Skybreaker facts for kids
Skybreaker first edition cover.
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| Author | Kenneth Oppel |
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| Cover artist | Kirk Caldwell |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Series | Matt Cruse series |
| Genre | Fantasy, adventure novel, steampunk, science fiction |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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July 20, 2005 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) Audiobook |
| Pages | 340 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-00-200699-6 |
| OCLC | 59136517 |
| Preceded by | Airborn |
| Followed by | Starclimber |
Skybreaker is an exciting adventure book by Canadian writer Kenneth Oppel. It's the second book in the Matt Cruse series, following Airborn. The story continues the thrilling journeys of Matt Cruse, who is learning to fly airships, and his friend Kate de Vries, a smart young scientist.
Contents
The Lost Airship
Matt Cruse is studying at the Airship Academy in Paris. He uses reward money he earned from finding a pirate base. One day, while flying over the Indian Ocean in a training airship, a strong wind current lifts them very high. They discover a huge, old airship floating at 20,000 feet!
Matt figures out it's the Hyperion, a famous lost ship said to hold amazing treasures. The captain tries to reach it, but everyone gets altitude sickness except Matt. He has to bring the ship down safely. Back in Paris, Matt tells his friend Kate de Vries about the Hyperion. Kate is very excited. She wants to find the ship's owner, Theodore Grunel's, treasure. She plans to use a special high-flying airship called a Skybreaker to reach it.
The Search for Treasure
Soon, a man named John Rath contacts Matt. He claims to be related to Grunel. But Rath is actually a criminal who tries to force Matt to give him the Hyperion's location. Matt escapes with a girl named Nadira. Nadira is a gypsy and says she has a special key that works on the Hyperion. She suggests they team up to find the treasure.
Matt first says no. But then he sees Kate talking happily with a rich young man named Hal Slater. Feeling a bit jealous, Matt changes his mind and decides to join Nadira. They look for a Skybreaker airship called the Sagarmatha in Paris. When they find it, they learn that Hal Slater is its captain!
Matt, Kate, Nadira, and Kate's chaperone, Ms. Simpkins, hire Hal and his Sherpa crew. They promise Hal 80% of any gold they find. Matt worries about Kate and Hal getting along well. Meanwhile, Matt starts to like Nadira, and they even share a kiss.
Journey to Skyberia
Matt gives his coordinates to Dorje, the First Mate. Dorje calculates where the Hyperion might be, considering the wind. This leads the Sagarmatha into a very cold and empty area near the Antarctic called "Skyberia."
One of the pilots, Dalkey, goes outside the ship to fix something. He sees a giant, squid-like creature! The creature hits Dalkey and then flies away using a special gas called hydrium. Kate names these creatures "aerozoans." She sees more of them flying in the Antarctic skies.
The crew is sad about Dalkey. Matt takes a night watch shift when the Hyperion is nearby. He doesn't see it in time, and the huge ship scrapes the Sagarmatha. This makes it impossible to pull the Hyperion along. Kate gets upset with Matt for damaging their ship, and their friendship becomes strained.
Inside the Hyperion
Hal, Kate, Matt, and Nadira board the Hyperion. They use Nadira's key to open the vaults. Inside, they find small taxidermy animals, which Kate collects. They also find larger ones, like a perfectly preserved yeti.
In a room called the engineerium, they discover a big machine that makes heat. Next to it is a glass chamber with four still aerozoans inside. Hal admits he's in debt. He breaks into Theodore Grunel's frozen bedroom and blows open his safe, hoping for gold. Matt finds some blueprints in a container. Hal gets angry and sends the blueprints away in a pneumatic tube.
While Hal is busy with the gold, the others read Grunel's diary. He often mentions a powerful enemy named "B." They think Grunel was just sick. The four try to leave through a hatch, but the connection to the Sagarmatha breaks. They are stuck on the Hyperion overnight with little food or oxygen. Matt tries to comfort Kate, but she gets angry and reveals she knows about him kissing Nadira. Matt apologizes, and Kate calls Hal "a bully." They make up.
Grunel's Real Treasure
That night, they realize the heat machine is "Grunel's treasure." It's not gold, but a fuel cell that can make huge amounts of hydrium gas! They see that its design is inspired by the aerozoans in the glass chamber.
As they look for the blueprints, one of the aerozoans in the chamber comes back to life! It breaks the glass, forcing them to run. Before they can regroup, John Rath's airship arrives. Rath's pirates, led by their boss "B" (George Barton), board the Hyperion. Barton reveals he wants to destroy Grunel's invention and blueprints to keep his own business in control.
The four split up. Matt manages to find the blueprint canister and puts it in Hal's backpack. Then, the pirates announce they have taken Kate hostage.
Escape and Discovery
Matt leaves Hal to help Nadira, who is suffering from altitude sickness. Matt sneaks into the engineerium. He finds a huge amount of gold hidden under the floorboards! Matt shoots the glass to free the other three aerozoans. This creates a distraction, and he escapes with Kate.
The aerozoans attack Barton and most of the pirates. Rath, the only pirate left, decides to blow up the Hyperion so no one can leave with the blueprints. As the ship explodes, Hal, Kate, and Matt carry Nadira to the hangar. They find a pedal-powered ornithopter (a flying machine) to escape. Matt takes Hal's backpack to use dynamite to open the hangar doors. Another explosion throws the ornithopter out of the Hyperion before Matt can get in. He barely escapes using a wingsuit.
The four make it back to the Sagarmatha, which Dorje and Ms. Simpkins have repaired. They can't find Grunel's blueprints. Matt admits they were in the backpack Hal threw to him. Hal gets angry at Matt for losing the backpack and not getting the gold from the engineerium. He blames Kate for caring about other things more than money. Matt and Kate leave and go to the Sagarmatha's hangar. They find that their new ornithopter has a secret compartment holding 40 gold bars! They decide to enjoy the moment before telling Hal.
Main characters
- Matt Cruse A brave young man who discovers the lost airship Hyperion.
- Kate de Vries A passenger on the Aurora in the first book, Kate is a scientist looking for new animal species. She helps pay for the trip.
- Miss Marjorie Simpkins Kate's kind chaperone.
- Nadira Szpirglas A mysterious young woman who finds Matt to start an adventure together. She has a special key.
- Dorje Tenzing A Sherpa crew member on Hal's airship, the Sagarmatha.
- John Rath A criminal who wants to steal the treasure from the Hyperion.
- George Barton An old rival of Theodore Grunel, who wants to control the airship industry.
- Theodore Grunel A brilliant inventor who disappeared on the Hyperion to escape Barton. He is found frozen on his ship.
- Hal Slater The owner and captain of the Sagarmatha, a special high-flying airship.
