, have been true, and that the creatures are completely real and utterly mysterious.

In a swashbuckling adventure reminiscent of Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson, Kenneth Oppel, author of the best-selling Silverwing trilogy, creates an imagined world in which the air is populated by transcontinental voyagers, pirates, and beings never before dreamed of by the humans who sail the skies.

6 editions

Review of 'Airborn' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Oh my gosh, how is this book 15 years old and I'd never come across it till now? Okay sure, it's a Young Adult book but so are many other fun reads like Harry Potter and the Hunger Games and that never stopped me before. I'd have loved this book as a young teen. I still really enjoyed it.

If you like Treasure Island and Jules Verne type exploration and a slightly steampunk feel to an alternate Victorian-ish Earth where there are airships that fly with Hydrium (a lighter-than-helium element) then let me assure you, you'll enjoy this book. Our Hero Matt Cruse the cabin boy (think Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island) on board the airship Aurora working hard and hoping to captain his own airship one day, crosses paths with rich and very determined heiress Kate de Vries, on the Aurora determined to learn more about how her grandfather …

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Subjects

  • Airships -- Juvenile fiction
  • Pirates -- Juvenile fiction
  • Animals -- Juvenile fiction