Airborn

Rating:
Summary: Superb Adventure!!
Review: Wow, what a fantastic adventure. I was a little skeptical to read it as the cover didn't seem very interesting, but after I started reading Airborn, I was enthusiatically entralled. Airborn brings together the ideas of Treasure Island and Treasure Planet for a gripping adventure. The descriptive, vivid writing of Kenneth Oppel makes the reader feel they are there expereincing all the ups and downs of the characters. I enjoyed accompanying Matt and Kate aboard the airship, Aurora, as they search for an uncharted species that Kate's grandfather had briefly documented before he died aboard a hotair balloon. Pirates, a shipwreck, a typhoon, jumping snakes, and a beautiful yet deadly uncharted species makes the book hard to put down. Bravo Mr. Oppel! Well done!

Rating:
Summary: What a treat!
Review: You will enjoy this book! I loved it and could not wait to get back to it when I had to put it down.

Matt Cruse was born in the air, he only feels truly himself when he is aloft in the airship Aurora. Matt knows every strut and dial of the ship. It is his home. He becomes friends with Kate, a wealthy young passenger who is retracing her grandfather's balloon journey and is in search of the fantastic flying "beings" he wrote about in his journal.

A pirate attack, a shipwreck, scary flying creatures that they dub, "cloud cats" keep this story moving and kept me turning the pages until the end.

Matt is an interesting character who is still coming to terms with the death of his father and his new feelings for Kate.

Oppel makes you feel the movement of the ship, smell the sweetish odor of the "hydrium" gas, and feel the heat of the island. The time period is seemingly in the past in the era of the great luxury liners but the idea of hydrium and the Academy where ships' officers are trained have a futuristic feel.

Great job. This is one of the best books I have read this year.