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Airman by Eoin Colfer
AirmanBy Eoin ColferRelease Date:
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"Conor Broekhart was born to fly, or more accurately he was born flying."
On the small island of Great Saltee, Conor’s parents work for the King, he’s raised beside a princess, and tutored by an inventive French man. Everything in his life is perfect as he and his tutor strive to build their own flying machine. But when an ambitious nobleman murders the king, his tutor is blamed for the treachery. Conor is sent to work in the diamond mines of Small Saltee, where he gives up his name and identity, believing his family blames him as well for the king’s death.
Still, Conor dreams of flying, and the only way off of the small island is to soar above the waves. To save his family and his sanity, he will have to build his flying machine and retake his old life.
This book was amazing. Every element that I love about Artemis Fowl was there, yet it was very clearly a different book. This is an epic adventure and rather reminds me of older stories like Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Granted, I never actually read those books, but I know the stories through many movies, and Airman has that kind of a feel. There were also elements of Daedalus and Icarus mixed in.
Even though it was a rather long book, it never lagged and every word counted. Like Colfer’s other books, Airman was filled with fascinating inventions to grab the reader’s mind. I always feel a bit smarter after reading one of his books.
One thing I really felt the book was missing though, was more about Isabella, the love interest and princess/queen. Other characters talked about her enough, but I felt like I never got to see that much of her. True, the story isn’t about her and it already covers quite a bit, but we were supposed to be fearing for her safety through most of the story, yet I never felt like I cared about her, past the point of the main character caring for her.
Ratings Reasons:
Action 5 – Airman flew along at a breathtaking pace, moving towards a stunning conclusion. Swashbuckling and flying–such a great combination!
Romance 3 1/2 – It wasn’t the largest element of the book, but it was there and enjoyable.
Characters 4 – Conor was expertly drawn, and the cast of characters was expansive and complex. I would have liked to see a bit more depth in his parents and Isabella, though, if’ there had been a few more pages.
Overall 5 – All fans of Colfer’s other works should give this book a try.
Extras:
Eoin Colfer is most famous for his Artemis Fowl series, but he’s written plenty of great books.
Inspired by all the cool flying technology in the book, I decided to learn a little more about flight before the Wrigh brothers. I found flyingmachines.org to be a great resource.
Diving bells are another early machine Colfer describes, but I could never quite picture it, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Gives me a much better idea of how it works in the book.
Parents: 13 + A little bit dark at some points, I’d recommend it for the slightly older reader.
I honestly had no idea about Colfer’s other books! Sheesh! A swashbuckler is just what I need right now. I find it so interesting that an author can keep their signature style and write a completely different kind of story. And do it well. Can’t wait to pick this one up!
crichoux reply on June 15th, 2008:
Let me know what you think! I’m interested to know if others agree that it keeps his style.
I’ve read a few of his other books, like that one about the aliens, but they never really grabbed me like Artemis Fowl did. Until I read Airman. Heard good things about Half Moon Investigations though and I want to read it.