Airman

By Eoin Colfer

A young inventor must escape a brutal prison by building a flying machine.

4.2/5 Goodreads · 20,897 ratings

480 pages

$8.99Save 5%

In stock. Also at Amazon or Bookshop.

Bookroo's summary

In the 1890s, Conor Broekhart's life on the Saltee Islands shatters when he uncovers a plot against the king. Branded a traitor, he's imprisoned on Little Saltee, forced into harsh labor. Amidst the despair, Conor sketches flying machines on his cell walls, dreaming of escape. As years pass, he must summon the courage to trust his designs and soar to freedom. Will his ingenuity and determination be enough to reclaim his life?

From the publisher

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.

At a glance