Monday, April 11, 2011

"Skybreaker" by Kenneth Oppel [Review].

One of the biggest issues with a trilogy is that the middle book tends to be a bridge for the first and last book, and it feels like you’re just marking time until the author produces the conclusion.  Luckily, Kenneth Oppel has avoided these pitfalls with Skybreaker, and the end result is a quest narrative that is action-packed and rich with tropes that are meaningful and relevant to young adult audiences.  But perhaps the best thing about this book is that it reminded me of why I love to read and write about literature:  The book reads like an action movie with vivid imagery and beautifully written adventure that kept me scrambling to see what was going to happen next.   In other words, this literature major was able to sit back and enjoy the ride, which is a rare pleasure in my world!
The second book in the Matt Cruse series picks up a year after the piratical adventures in Airborn, and the reader finds sixteen year-old Matt living in Paris and attending school.  Matt has been given credit for the defeat of air pirate Vikram Szpirglas and a grateful Sky Guard as rewarded him with enough money to pay for tuition to the Airship Academy and to continue to provide for his mother and little sisters while he takes time off work—the reward doesn’t make him rich, but pays the bills while he follows his dreams of someday becoming the captain of his own ship.  Matt’s love interest, Kate de Vries, has also chosen to study in Paris, but her wealthy parents are able to place her at the Sarbonne and, while the connection between the pair remains strong, Matt’s insecurity over the disparity in their wealth is becoming a much bigger issue.    
And then Matt is sent by the academy on a training mission as an assistant navigator on the airship Flotsam, and a series of events leads the crew to discover the mythical ship Hyperion, missing for over forty years and presumed lost at sea.  The Hyperion was one of the first airships built and belonged to famed inventor, Theodore Grunel, who forty years prior loaded his vessel with all his belongings and incredible wealth and then promptly vanished.  But the crew of the Flotsam finds the Hyperion floating at 20,000 feet, well above safe levels for airships, and they determine that some catastrophic fate befell the crew who died when their airship rose beyond breathable oxygen.  Despite this conclusion, the captain of the Flotsam decides to risk all to retrieve the ship and his orders and unwise attempts to achieve the necessary altitude expose his crew to lethal hypoxia, nearly killing them all.   Matt’s actions save the day, and he is able to return to his studies in France and to tell Kate about the incredible adventure he has had.
The irrepressible Kate decides that since Matt remembers the coordinates of his sighting of the Hyperion they should make an attempt at recovering the vessel; there is rumored to be an incredible collection of taxidermy on board, and the budding biologist wants it for herself.  The only problem is that there is no way for a standard airship to safely reach the necessary altitude, but there is a new class of ship, the skybreaker, that can.  While Kate works on finding a captain willing to accept this mission, Matt finds that the news of his adventures have gained him a new notoriety and he is now being followed by a variety of individuals who want the Hyperion’s coordinates, and are willing to go to great lengths to get them.  Matt discovers that he is being followed by the mysterious gypsy girl Nadira, who claims to have the key to the locks of the holds on the Hyperion. Similarly, he is invited to a meeting with a man who claims to be Matthias Grunel, grandson to Theodore.   But things are not always as they seem, and Matthias Grunel isn’t who he claims to be, while Nadira becomes the means for Matt to escape yet another scrape. 
The pair meets up with Kate, who has found a young, daring air captain willing to take the job: Hal Slater owns the sleek Sagarmatha and is keen to achieve the fame and fortune sure to accompany the recovery of the legendary ship. As the group takes to the air Matt’s insecurities begin to overwhelm him, especially when he realizes that the young, attractive Hal has set his sights on Kate.  Meanwhile, Matt begins to have feelings for Nadira, who is as beautiful and intelligent as Kate, but from a more socially similar class.  While Matt struggles with his feelings for both of these young women, he also becomes obsessed with recovering Grunel’s wealth, sure that “money [will] conjure [his] happy future like a genie’s lamp” (209), solve his problems, and help calm the “buzzing hive of covetousness” Hal inspires in him (173).  As with the first book, adventure ensues:  The mystery of Theodore Grunel’s death is far more complicated than it appears, there are new creatures to discover in the skies, and another set of air pirates that must be dealt with.      
As with the first book, it is these blended storylines that make this story such a smart and fun read:  Matt’s insecurities are real, and his feelings for Kate and Nadira reflect true teenage confusion and discovery.  The characters are complicated, and motivated to operate in ways that give them depth that sometimes feels lacking in novels written for young adults, and this is the main reason why I would strongly recommend this novel to reluctant readers, especially boys.  At times the plot seems slow and reflective, but the number of plotlines creates an intensity that is engaging and makes this book hard to put down.  Matt continues to grieve for his father, but in this book there is a far greater focus on his mother and how his actions can mean the difference between security for this woman who has already lost so much and poverty. I appreciated the verisimilitude of the characters’ actions and feelings:  Hal is charming and smooth, but also sometimes prideful and greedy; Nadira carries important secrets, and far more is riding on her success than just finding the treasure; Kate may appear to be careless, but her future depends on enough success to use as leverage against her family; and Matt has to determine who he is as person and what is important to him as he makes the transition into adulthood.     
I will reiterate from my previous review of Airborn that this story, and the other two that complete this trilogy, are also considered to be part of the Steampunk Canon.  I would have to say that I completely agree with this assessment:  There are airships and air pirates, flying machines that function like helicopters but are open to the elements, and enough brass and goggles to keep most enthusiasts of the subgenre happy.  What I enjoyed most, however, is that these elements are well-blended into the reality of the world Oppel has created.  I never felt like this book was trying to convince me that it belongs in this category, I just knew it was and couldn’t stop reading because this adventure is so well written.  Further, this text addresses many of the themes that are prevalent in Steampunk literature, and it is no accident that explorations of class, gender, protection of the environment, and a rejection of societal status quo are present in this story.  Young Matt comes to realize that education is a key component for a change in his social status, and Kate learns that, although dreams are worth fighting for, the journey is a little easier when she can connect with others in a meaningful way.  As a whole this book was a refreshing read, and I appreciate the seeming effortlessness with which it accomplishes its thematic goals.
This book is rated ages 10 and up, and I feel this is a fairly accurate rating.  There are episodes of gun and physical violence as well as violent deaths from natural causes, and these require a degree of maturity to understand.  There is limited romantic contact between Matt and Kate, as well as between Matt and Nadira, and these relationships develop in a way that is age appropriate.  Additionally, the vocabulary is simple enough to allow a YA audience to fully engage with this text, but I found that the easy vocabulary doesn’t mean a simple story; the imagery is vivid and powerful, and some of the best moments in the novel occur in the dialogue between the characters.  I highly recommend this story for children and adults who love swashbuckling adventure, but particularly for reluctant readers who need high interest material to keep them engaged with the text.

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