Airborn

I finished this novel today. For young adults (16 or under), it's a good enough read. For adults, the characters are a little thin and the plot is outright obnoxious at times.

I was ready for a rough and ready exploration of parts unknown, especially with a yuge airship such as the Aurora at our disposal. Instead, it turned into a rather dull pirate story. We get shipwrecked in this story and never do emerge from it.

The central character, Matt Cruse, is okay enough. But his sidekick, Kate, is a bundle of obnoxiousness. She's somewhat the yute-fiction version of the ass-kicking female. The book otherwise steers clear of anything controversial (to the point of being dull and lifeless). But it can't resist the strong female role. She is so self-consciously "sassy and spirited" that she comes across less as a person and more as a checkbox that has been ticked-off.

A strong female character, a counterpoint to Matt, would have been fine if Kate had been a character instead of a cardboard cutout. The only good character in the novel is that of Cruse's older friend, and I forget his name. But his role is miniscule.

The book is reminiscent of the structure of the Aurora itself which is a vast airship whose relatively frail outer metal frame is bolstered strong and true by the buoyant bags of hydrium gas underneath. But should those hydrium bags deflate, the metal structure would collapse when unsupported by the inflated bags.

And that is our novel here. The outer structure of the airship adventure and Jules-Verne-like trappings are left to crumple with weak characters and a plot that, even for yute fiction, lacks creativity. It is a strung-together patch of literary cliches. Not all are bad. But you may, after reading for a stretch, hope that the pirates simply dispatch these fellows so that we could then follow them around and perhaps pick up a good story.