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A review by scribesprite
Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
4.0
There is a space race! Did you think it was between the Americans and Russians? Then you'd be mistaken, it’s really between the Canadians and the French. Starclimber starts out a few months after the last one ended. Matt is in Paris with Kate doing what he loves, flying. It seems like it's going pretty well for a not even 18 year old young man. That is until trouble finds Mr. Cruse, which it always does.
Matt Cruse has a chance to go into space but first he must prove himself. As he goes into training and testing and so forth. Things with Kate are not at all well. The whole ‘I'm not good enough for her thing’ is still kind of there which annoyed me. It partly has to do with Kate's parents' accepting a poor boy but also Kate herself.
Now for the stuff I liked, Matt for starters. A good protagonist is always an excellent sign. He has a little (really minuscule) fault here or there but really an all-around good guy who is trying to follow his dream. Who wouldn't love that? Next is the fact that it all seemed believable. The science that Oppel presents is understandable and well described without being exceedingly boring or completely unbelievable because almost everything that is mentioned we know about. These books have always had a great sense of atmosphere to them and this one was no exception. The whole time I pictured them floating around in space.
It’s been so long since I read the last books but the story picks up on what happened fairly well. I forgot about quite a few things like how the books could actually be funny. The professor was definitely the funniest character. It's not a comedy book—it’s not meant to be—but there were a few times that I laughed.
It was a thrilling ride through space because, as you can guess, things don't always go according to the plan but if something goes wrong it's always a good idea to have Matt on your side. Lastly, I enjoyed space immensely but I think Matt said it best "I missed my sky."
Matt Cruse has a chance to go into space but first he must prove himself. As he goes into training and testing and so forth. Things with Kate are not at all well. The whole ‘I'm not good enough for her thing’ is still kind of there which annoyed me. It partly has to do with Kate's parents' accepting a poor boy but also Kate herself.
Now for the stuff I liked, Matt for starters. A good protagonist is always an excellent sign. He has a little (really minuscule) fault here or there but really an all-around good guy who is trying to follow his dream. Who wouldn't love that? Next is the fact that it all seemed believable. The science that Oppel presents is understandable and well described without being exceedingly boring or completely unbelievable because almost everything that is mentioned we know about. These books have always had a great sense of atmosphere to them and this one was no exception. The whole time I pictured them floating around in space.
It’s been so long since I read the last books but the story picks up on what happened fairly well. I forgot about quite a few things like how the books could actually be funny. The professor was definitely the funniest character. It's not a comedy book—it’s not meant to be—but there were a few times that I laughed.
It was a thrilling ride through space because, as you can guess, things don't always go according to the plan but if something goes wrong it's always a good idea to have Matt on your side. Lastly, I enjoyed space immensely but I think Matt said it best "I missed my sky."