Forty years ago, the airship Hyperion vanished with untold riches in its hold. Now, accompanied by heiress Kate de Vries and a mysterious gypsy, Matt Cruse is determined to recover the ship and its treasures. But 20,000 feet above the Earth's surface, pursued by those who have hunted the Hyperion since its disappearance, and surrounded by deadly high-altitude life forms, Matt and his companions soon find themselves fighting not only for the Hyperion—but for their very lives.

Amazon.com Review
In this breathtaking sequel to the Governor General's Award-winning fantasy novel Airborn, 16-year-old Matt Cruse flies higher than he ever dreamed. The former Aurora cabin boy, now a student at the prestigious Paris Airship Academy, is on a two-week training tour with a run-down cargo airship when his captain sights a legendary ghost ship. Matt recklessly heads skyward in pursuit--only to risk sacrificing his entire crew to altitude sickness. The Hyperion, lost in a storm in the dawn of the aviation age and buoyed high above the clouds for 40 years, is rumoured to hold great wealth, and Matt is suddenly the only person on earth who knows her coordinates.

Soon, he and his upper-class sweetheart, Kate de Vries, are embarked on a dangerous aerial treasure hunt, along with Hal, the conceited pilot of a sleek, new altitude-friendly airship, and a mysterious gypsy girl named Nadira, who claims to have the key to the Hyperion's booby-trapped treasure troves. Drawing on the myths of Icarus and Prometheus, as well as classic sea adventures like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Poseidon Adventure, Skybreaker combines an action-packed thriller with a sensitive exploration of the limits of human ambition. Matt's jealousy of the self-made Hal (who he suspects has designs on Kate) and his own furtive attraction to Nadira heighten the emotional tension and raw suspense of the visceral scenes aboard the Hyperion, an ice-entombed version of the Titanic. With pirates, sky monsters, and disturbed spirits, not to mention enough bizarre flying machines to fill an aviation museum (even a bat-copter for Silverwing fans), Skybreaker confirms Kenneth Oppel's reputation as Canada's leading fantasy author for children and young adults. --Lisa Alward

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 23 reviews)

A Terrific Choice for Jr.Hi Boys who are Above-Avg. Readers!

I really love this author! I am a junior high school English teacher, and this is a series I have recently come upon that I love recommending to my above-average-reader students, especially boys. Most of them have never heard of it, but they always come back after reading it with such positive reviews. They love it! It's so imaginative and unique and just loaded with old-fashioned action and adventure! The characters are so charming and fun and easy to relate to.
When someone first gave me Airborn, I looked at the cover and thought, "Airships? Ick. Boring." But I couldn't have been more mistaken. It was a delightful, compelling read. I enjoyed it thoroughly! And I liked SkyBreaker even more! So original and exciting! I'm already watching like a hawk for the next in the series! Can't wait!
August 05, 2008

Another exciting adventure tale can stand alone

"Skybreaker" is lucky. Or just good. See, unlike most sequels to excellent, successful books, "Skybreaker" is something strange and delightfully surprising - a good book that can stand alone, by itself.

While many of the characters are the same (seeing as it's about the same people), and while sparks of inspiration from "Airborn" appear, it is still original, different, interesting, and exciting in its own way. If need be, this book could have just been a book, not a sequel. And what a joy that is.

"Skybreaker" gives us something different, but still cool. Matt and Kate (heroes from "Airborn") have grown a little and things are different. For example, Matt is finally fulfilling his dream of studying about airships (which turns out to be a whole lot harder than he imagined). After an incident of near death (and obeying a captain's foolish orders), Matt finds himself in a dangerous position of knowing the coordinates of the "Titanic" of the sky. This ship, "The Hyperion", at dangerously high altitudes, is the treasure ship of the sky, thought to be a myth. Everyone wants to be in on the gold that can supposedly be found there.

And so begins a new journey. Emotions run high as the altitude grows, and there's plenty of plot to the adventure as well. Written clearly and quickly, "Skybreaker" will provide readers with another grand tale from Oppel. It flows well, is engaging, and on the whole enjoyable and exciting. Very fun!
January 19, 2008

Awesome Book

This is a really great book for young and old people alike. It's recommended that you read the first book, Airborn, first. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't get many of the different parts. Skybreaker is very well-written, complete with plot twists, cliffhangers, and a very interesting storyline/plot. There's some excellent character plot development, and you actually feel as though you are personally aquainted with Matt Cruse, the main character. This action-packed novel keeps you guessing and wanting to know what's going to happen next: it's nigh impossible to put it down. Supurb for people who like fantasy/action-adventure type books. 4 Stars.
April 14, 2007

Another great story from Kenneth Oppel

A wonderful fantasy adventure read.

This is a book written with an adolescent audience in mind, however it has the writing quality and story line to keep most adult fantasy/adventure lovers contented.

Personally I liked this book better than "Airborn", (which I felt had some very convienent solutions to solve some of its near impossible situations). This book, (featuring the same main charcters and the same zepellin like airships), seemed to me, to have a better conclusions for the various twists and turns that the heroes encountered.

I found this book hard to put down and would have no hesitancy in recommending it for anyone what wants an interesting, action packed story.
5 Stars!
April 11, 2007

A great rousing adventure!

An excellent follow-up to Airborne. The characters are smart, interesting, and a joy to watch as they tumble through this adventure. Oppel is able to take even the slow parts of the book and make them interesting with interactions and character growth that builds where the first book left off. I highly recommend the first book and this one, a quick read, reminds me of a good adventure like Indiana Jones.
Rumor has it a third one is in the works, cannot wait for it.
March 28, 2007

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Airborn (Bccb Blue Ribbon Fiction Books (Awards))
by Kenneth Oppel

Silverwing
by Kenneth Oppel

Firewing
by Kenneth Oppel

Sunwing
by Kenneth Oppel

Darkwing
by Kenneth Oppel
by Keith Thompson