Airman (novel)

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Airman

Author	Eoin Colfer
Country	Ireland
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy Science Fiction
Publisher	Hyperion
Publication date	United States December 19, 2007 Ireland United Kingdom January 3, 2008 Australia February 5, 2008
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	412 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 1423107500 (first edition, hardback)

Airman, by Eoin Colfer, is a best-selling^[1] historical sci-fi adventure novel set in the 19th century. It was released in the UK, Ireland and USA in January of 2008.

Colfer was inspired to write the book after a frightening skydiving experience. He combined this with his childhood observation that the Saltee Islands would make an excellent prison.^{[citation needed]}

Most of the story is completely fictional. The Saltee islands have been uninhabited since the 19th century, and all of the main characters in the story are fictional.

[edit] Plot

The book begins with the Paris World's Fair of 1878, which Declan Broekhart and his wife are attending. They are there mainly to see a new hot air balloon, which they are to take a ride in. While they are in the air, along with Victor Vigny, the balloon is shot at by men from the ground. During the forced landing, Conor Broekhart is born, flying over Paris.

In the 1890s Conor and his family live on the sovereign Saltee Islands, off the Irish coast, which are ruled by King Nicholas Trudeau. Nicholas is a progressive leader who is helping the islands adapt to the industrialized world.

In a fire accident, when they are trapped on tone of the tower's roofs, Conor saves Isabella (Nicholas' daughter) and himself, by making a makeshift glider and gliding down to sea from the royal palace.

Conor spends his days with his tutor, Victor Vigny, studying and learning to fight and exploring the castle with the king's daughter, Princess Isabella. Conor and Victor are obsessed with building a "flying machine". In secret, the head of the island's guards, Marshall Bonvilain, conspires to overthrow Nicholas and seize control of the Saltees. His goal is to turn the islands into a market for the diamonds mined by inmates on the prison island, Little Saltee. Despite Conor's attempt to intervene, Nicholas and Victor are killed by Marshall Bonvilain. Marshall Bonvilain takes control of the islands and tells his subjects that Victor conspired to kill King Nicholas and Conor died in an attempt to save the king. Conor is thrown into jail on Little Saltee, under the alias Conor Finn.

Conor's cellmate, Linus Wynter, an American musician and spy, helps Conor adapt to prison life. Linus mysteriously disappears, but, before long, begins to make deals with a guard named Arthur Billtoe and gangsters called the Battering Rams.

Two years pass and Conor is 16. He has persuaded Billtoe to plant gardens for inmates to work in. Conor and the Otto Malarkey, a battering Ram, smuggle seven bags of diamonds and hide them in the gardens. Meanwhile, Billtoe helps Conor purchase bed sheets and other materials using the smuggled diamonds. Unbeknownst to Billtoe, Conor is using these materials to plan a grand escape during the coronation of Isabella, now old enough to become Queen of the Saltees. The coronation and the arrival of Queen Victoria are approaching and Conor constructs a parachute. He persuades Billtoe to suggest that during the coronation, several hot air balloons are filled with fireworks and released from Little Saltee so that the famous Saltee sharpshooters can shoot the balloons for a grand fireworks display. During the coronation ceremony, Conor escapes from his cell and plants himself in one of the fireworks balloons. When his balloon is shot down, Conor activates his parachute and crash-lands in Queen Victoria's yacht.

Conor, a stowaway on Queen Victoria's private yacht, makes it safely to Kilmore, the Irish village overlooking the Saltees. There he encounters Linus Wynter. The pair finds a tower full of aviation equipment that was once Victor Vigny's laboratory. Conor constructs a hang-glider and adopts the persona of the Airman, a flying French swordsman. By night, Conor makes flights to Little Saltee, terrorizing the guards and digging up his bags of smuggled diamonds. Conor's goal is to use the diamonds to start a new life in the United States of America. Conor's plans are interrupted when Bonvilain finds Conor's tower and harms Linus. Linus learns that Bonvilain intends to overthrow the monarchy again by poisoning Isabella and Conor's mother and father. Conor hears this information and decided he must save his father, mother, baby brother, and Queen Isabella. Conor constructs a one-man, gas-propelled aeroplane and flies to Bonvilain's tower. There, he is reunited with Isabella and his family. Conor, Isabella, and Conor's father, Declan, engage Bonvilain and his guards in a swordfight. The Broekharts and Isabella are victorious. Bonvilain tries escaping on Conor's hang-glider, but is stabbed by Declan. His body glides into sea.

One month later, Queen Isabella is seeking reform. She has reduced taxes and intends to free the prisoners and hand Little Saltee over to a professional mining firm. Conor is ready to leave for Glasgow University to read for a science degree and appears to be romantic with Isabella. The Forlorn Tower is in the good hands of "Uncle" (a boy who helped Conor to build the plane before the fight with Bonvilain) and two of his dullards. Linus is to leave with Conor as well, confident about the fact that "in six months we will be the toast of the city. " Conor is amused and asks Linus if he can see into the future. Linus replies by quoting Victor, "Other men look up and down, left and right. But men like us are different. We are visionaries. "