Airman by Eoin Colfer

Airman byEoin Colfer

Adventure

Age 11-14

Grade 6-9

212 pages 

c. 2008

Airman is one of my favorite books. As the back cover of my paperback copy say, “a fast-paced, highly entertaining tale of flying machines, criminals, martial arts, swordplay, princesses, poisons, and evil villains."There are many similarities between Airman and The Count of Monte Cristo.

As the story opens Connor Broekhart, the hero, is born in the basket of a hot air balloon flying over the World’s Fair in Paris in 1878. His early life is practically perfect. He lives with his family on the Saltee Islands, which are off the coast of Ireland. His father is captain of the Sharpshooters and a good friend of the king and his mother is a scientist. Connor himself is intelligent, athletic, has a strong sense of right and wrong and extremely interested in flying. He is also a good friend of the princess. Good king Nicholas looks upon Connor as his son and is impressed by his knowledge and interest in flying machines. He invites an old friend of his, Victor Vigny to be Connor’s tutor.

Connor’s idyllic life abruptly comes to an end when he accidently witnesses the brutal murder of King Nicholas and Victor Vigny by the power hungry Marshall Bonvilain. The Marshall tells Connor’s father that his son died defending the king and that he has captured the rebel who was responsible for the murders. However it is Connor who Bonvilian has put in prison disfigured by severe beatings and disguised by a wig, tattoos and a face mask. Connor was unconscious while all this happened. When his father comes to the prison and tells him how much he is hated Connor is heartbroken.   

Connor spends two long years in the largely underground prison on Little Saltee Island forced to mine for diamonds in unhuman conditions. Connor is tempted to resort to killing others to stay alive himself but instead uses his wits and knowledge of fencing to impress the gang member paid to beat him and instead makes him a friend. Connor also finds a friend in the blind musician who is his cellmate for a while. There is only one way to escape Little Saltee, and that is to fly. So Connor passes the solitary months by scratching drawings of flying machines on the prison walls. Eventually he does manage to escape the prison but there are many more challenges and plot twists he must face before justice can be restored to the Saltee Islands and the cruel rule of Bonvilian is broken.

I find the ongoing development of Connor’s character to be one of the most fascinating parts of the book. To survive the prison he is forced to become harder and more self- focused but he doesn’t allow hatred to brutalize him. When faced with an opportunity to kill the prison guard who has made his life miserable he chooses to wound him rather than kill him to make his escape. Likewise, though he believes his family has forgotten him, he is reluctant to abandon the island for a new life in America.