Synopses & Reviews
Sailing toward dawn, and I was perched atop the crow's nest, being the ship's eyes. We were two nights out of Sydney, and there'd been no weather to speak of so far. I was keeping watch on a dark stack of nimbus clouds off to the northwest, but we were leaving it far behind, and it looked to be smooth going all the way back to Lionsgate City. Like riding a cloud. . . .
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.
Review
"This rousing adventure has something for everyone: appealing and enterprising characters, nasty villains, and a little romance." School Library Journal
Review
"Entrancing, exciting adventure....Full of a sense of air, flying details, and action." Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
KENNETH OPPEL is the Governor Generals Award-winning author of the Airborn series and the Silverwing Saga, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. His most recent novels are
Half Brother, winner of both the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award and the Young Adult Book Award;
This Dark Endeavour, finalist for the Governor Generals Literary Award; and
Such Wicked Intent, finalist for the CLA Young Adult Book Award. Canadas nominated author for the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Award, he lives in Toronto with his wife and three children.
WEB:KENNETHOPPEL.CA
FACEBOOK: KENNETH OPPEL
TWITTER: @KENNETHOPPEL