Airborn (Oppel novel)

Airborn

Airborn first edition cover.
Author	Kenneth Oppel
Cover artist	Peter Riddihoff
Country	Canada
Language	English
Series	Matt Cruse series
Genre	Fantasy, Alternate history novel, Steampunk
Publisher	HarperCollins
Publication date	February 5, 2004
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback) Audiobook
Pages	321 pp (first edition)
ISBN
OCLC	53162914
Followed by	Skybreaker

Airborn is a 2004 young adult novel by Kenneth Oppel. Often recognized as steampunk, the novel is set in an alternate history where the airplane has not been invented, and instead, airships are the primary form of air transportation. Additionally, the world contains fictional animal species such as flying creatures, which live their entire lives in the sky. The book takes place aboard a transoceanic luxury passenger airship, the Aurora, and is told from the perspective of its cabin boy, Matt Cruse.

Fourteen-year-old Matt Cruse is a cabin boy for the Aurora, an airship that stays afloat using a gas called "hydrium". While on lookout duty, he spots a damaged balloon carrying an unconscious old man. Matt saves the man, whose name is Benjamin Malloy, only to have him die shortly after being taken aboard. His last words ramble about "beautiful creatures" that he supposedly saw on his ill-fated voyage.

One year later, Matt leaves his home in Lionsgate City to accompany the Aurora on its voyage to Sydney, Australia. Despite loving his mother and sisters dearly, Matt is relieved to be in the air where he feels closest to his father — a former sailmaker who died in an accident aboard the Aurora. Matt is disappointed to learn that the Junior Sailmaker position he was promised has been given to the airship fleet's heir, Bruce Lunardi. One day into the voyage, an ornithopter delivers two passengers to the ship: Kate de Vries and her chaperone Marjorie Simpkins. Kate tells Matt that she is Benjamin Malloy's granddaughter and shows him detailed drawings of flying panther-like creatures from Malloy's journal. Intrigued by the possibility that they live their whole lives in the air, Kate reveals that she is on a mission to prove that such creatures are real.

A few nights later, the ship is raided by a notorious criminal named Vikram Szpirglas. His gang of pirates plunder the ship of all valuables and kill the chief wireless officer. The pirates proceed to leave, but both ships are caught in a storm. The pirate vessel crashes with the Aurora and tears the Aurora's hull, seriously depleting its supply of hydrium. As the sailmakers scramble to repair the falling Aurora, Matt spots an island and the crew steers toward it. The ship crash lands on the island, which Kate realizes is the island from her grandfather's journal. Kate convinces Matt to help her explore the island where they discover the skeleton of a large winged creature. A few minutes later, they find an injured member of the same species which they decide to call a "cloud cat".