Books with author Kenneth-Oppel

At long last, Matt Cruse is at the helm. Though it’s only asummer job piloting a humble aerocrane, he’s thrilled tobe helping to build the Celestial Tower, Paris’s extraordinarygateway to outer space. But Matt’s idyllic summer is short-lived.He narrowly survives a deadly attack by the fanatical Babelites,who are opposed to humans reaching the heavens. Worse still,his nights spent stargazing with Kate de Vries must end whenshe’s summoned back to Lionsgate City by her parents.But then the chance of a lifetime boosts Matt’s hopes of beingairborne once more. Canada wants to reach space first, andthe Canadian Minister of Air has asked Kate to join the first expeditionas an expert on aerial zoology. There’s a place for Matt,too―if he can pass the grueling tests to become one of theworld’s first astralnauts on board the incredible ship Starclimber.It’s a race to the very top, and Matt is determined to be apart of the adventure. But can he outlast his competition? Andif he is chosen to join the crew, will they ever return to Earth?

Devotion turns deadly in this second Gothic thriller from Kenneth Oppel.When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankenstein to swear off alchemy forever. He burns the Dark Library. He vows he will never dabble in the dark sciences again—just as he vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother’s betrothed. If only these things were not so tempting. When he and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with Victor’s twin, Konrad, and their friend Henry, the four venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledge to raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return.

"Mr. Cruse, how high would you like to fly?"A smile soared across my face."As high as I possibly can."Pilot-in-training Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries, expert on high-altitude life-forms, are invited aboard the Starclimber, a vessel that literally climbs its way into the cosmos. Before they even set foot aboard the ship, catastrophe strikes:Kate announces she is engaged—and not to Matt.Despite this bombshell, Matt and Kate embark on their journey into space, but soon the ship is surrounded by strange and unsettling life-forms, and the crew is forced to combat devastating mechanical failure. For Matt, Kate, and the entire crew of the Starclimber, what began as an exciting race to the stars has now turned into a battle to save their lives.Award-winning and bestselling author Kenneth Oppel brings us back to a rich world of flight and fantasy in this breathtaking new sequel to Airborn and Skybreaker.

Will Everett has always wished for an adventure.Little does he know his adventure starts the moment he boards the Boundless. There is a murder, and now Will protects a key that can unlock the train¹s hidden treasures. Villains are fast on his heels and strange creatures are lurking outside the windows, as the Boundless hurtles across the country. Together with Maren, a gifted escape artist, and Mr. Dorian, a circus ringmaster with amazing abilities, Will must save the Boundless before someone else winds up dead.His adventure may have begun without him knowing…but how it ends is up to Will.

When Ben Tomlin’s mother brings home his new “baby brother,” an eight-day-old chimpanzee, Ben is far from thrilled. His father, a renowned behavioral scientist, has uprooted the family and moved them halfway across the country, to Victoria, B.C., so he can pursue a high-profile experiment― to determine whether chimpanzees can learn human sign language.Zan must be raised exactly like a human. He’s dressed in clothes and fed in a high chair and has a room full of toys and books. Ben is soon smitten. Joining the team of students who are helping with the experiment, Ben becomes both researcher and adored older brother.Within months, Zan learns his first signs and becomes a media sensation. At his new school, Ben’s life seems similarly charmed as he vies for the attentions of the beautiful Jennifer― using his newly acquired scientific observational skills.But when Project Zan unexpectedly loses its funding, Ben’s father is under huge pressure to either make the experiment succeed or abandon it―and Zan. Unable to convince his father that Zan is now part of the family, Ben must risk everything to save his baby brother from an unimaginable fate.

Shade is a young Silverwing bat, the runt of his colony. But he's determined to prove himself on the long, dangerous winter migration to Hibernaculum, millions of wingbeats to the south. During a fierce storm, he loses the others and soon faces the most incredible journey of his young life. Desperately searching for a way to rejoin his flock, Shade meets a remarkable cast of characters: Marina, a Brightwing bat with a strange metal band on her leg; Zephr, a mystical albino bat with a strange gift; and Goth, a gigantic carnivorous vampire bat. But which ones are friends and which ones are enemies? In this epic story of adventure and suspense, Shade is going to need all the help he can find -- if he hopes to ever see his family again.