Princes of Air [Paperback]

John M. Ford (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (November 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671444824
• ISBN-13: 978-0671444822
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,663,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, intricate work., January 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Princes of the Air (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read Ford's "Web of Angels," I searched long and hard to find another of his books, suceeding finally in the back of a supremely dusty used-bookstrore in deepest downtown New York. It takes some serious reading to understand the plot--both what's going on 'right now,' and how it ties into what's happening/has happened. It reminded me of Gibson's writing a little, in that respect. It's eccentric, well-realised, and definately no kin of average SF. Find a copy, and enjoy, and reread, and enjoy, and... Well, you get the picture. Check out Gene Wolfe, while you're at it. Best fiction author of our time, I believe.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My thoughts exactly, August 16, 2005

By 

NYC Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Princes of Air (Paperback)

I, too, read this book in college and have read it a number of times again with great pleasure. A friend once described it as " a roleplaying game adventure", but it is much more. The characters are haunting, the mood powerfully bittersweet. No success comes without a price and, while each character's dreams are realized, that realization is not what they expected. The background is quite vague and makes the book harder to follow than it might be - but it means the imagination can really get to work and that each re-reading brings new pleasures.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An astoundingly intricate little book, September 18, 2004

By 

Paul O'Connor (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Princes of Air (Paperback)

The basic plot sounds so simple: three young friends attempt to realize their dreams in the far future. They do so but not in the way they expected. The science is simplified to the level of the 1950's pulps but the characters and plot are so astoundingly rich and complex that the story rises far above its simple roots.

The story is told in the form of three loosely linked novellas that seem incomplete when read independently but are very powerful when read together. I bought this book when I was in college and reread it every 5 years or so, never failing to find something new each time. This story would be considered a major work of literature if wasn't science fiction.

My only real complaint is that the world around the main characters is so vague and hazy that you have troubles fully understanding what is going on until you've read the book several times.