Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel

Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppal

Sky Breaker is the sequel to Airborn, a steampunky action-adventure novel. I think I really liked this story better than the first one in the series.  Matt works hard at the academy in Paris as he trains to get his pilot’s license. Kate is still trying to convince the scientific community that cloud cats still exist, and aspires to become a respected zoologist.  So, while Matt completes an internship aboard a small plane the crew runs into an old ship  Hyperion, rumored to hold the treasures of a reclusive millionaire that was something of a mad scientist. They crew is almost destroyed as it climbs up to high altitudes to capture the ship.

When Kate finds out that Matt has seen the ship with his own eyes she sets out to hire an expedition so that she can take a look at the ship herself. It is rumored to have not only lots of gold but an amazing collection of zoological specimens. This could help Kate get her name recognized as a zoologist, while Matt thinks of buying his mother a nice home, and having enough money to finish paying for his pilot school. They team up with a captain of a special high altitude ship and go off to the last known coordiantes that only Matt remembers.

Only once they reach the ship and begin to explore it. They find out that there  are dangerous squid-like creatures that dwell with in it, but that isn’t the only danger they face. The high altitude and freezing  temperatures threatens all of their lives on more than one occasion. Then the pirates that have been hunting down Matt since they discovered he was the last one that saw the coordinates of the Hyperion catch up to them.

I really loved this one! There was something fascinating to me about exploring the old abandoned ship of a mad scientist. There were some pretty cool inventions and discoveries made by their investigations on board. Also, I thought the author did an awesome job of creating a believable air creature, which  turned out pretty cool. They were lethal and useful, which made them fascinating to read about. Combining the discovery and exploration story line with running from pirates under dangerous conditions from being that high up in the sky and you get a great story with enough challenges and tension to keep you reading from start to finish.

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