I would have loved this final installment if Matt's and Kate's characters weren't written so badly. There were also a few moments in the sci-fi setup where it seemed suspension of disbelief was unduly required. This wasn't a terrible book per se, but some things definitely could have been done better.

Starting off with Kate - I loved her in the first book because she was smart and fearless, if a little reckless at times; she nonetheless defied the stereotypical spoiled rich girl trope and that was important. In Starclimber, however, she falls right back into that stereotype and lets the reckless part take over - doing whatever she wants even if it meant hurting others' feelings, putting people at risk, and contradicting her own convictions. I wish she would've just made a clean break from her family and risked the scandal if independence was that important to her, but ultimately she couldn't fight the Victorian convention of women remaining with their families until marriageable age. So the idea of her and Matt being together as "defying social conventions" kind of rings hollow since they never had an official relationship, and what little time together they had was so riddled with insecurities and drama. She's also not the strong female character I thought I remembered; she's just a headstrong, selfish young woman making a bunch of poor decisions.

Matt, too, reads very different from how he was portrayed in Airborn. There, he was an intelligent, sensible yet ambitious young man who knew what he wanted in life and was willing to work hard for it. He was also very observant and a fine judge of character. Unfortunately, since realizing his feelings for Kate, the best parts of his personality just seem to melt away and he spends most of his time orbiting her, consumed by petty jealousies and insecurities. I personally don't think they belonged together at all; had there been enough of his former self left, he could have just broken it off with Kate until she grew up and got her priorities straight, and then perhaps they would've had a happy relationship/marriage. Even she acknowledges at the end that they wouldn't be perfect together since they're always moving in different directions, and if that isn't the one good thing I've heard her say in the entire book! Perhaps their young age (16!?) finally started to show when these important life decisions came to the forefront... or it's just poor characterization.

Finally, I really enjoyed the sci-fi/steampunk fusion and the mechanism by which they reached outer space. But I find it very hard to believe that a team of experts couldn't have built in a failsafe (or two, or three) for the very first manned spaceship ever to exist. Sure, the whole idea of an "astral cable" sounds unbelievable from the start, but I would've been willing to suspend disbelief if they'd included at least one (1) backup plan for said cable failing. Somehow, these genius scientists and experts never considered the possibility. Arrogance? Stupidity? Bad writing? All of the above, perhaps.

All that being said, I've always loved the worldbuilding of this series and continue to do so. The action scenes are consistently engaging and some of the banter was quite memorable (mostly from the first 1.5 books, however). It's a shame that I outgrew the target audience and therefore didn't have such a great experience with the way things were wrapped up here, but I still won't forget the positive impact these books had on me in my younger years. ( )

A celestial tower is being built to the heavens in Paris, when a pioneer (Lunardi) decides to launch is own space effort. He recruits 100 candidates from all walks of life to become the first "astralnauts," to man the Starclimber: a spaceship tethered to a 25,000 mile cable. Kate DeVries and another pompous zoologist are chosen to observe, while young Matt Cruse has to undertake a grueling competition to join. Lunardi recruits Matt's mentor, Captain Walken, to lead the expedition. Like the previous two novels, things go badly wrong, there are threats from a religious cult opposed to space exploration, and heroism is needed in order for the crew to make its discoveries and try to return safely back to Earth. As always, Oppel introduces a series of interesting characters, including Shephard, photographer Miss Karr and her per monkey. And, Matt and Kate's relationship is threatened by an engagement proposal from a wealthy suitor. Since I happen to enjoy steampunk fantasy, my biggest disappointment was discovering there are no more books in this series. ( )

this book and the first book are pretty much tied in how much I liked them. this book was absolutely thrilling to read, and trying to imagine hearing what they heard in space and what they saw was simlly impossible, but Mr. Oppel did them justice. :-P
I recommend this series to anyone and everyone who loves a great read! ( )

From the sky to the stratosphere and finally to the heights of space itself, this immensely satisfying conclusion to the Airborn trilogy did the whole series justice.

Matt Cruse, now commander of his own small cargo airship, thinks his life is running along fine. But all at once, everything seems to go wrong. A group of terrorists attack one of France's greatest projects; a huge tower to the stars. One of Matt's own crewmen turns traitor on him. And his girlfriend, the bright and lovely heiress, Kate, is being pressured to marry by her parents.

The only salvation comes when Matt is chosen as part of another special mission; a secret Canadian operation that has built an elevator into space called the Starclimber. Navigating a difficult astronaut training regimen and making new friends, Matt is thrilled at the chance to go higher than ever before.

Adventure, conflict, strange creatures, romance, and humor can all be found in this final, epic journey into the sky. And I was thouroughly satisfied, but still sad, when I left Matt and Kate at last. ( )

Not sure why, however it was not what I thought would be a fitting end to the trilogy. Still liked the first book the most. By Far.