Review of Airborn (Airborn Book 1)

I just finished reading Airborn by Kenneth Oppel.📚

Matt Cruse is a cabin boy on the luxury airship Aurora. He helps waiting on the passengers they fairy over the oceans. But one night, Matt sees a balloon in danger while he is on night watch. This event is the start of a classical adventure story that will change Matt’s whole life.

Opinion

Please note that from here on out, the text can contain spoilers of the book.

This book reminds me of a good old adventure novel I read as a child. I am thinking about Jule Vernes here. The book is undoubtedly targeted at a younger audience, but I still felt immense joy reading the book.

Surprisingly the book also hints at some darker themes with Matts’s grieve over the loss of his dad. But it’s only hinted at indirectly. It mainly shows how Matt needs to manage his two loyalties between the ship and his captain, his new friend Kate, and his sense of adventure.

These themes are woven into an excellent adventure story. It starts slowly, but the stakes soon grow more significant. As a grown-up reader, it helps if you have some suspense of disbelief when reading this story. But the author managed to surprise me at least once with an unexpected turn.

And if you write about an Airship I’m always happy to read it – I would love to travel on one!

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