First published 2004
Matt Cruse serves as cabin boy on the Aurora, a colossal airship that carries wealthy passengers hundreds of feet above the ocean between distant cities. Two nights past Sydney, Matt keeps watch from the crow's nest when he encounters a dying balloonist who tells wild stories about magnificent creatures floating through the skies. Matt dismisses these tales as the ravings of a dying man until he meets the balloonist's granddaughter. She convinces him that her grandfather spoke the truth about these mysterious aerial beings. What begins as routine service aboard a luxury vessel transforms into a dangerous quest to find creatures that may not belong to any known world. Matt must choose between the safety of his familiar life in the clouds and the risk of pursuing something that could change everything he believes about the skies he calls home.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, airships
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, quest
Setting: Aurora, Sydney
Period: 19th-century
525 pages · Hardcover · Thorndike Press