Customer Reviews

Airship Nine

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The premise of Thomas Block's "Airship Nine" is hardly new (in fact, one might even quip that it's been done to death). But, we all know the devil is in the details and Block has produced an eminently readable techno-thriller and a noteworthy, strong statement about the futility of war and the insanity of "mutually assured destruction" as a defense policy. Those readers familiar with his other novels, "Mayday", "Forced Landing" and "Orbit" will enjoy the continuing theme of aviation technology. This time the focus is on Airship Nine, a futuristic commercial dirigible carrying both cargo and passengers over the Antarctic during the nuclear accident that turns the rest of the world into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

When the hammer falls and nuclear fires devastate the earth, the only other survivors are the crew of the Soviet ship Primorye and the residents of the scientific camps located on the ground in the Antarctic. The story quite obviously rests with how the surviving Americans and Russians choose to perceive themselves - enemies to the death in a continuing World War or allies in a struggle for survival after a war that should never have happened in the first place.

Well done, Thomas Block! A high speed enjoyable read in an extremely interesting setting that allowed you to include social studies, geography, science, technology, action and a moral statement as well!

Paul Weiss

In this updated version of his 1985 classic, Airship Nine, author Block reprises the Cold War specter of MAD--mutually assured destruction. As nuclear weapons transform the planet into a poisonous wasteland, American and Russian survivors confront each other in the last habitable place on earth--Antarctica.

This sprawling tale is a well-wrought mix of high-tech gee-whizzery, characters plunged into danger both physical and moral, and an old-fashioned adventure story with a surprise ending. Airship Nine is one of those books that holds up well over the years. Both versions--original and modern--are the work of a writer at the top of his game. Highly recommended.

I read this book years ago and remembered liking it enough to buy 'Forced Landing' and 'Mayday'.

I would like to see Block write another book.