In the late nineteenth century, when Conor Broekhart discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the king, he is branded a traitor, imprisoned, and forced to mine for diamonds under brutal conditions while he plans a daring escape from Little Saltee prison by way of a flying machine that he must design, build, and, hardest of all, trust to carry him to safety.

Eoin Colfer (pronounced /?o?.?n/; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author and comedian. He is most famous as the creator of the Artemis Fowl series, but he has also achieved success with other books. His novels have been compared to those of J. K. Rowling, and like Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl is used as a reference to describe the work of other writers e.g. Jack Heath and Mark Walden. In September, 2008, Colfer was commissioned to write the sixth installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, entitled And Another Thing...