Why Airman is a decent book with great character development
Sup! It's Nate here, this time with a review of Airman by Eoin Colfer. I had previously read Colfer's excellent Artemis Fowl series, and when I saw another book by him in the library, I decided to check it out.
Airman is a historical fiction and adventure novel set in the late 1800's. It mostly takes place on the Saltee Islands, a real (but uninhabited) collection of islands in Europe. The story centers around the life of Conor Broekhart, the son of Captain Declan Broekhart and his wife Catherine. Conor was allegedly born while flying in a hot-air balloon, and he has loved high places and always dreamed of flying as a result. The story begins with young Conor and his friend Princess Isabella (son of King Nicholas, king of the Saltees) playing in the castle of the Saltees. However, a fire breaks out, and Conor uses his ingenuity to create a makeshift glider and save himself and Isabella from the flames. After seeing this, Victor Vigny (King Nicholas's friend), who had come to teach Isabella, decided to teach Conor as well. Conor learns swordplay and mechanics from Victor, and they theorycraft different designs for powered flying machines. One day, however, Hugo Bonvilian (a marshal) kills Victor and the king and frames Conor for it. Conor is imprisoned and taken to Little Saltee to work the diamond mine. He meets a man named Linus Wynter, a deaf musician, who soon disappears and Conor presumes he is dead. A couple years then pass--Conor forms alliances with other inmates and gradually gets the resources for his escape plan. During Princess Isabella's coronation (the king died, remember?) Conor escapes on a balloon that was part of a demonstration by the famous sharpshooters of the Saltees. He then discovers that Linus Wynter is still alive, and he and Wynter get enough parts for Conor to build a powered plane, fly back to the Saltees, and kill Bonvilian. His plan goes fairly well, and he is able to expose Bonvilian as the real murderer of the king and clear his own name.
There were many things that I liked about Airman. First of all, the plot was intriguing and pretty unique. I enjoyed the plot twist with Bonvilian not only killing Victor and the king, but also framing and imprisoning Conor for it. Conor's discovery that Linus Wynter was still alive was also surprising. The most intriguing part of the story, however, was Conor's audacious plan to escape prison. It was interesting to read about how he gradually built up the materials he needed and then put his plan into action. These and many other unique plot elements made the story fun to read.
Another thing that Airman did well was its character development. Similar to how Lewis's guitar skills reflect his development in If I Ever Get Out of Here, Conor's flying/designing skills reflect his own development. At the start of the story, when Conor is learning from Victor and doesn't have much experience with the outside world, his flying machines don't work. When he is imprisoned, he has to learn how to be independent and strong, and overcome his emotions about the king and Victor's deaths. This development in Conor's character is reflected in his ability to build and operate gliders, and he successfully makes his prison escape on a glider. He continues to develop his glider as he gets the parts he needs for his biggest invention yet. While he does this, he decides to go back to the Saltees and try to save his parents and Queen Isabella from Bonvilian (he was previously going to go to an American university). By the time he designs and builds his own self-powered airplane, he has become a physically and emotionally mature man.
I can't point out any specific cons in Airman, but I definitely preferred the Artemis Fowl series. It felt a bit more developed and better written that Airman, but that might just be because it's a series. I would give Airman an 8.137/10, and I would recommend it and the Artemis Fowl series to anyone hungry for historical fiction/adventure.
Airman is a historical fiction and adventure novel set in the late 1800's. It mostly takes place on the Saltee Islands, a real (but uninhabited) collection of islands in Europe. The story centers around the life of Conor Broekhart, the son of Captain Declan Broekhart and his wife Catherine. Conor was allegedly born while flying in a hot-air balloon, and he has loved high places and always dreamed of flying as a result. The story begins with young Conor and his friend Princess Isabella (son of King Nicholas, king of the Saltees) playing in the castle of the Saltees. However, a fire breaks out, and Conor uses his ingenuity to create a makeshift glider and save himself and Isabella from the flames. After seeing this, Victor Vigny (King Nicholas's friend), who had come to teach Isabella, decided to teach Conor as well. Conor learns swordplay and mechanics from Victor, and they theorycraft different designs for powered flying machines. One day, however, Hugo Bonvilian (a marshal) kills Victor and the king and frames Conor for it. Conor is imprisoned and taken to Little Saltee to work the diamond mine. He meets a man named Linus Wynter, a deaf musician, who soon disappears and Conor presumes he is dead. A couple years then pass--Conor forms alliances with other inmates and gradually gets the resources for his escape plan. During Princess Isabella's coronation (the king died, remember?) Conor escapes on a balloon that was part of a demonstration by the famous sharpshooters of the Saltees. He then discovers that Linus Wynter is still alive, and he and Wynter get enough parts for Conor to build a powered plane, fly back to the Saltees, and kill Bonvilian. His plan goes fairly well, and he is able to expose Bonvilian as the real murderer of the king and clear his own name.
There were many things that I liked about Airman. First of all, the plot was intriguing and pretty unique. I enjoyed the plot twist with Bonvilian not only killing Victor and the king, but also framing and imprisoning Conor for it. Conor's discovery that Linus Wynter was still alive was also surprising. The most intriguing part of the story, however, was Conor's audacious plan to escape prison. It was interesting to read about how he gradually built up the materials he needed and then put his plan into action. These and many other unique plot elements made the story fun to read.
Another thing that Airman did well was its character development. Similar to how Lewis's guitar skills reflect his development in If I Ever Get Out of Here, Conor's flying/designing skills reflect his own development. At the start of the story, when Conor is learning from Victor and doesn't have much experience with the outside world, his flying machines don't work. When he is imprisoned, he has to learn how to be independent and strong, and overcome his emotions about the king and Victor's deaths. This development in Conor's character is reflected in his ability to build and operate gliders, and he successfully makes his prison escape on a glider. He continues to develop his glider as he gets the parts he needs for his biggest invention yet. While he does this, he decides to go back to the Saltees and try to save his parents and Queen Isabella from Bonvilian (he was previously going to go to an American university). By the time he designs and builds his own self-powered airplane, he has become a physically and emotionally mature man.
I can't point out any specific cons in Airman, but I definitely preferred the Artemis Fowl series. It felt a bit more developed and better written that Airman, but that might just be because it's a series. I would give Airman an 8.137/10, and I would recommend it and the Artemis Fowl series to anyone hungry for historical fiction/adventure.
Nice review. I particularly liked how you went into more detail for the character development in your book (as advertised in you title). Airman sounds like an interesting book that I might look in to. Your final rating of the book is quite interesting, but I will assume you have very complex reasons for doing that. I read Artemis Fowl when I was younger and I quite enjoyed it, so Airman might be interesting to read for me. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the descriptive title. The plot of this book seems very interesting. A lot of fictional books follow a similar pattern, but this story seems unique. I find it interesting that the story takes place on real, but uninhabited islands (which according to Wikipedia have no significant natural resources). Although I probably won't read this book it seems interesting and suspenseful.
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