Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Like most of Eoin Colfer's work, Airman was delightful, engaging, and FUN to read. It doesn't seem to matter what subject or genre he's writing about, I am always enthralled by his characters and their stories.
My only nitpick about this story was towards the ending, so I'll try not to spoil it. The villain leaves a message for Conor that directly contradicts information he thought true, yet he never realizes it until he's told outright by others. Then again, the message wasn't relayed exactly as dictated, but the crux was still there. I suppose I can forgive him this one, though.
When Bonvilain leaves the message with Linus, he specifically says that the group will be having "a small dinner to celebrate the life of Conor Broekhart [...]. It will be the third anniversary of his death." Why would his parents and Isabella toast him if they thought him a traitor? However, Conor only hears from Linus that they are attending "a dinner for Conor Broekhart." Still, it seems obvious enough that they have all been fed different lies, yet Conor still thinks they hate him when he infiltrates the tower. Not a plot hole or anything egregious, just something I noticed and wondered why Conor didn't.
My only nitpick about this story was towards the ending, so I'll try not to spoil it. The villain leaves a message for Conor that directly contradicts information he thought true, yet he never realizes it until he's told outright by others. Then again, the message wasn't relayed exactly as dictated, but the crux was still there. I suppose I can forgive him this one, though.
This book is such a fun read. Even though it is set near the turn of the century at the dawn of flight, it almost feels like a comic book. Don't be fooled by part 1. This isn't going to be a feel good book about a boy discovering a love of flight and science in an idyllic and progressive kingdom.
If you have read any Eoin Colfer books, you may just recognize some characters, tropes, and definitely the humor that he uses through his Artemis Fowl books. But I keep coming back to re-read because it's a fun ride.
If you have read any Eoin Colfer books, you may just recognize some characters, tropes, and definitely the humor that he uses through his Artemis Fowl books. But I keep coming back to re-read because it's a fun ride.
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another French book that Don picked up last year. I think my review of this book will be fairly mixed. Parts of it I really liked, other parts were not so awesome.
I feel that there were some things Colfer didn't really explain properly or fully. For starters, right in the prologue, the airship on which Conor is born is actually in the process of being shot down while he's being born. We do eventually find out who was shooting it, and we can figure out why. But at the time, none of the people in the ship seem to really even question why someone's shooting at them, and no mention is ever made of investigating the shootings, or trying to find out who did it. I found that a little strange.
I also found it a little unbelievable that the conditions in the prison mine were as bad as they were without good king Nicholas's knowledge. True, some of the especially bad things were only re-instituted after his death, but it hardly seems like it was a very pleasant place even before that. To call the accommodations and food sub-standard would be giving them too much credit, the working conditions even above sea level hardly seemed particularly safe, and the prisoners are all hot-iron branded, for heaven's sake. It is explained later in the book that steps were taken to hide the actual state of affairs from the king when he visited, but it just seems that someone who appeared to care about his people as much as this guy would have been more thorough in his inspections of the facility. Colfer really tried, I think, to make the conditions in the prison not reflect badly on Nicholas, but it didn't really work for me.
I also found that the love between Conor and Isabella felt forced. I realize that it had to established fairly promptly before the disaster happened, and it's not like you couldn't have predicted from the moment her name appeared in the blurb that the two of them would end up together, but it just felt like it came out of nowhere, and thus it felt kind of forced and artificial. It was a little reminiscent of Anakin and Amidala, and we all know how well that came across.
All that said, this book had some really good parts. The action and suspense parts were very well written. Despite being quite confident that our hero wasn't going to get himself killed halfway through the book, his escape scene from the prison still had me feeling pretty tense, as did any number of other scenes throughout the book. I also thought he did a pretty good job of developing the characters. Even the ones we're not really exposed that much to, like Conor's mother, we still get a decent sense of. Which suggests to me that he himself has a good sense of his characters, and is consistent in how he writes their behaviour and dialogue.
Where the story itself fell down a bit for me was in the calmer parts. I found that after the opening excitement, it really took a long time to get going again, and even once it started, it still dragged a lot in parts. Obviously, it can't be go-go-go all the time, but I just found that the parts in between the really exciting parts really dragged. Part of it was repetition, with certain things (the fact that the coronation was moved up screwed up Conor's escape plans, or the fact that the slightest problem could cause his flying machine to fail and consequently, him to die) repeated several times within the span of a few pages. Thank you, Mr. Colfer. We get it. No seriously. Even aside from that, though, much of the book just lacked a certain tension or impetus or something, to make it feel like the story was actually moving forward. To be fair, it is possible that some of that comes from reading it in translation, though, so ultimately, I think I'll declare the book pretty good. And it'll go on my list of books for boys.
I feel that there were some things Colfer didn't really explain properly or fully. For starters, right in the prologue, the airship on which Conor is born is actually in the process of being shot down while he's being born. We do eventually find out who was shooting it, and we can figure out why. But at the time, none of the people in the ship seem to really even question why someone's shooting at them, and no mention is ever made of investigating the shootings, or trying to find out who did it. I found that a little strange.
I also found it a little unbelievable that the conditions in the prison mine were as bad as they were without good king Nicholas's knowledge. True, some of the especially bad things were only re-instituted after his death, but it hardly seems like it was a very pleasant place even before that. To call the accommodations and food sub-standard would be giving them too much credit, the working conditions even above sea level hardly seemed particularly safe, and the prisoners are all hot-iron branded, for heaven's sake. It is explained later in the book that steps were taken to hide the actual state of affairs from the king when he visited, but it just seems that someone who appeared to care about his people as much as this guy would have been more thorough in his inspections of the facility. Colfer really tried, I think, to make the conditions in the prison not reflect badly on Nicholas, but it didn't really work for me.
