Finished September 2007

Description
Matt Cruse is the cabin boy of the Aurora, the 900-foot luxury airship he has called home for the past two years. While crossing the Pacificus, Matt fearlessly rescues the unconscious pilot of a crippled hot air balloon. Before he dies, the balloonist tells him about the fantastic, impossible creatures he has seen flying through the clouds. Matt dismisses the story as the ravings of a dying man, but when Kate de Vries arrives on the Aurora a year later, determined to prove the story true, Matt finds himself caught up in her quest. Then one night, over the middle of the ocean, deadly air pirates board the Aurora. Far from any hope of rescue, Kate and Matt are flung into adventures beyond all imagining.

When I first started reading this book, all I could think about was how incredably boring this book is. I had trouble getting through the book because nothing really interesting was happening to hold my attention. However, after I got through about two thirds of the book, it started to get better. Some action and intense scenes were finally starting to occur and I became more interested in the novel. Kenneth Oppel makes the adventures in the novel seem so real and make the reader believe that these magical, scientifically impossible creatures really exist in the real world.

Even though this book got off to a bumpy start, and even though I had my doupts, this novel turned out to be a good read created by a very imaginative writer. And although this book will probably not get a second read from me, I will definately read the next book in the series to see the next amazing adventure of the incredible Matt Cruse.