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Synopsis

One dark night on the island of Great Saltee, fourteen-year-old Conor is framed for a terrible crime he didn’t commit. Thrown into prison by the dastardly Hugo Bonvilain, Conor is trapped in a seaswept dungeon and branded a traitor. He must escape and clear his name; he wants his old life back – his family, his friends . . . and his princess.

Conor knows there is only one way out. It’s an impossible task, which has never been done before. But Conor is determined to do it. He’ll have to fly.

Swashbuckling new fiction from the amazing Eoin Colfer, ideal for readers aged 11+.

Reviews

Customer Review: 22 January 2009

Reviewer: My Favourite Books

'The main character, Conor Broekhart is born at the World Fair (1878) in a hot air balloon sailing over Paris. This introduction to Conor tells you immediately that our young hero is not going to be your run of the mill type of lad. His parents return with him to the small Saltee Islands, just off the Irish coast, where his parents are friends with and the subjects of King Nicholas Trudeau, sovereign of the Saltee Islands. King Nicholas is however a forward thinking monarch, ensuring that the islands are dragged out of their medieval ways into modern times, making them adapt to industrialization. This is not something certain of his subjects agree with! ... - Plot spoiler removed - ... Conor spends most of his time with his best friend, Princess Isabella and his tutor Victor Vigny who is as obsessed as Conor is with flying – it is what their experiments are all about. Victor is a good friend of King Nicholas and they have an easy cameraderie. Marshall Bonvilain (good name, eh?) is the villain of the piece, the man who is keen to overthrow King Nicholas and take the throne for himself. ... - Plot spoiler removed - ... The story is wonderfully told with great skill and tremendous characterisation. ... - Plot spoiler removed - ... He grows up and he becomes wise. He goes through an emotional time, thinking of his family, of the Princess Isabella, soon to be Queen Isabella, and what his future might have been. He instead focusses on who and what he is now, putting his past behind him. It makes for fascinating reading and I was dreading that it was going to be a dull period in the book, but the author uses his skill as narrator to bring the wider picture into play, so you don''t JUST focus on Conor''s dilemma. I am not going to tell the whole plot, as it wouldn’t be fair. There are surprises and twists aplenty and it is truly a boys own adventure. Let me say this though: if you are keen for a historical romp, some brilliant storytelling about a young man seeking his revenge, and how your dreams keep you alive, Airman is that and more. As I mentioned earlier it has an old-world storytelling echo to it. It is The Count of Monte Cristo for younger readers. It is the romp of Princess Bride and it is the imagination of Jules Verne and HG Wells all rolled up in one. I will give this one of my newly created tags: – and encourage you to read it, just for the heck of it, because it is good clean escapist fun and it made me realise I need to definitely catch up with Mr. Colfer’s other works! I’d also hasten to add that I think this one will have cross-over appeal to adults as the world-building and storytelling is just excellent.'

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