I also found that the love between Conor and Isabella felt forced. I realize that it had to established fairly promptly before the disaster happened, and it's not like you couldn't have predicted from the moment her name appeared in the blurb that the two of them would end up together, but it just felt like it came out of nowhere, and thus it felt kind of forced and artificial. It was a little reminiscent of Anakin and Amidala, and we all know how well that came across.
All that said, this book had some really good parts. The action and suspense parts were very well written. Despite being quite confident that our hero wasn't going to get himself killed halfway through the book, his escape scene from the prison still had me feeling pretty tense, as did any number of other scenes throughout the book. I also thought he did a pretty good job of developing the characters. Even the ones we're not really exposed that much to, like Conor's mother, we still get a decent sense of. Which suggests to me that he himself has a good sense of his characters, and is consistent in how he writes their behaviour and dialogue.
Where the story itself fell down a bit for me was in the calmer parts. I found that after the opening excitement, it really took a long time to get going again, and even once it started, it still dragged a lot in parts. Obviously, it can't be go-go-go all the time, but I just found that the parts in between the really exciting parts really dragged. Part of it was repetition, with certain things (the fact that the coronation was moved up screwed up Conor's escape plans, or the fact that the slightest problem could cause his flying machine to fail and consequently, him to die) repeated several times within the span of a few pages. Thank you, Mr. Colfer. We get it. No seriously. Even aside from that, though, much of the book just lacked a certain tension or impetus or something, to make it feel like the story was actually moving forward. To be fair, it is possible that some of that comes from reading it in translation, though, so ultimately, I think I'll declare the book pretty good. And it'll go on my list of books for boys.
I really like Colfer's Artemis Fowl series, but now Airman is my favorite of his books. I was immediately pulled into the story by the balloon ride during which Conor Broekhart is born - and that's just the beginning of Conor's never-dull life. I thought all of the characters were well-written, but especially Conor. If there is a sequel, I hope we get to know Isabella better. This is one I wouldn't mind rereading at some point.
This is one of those books I thought I'd read because someone I know rated it 5* and, conveniently, I know she has a fantastic taste in music, so I had a theory it extended to her taste in books too. I, as usual, made the mistake of reading some reviews and found a lot of people saying 'I don't like any of Colfer's other books', yada, yada. Luckily for me - to my knowledge, at least - I haven't read a damned thing of his.
So, now I turn to Airman. I'll level - I love science, I love engineering and I love things like documentaries on aviation (note: I avoid them when I'm about to fly in case they include crashes. I'm flying in 5 days, so this was a risk...). I immediately loved Conor Broekhart as a character, and his parents too. The idea of being in the late 1800s and seeing the story through a family who are actually very forward thinking was great. More so, Vigny - (in my head, at least) - struck me as a 19th Century Game of Thrones Littlefinger. That's how I pictured him anyway; useless information, but hey.
I read the plot summary and thought I knew where this book would go and where the plot would end, but as my imagined conclusion occurred at 51% into the book, there was clearly more I hadn't anticipated. Going from his idyllic childhood, frolicking with royalty and being tutored by the forward-thinking (and particularly awesome) Victor Vigny and having little to fear to having his life stripped away from him in a faked act of treason, Conor adapts to a life that should have crushed him. All while hatching his plan to escape, he makes friends that will - I'd assume - hold a bond for a lifetime, all while working his way up the ranks to aid his plans.
There's a lot more to this book than I thought, and I kind of love it. I got a tad too into Vigny's lessons and Conor's internal monologue when it came to the technical side of things, or the revelations in his mind when he clicked something with his aeronautical designs.
I got hooked really quickly, but I always felt I knew what was coming. I, luckily, found myself constantly surprised. So, as the person I took this inadvertent recommendation from has fantastic taste and, dare I say, so I do, I'd highly recommend this.
So, now I turn to Airman. I'll level - I love science, I love engineering and I love things like documentaries on aviation (note: I avoid them when I'm about to fly in case they include crashes. I'm flying in 5 days, so this was a risk...). I immediately loved Conor Broekhart as a character, and his parents too. The idea of being in the late 1800s and seeing the story through a family who are actually very forward thinking was great. More so, Vigny - (in my head, at least) - struck me as a 19th Century Game of Thrones Littlefinger. That's how I pictured him anyway; useless information, but hey.
I read the plot summary and thought I knew where this book would go and where the plot would end, but as my imagined conclusion occurred at 51% into the book, there was clearly more I hadn't anticipated. Going from his idyllic childhood, frolicking with royalty and being tutored by the forward-thinking (and particularly awesome) Victor Vigny and having little to fear to having his life stripped away from him in a faked act of treason, Conor adapts to a life that should have crushed him. All while hatching his plan to escape, he makes friends that will - I'd assume - hold a bond for a lifetime, all while working his way up the ranks to aid his plans.
There's a lot more to this book than I thought, and I kind of love it. I got a tad too into Vigny's lessons and Conor's internal monologue when it came to the technical side of things, or the revelations in his mind when he clicked something with his aeronautical designs.
I got hooked really quickly, but I always felt I knew what was coming. I, luckily, found myself constantly surprised. So, as the person I took this inadvertent recommendation from has fantastic taste and, dare I say, so I do, I'd highly recommend this.