Starclimber

Starclimber, by Kenneth Oppel, is the final book of the Airborne series. Set in an alternate history during the early 20th century, this steampunk trilogy is, in short, excellent. It centers around a young man (Matt Cruse) and his adventures on airships across the world. He is accommpanied (and ocasionally dragged) by Miss Kate Devries, along with a couple other friends he makes across the series.
I came across the first book from a friends recommendation, and I'm very glad to say she must have brilliant taste in literature, as I found myself steadily devouring the entire series
I particularly loved the science fiction aspect of the books, which were very well constructed, and in general, had a leaning to the 'hard' sci-fi genre. Of course there was also the relationship Matt shared with Kate (DeVries) that's very well laid out, and proved my preconception about this being yet another clichéd YA boy/girl relationship wrong.
I found the entire series to be riveting, well written, and is definitely one I can recommend, especially if you enjoy steampunk, alternate history, science fiction, or just feel like mixing it up a bit.
This book in particular is the last in the series, and is about Matt Cruse heading, as you may have guessed, into space. He has been selected for part of a special sending the first "astralnauts" past the atmosphere for the first time. This one is loaded with suspense, and, just like the others, absolutely captivating. I didn't find this one to be as action packed as the first two so much as it was suspenseful and somewhat mysterious. That said, it lives up to the rest of the series and is the perfect conclusion for a series of it's caliber.



Right now I'm reading Gregor the Overlander (from Suzanne Collins of THG), I'll have a review posted ASAP.

All Grown Up

Don Tapscott has done it again; he managed to release another book and make me feel like it was written just for me.
The name of this new book is Grown Up Digital, and it's a wonder. In this marvelous new book, D. Tapscott follows up on Growing Up Digital, and follows the current Net Generation, or Net Gen, in their various endeavors, from the way the learn and work, to how they play, and relax. It's an excellent introduction for anybody baffled by the Net Gen, a person running a company looking to reach out and incorporate Web 2.0 technology and successfully employ the Net Gen. It's also excellent for educators, and demonstrates how to properly work with the Net Gen to help them learn better by using new methods, rather than holding fast to the old. Tapscott also touched on the issues with copyright that have arisen with the internet, such as illegal downloads and plagiarism in the twenty-first century, how the Net Gen feels about it, and why they do it. It reaches in and shows you their hypertext minds, and the way they manage constant streams of information. It also provides ample warning to companies that the Net Gen seems to have built in and mature "BS detectors", and that the key to success with the Net Gen is not the flashy ads of yesterday, but openness, a willingness to take suggestions, and integrity.
All in all, this book is a wonder. This book deserves six stars, and should be sitting right betwixt the The Long Tail and Freakonomics.




Bibliography
The official website of the author, Don Tapscott
http://dontapscott.com/

nGenera, the company responsible for much research in the book
http://www.ngenera.com/

Don Tapscott on Twitter
http://twitter.com/dtapscott