Review: Airman by Eoin Colfer (repost)

Posted August 16, 2021 by Stephanie in 5 Stars, Review / 18 Comments

Title: Airman
Author: Eoin Colfer
Publication: March 2nd 2021 by Disney-Hyperion (first published June 1st 2007)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Young Adult
Find it on: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Books | iBooks | Kobo
Rating: 5/5

Zorro meets The Count of Monte Cristo in this dazzling, action-packed classic from the author of the Artemis Fowl series, now with a snazzy new look for this paperback reissue.
Conor Broekhart was born to fly. 

It is the 1890s, and Conor and his family live on the sovereign Saltee Islands, off the Irish coast. Conor spends his days studying the science of flight with his tutor and exploring the castle with the king’s daughter, Princess Isabella.
But the boy’s idyllic life changes forever the day he discovers a deadly conspiracy against the king. When Conor intervenes, he is branded a traitor and thrown into jail on the prison island of Little Saltee. There, he has to fight for his life, as he and the other prisoners are forced to mine for diamonds in inhumane conditions.There is only one way to escape Little Saltee, and that is to fly. So Conor passes the solitary months by scratching drawings of flying machines into the prison walls. The months turn into years, but eventually the day comes when Conor must find the courage to trust his revolutionary designs and take to the skies.
Just like with Artemis Fowl I decided to repost my review of Airman as well and I also edited the review a little bit to fit more with my current views on the book although they haven’t changed much. We got a brand new paperback from Disney-Hyperion this year so I figured it was the perfect time to do my repost of it.

Airman is a very special book to me. I read it for the first time when I was in my early yeens and I’ve reread it many times since. I’m so glad to find it better and better each time I read it. It’s simply a beautiful story. It also has a lot of adventure, a budding romance that I adored and some the most unique characters with the most unique names I have ever read about, which is something Eoin Colfer is very good at.

I am not kidding, this book has the best set of characters ever. How could someone forget about characters like the Victor ‘La Brosse’ Vigny, King Nicholas, Linus Wynter, Princess Isabella or Conor Broekhart himself and his parents, Declan and Catherine? Even little Sean Broekhart! They were all amazing and they all have my heart. And as per usual with Eoin Colfer, we get a despicable villain who is just loathsome. Together with the story devided in three parts where we see Conor being happy and at his lowest and growing.

I also have to say that I always have a lot of emotional moments with this book. Conor goes through a whole lot of crap, going to prison because of Bonvilain and some parts always do bring tears to my eyes. So this book is quite the rollercoaster of emotions but it’s all totally worth it. I also always get rather giddy when Otto Malarkey came into the picture because he’s also in Colfer’s W.A.R.P series. I just love Eoin Colfer for that.

So what else can I say but that I love Airman? The story, characters and nostalgic feeling it gives me will never seize to amaze me.

My favorite quotes:

“Connor Broekhart was born to fly, or more accurately he was born flying.”

 

“Scientists are the enemies of tradition , and tradition own all the prisons.”

 

“Conor, I could search the world for another swashbuckling scientist, but I doubt if I would find one like you.”

 

About the author:

Eoin Colfer (pronounced Owen) was born in Wexford on the South-East coast of Ireland in 1965, where he and his four brothers were brought up by his father (an elementary school teacher, historian and artist of note) and mother (a drama teacher). He first developed an interest in writing in primary (elementary) school with gripping Viking stories inspired by history he was learning in school at the time!

He also has a podcast that you can find on: Apple Podcasts & Spotify

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads

 

18 responses to “Review: Airman by Eoin Colfer (repost)

  1. Oh my gosh! This was like a throwback! It’s been such a long time since I’ve read this. I’ve considered giving some of my childhood faves a try but I always worry they won’t live up for me. Your review has me reconsidering! I’m so glad this was a hit for you this time around too!

  2. Sounds like an absolutely brilliant read, I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this! I definitely want to add it to my list of books to look into, thanks for sharing your review 🙂

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  3. I’ve never read anything by this author, but your love of his books makes me want to try them. It is definitely something special when we still love books we read in our teens so many years later and the magic is still like that first time 🙂

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