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The Warlord of the Air (A Nomad of the Time Streams, Bk. 1)
 
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The Warlord of the Air (A Nomad of the Time Streams, Bk. 1) (Paperback)

~ Michael Moorcock (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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  Hardcover, Import -- -- $19.00
  Paperback, October 25, 1989 -- $6.00 $5.99
  Paperback, October 1, 1982 -- -- $1.99
  Mass Market Paperback, May 1, 1978 -- $59.93 $0.25

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 187 pages
  • Publisher: DAW; 1st THUS edition (October 1, 1982)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0879977752
  • ISBN-13: 978-0879977757
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,480,229 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing read, but too short for its ambitious storyline, June 14, 2003
By Rachel E. Pollock (Chapel Hill, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book would probably be considered a forerunner or pioneering-novel in the genre of steampunk, being as it was first published in 1971 [1]. It is the first in a trilogy, of which the other two titles are _The Land Leviathan_ and _The Steel Tsar_. The entire trilogy is collected in a single volume, as well, entitled _The Nomad of the Time Streams_.

The novel is essentially an alternate-history book thinly veiled in a poorly-thought-out time-travel story. (There's never any actual explanation or even a surmise as to what causes the protagonist, Oswald Bastable [2], to become unstuck in time.)

Synopsis w/o spoilers: A man from 1902 is thrown forward to an alternate 1973, in which Imperialism is the dominant politial model for the world's superpowers. Technology has developed, as in Turtledove and Dreyfuss' _The Two Georges_, at a leisurely "British" pace, with zeppelins being the predominant form of airtravel. Bastable becomes embroiled in a revolutionary coup led by a modern asian "Alexander", a half Chinese half-English warlord whose dreams of overthrowing imperial rule are complemented by his cultivation of scientific advancements and artistic freedom. A couple of "real people" characters (a "Michael Jagger" who's an ordinary airshipman, Vladimir Ilyitch Ulianov (i.e., Lenin) as an old doddering "mentor" of sorts to the Warlord, and a character which in my edition bears the surname "Guevara" but is apparently in other editions known as Rudolph von Dutschke), but largely speculative fiction. Twenty-first century readers may find the occasional use of racist slang terms by the Imperialists offensive, though contextually/historically they make "sense," as it were.

Lots of air battles between fleets of blimps and the like, though at 175 pages, Moorcock attempts to cram too much into too short of a novel. There's hardly any character development, and a lot of political agenda, but the tech is interesting and a lot of the cultural speculation is intriguing.

[1] Unless you want to make a case that steampunk goes back as far as, say, HG Wells and/or Jules Verne, which i suppose you could. I digress.

[2] Incidentally, Bastable first appeared in literature as a child in a couple of Victorian novelist E. Nesbit's novels.

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, November 27, 2001
By John Conley (Paris France) - See all my reviews
An excellent novel, a delightful throwback to late Victorian fiction filled with cameo appearances and pop culture references. Definitely worth the read.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Early Moorcock Steampunk, October 4, 2009
By Mithridates VI of Pontus (United States) - See all my reviews
  
The Warlord of the Air is the first of a trilogy of steampunk novels (Land Leviathan, The Steel Tsar) by Moorcock collected in the omnibus edition The Nomad of Time and later as The Nomad of the Time Streams. The story follows Oswald Bastable from 1903 who enters a mysterious temple city of Nepalese natives on a military expedition and somehow gets sucked into an alternative 1973. This is not 1973 recovering from the Vietnam War but rather a 1973 where no World Wars happened. Technology has progressed--somewhat--and the British Empire and their dirigibles rule the sky. Bastable, a product of his time (i.e. reluctant Imperialist but ultimately pro-British they-are-doing-their-best-providing-for-the-world's-less-fortune) learns the ropes of dirigible flying. However, he soon beats up an American racist and is forced to join in with some shady anarchist figures and eventually the Warlord of the Air!

Moorcock's novel has an interesting premise. However, the plot lacks detail, compelling characters (besides Bastable), and scenes of Lenin and Guevera bantering are just plain silly. I understand that the genre of steampunk (if we say Verne was not a part of the movement) was just incubating however, Warlord of the Air fails to live up the promise. That said, the anti-imperial and anti-racist message is welcome but the alternative utopia and technology will solve everything premise again, is just plain silly. I will still recommend this novel to anyone who likes a fast read but be warned there isn't much adventure, detail, or world realization to be found.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Steampunk Anti-Utopia
Warlord in the Air is an amusing send up of the technological utopianism of Edward Bellamy and - especially - H. G. Wells. Read more
Published 16 months ago by J. Carroll

3.0 out of 5 stars Super Reader
Oswald Bastable is an English army officer, sent on a mission to the mountains in the Nepal region. It does not go too well, and sick and delirious he stumbles into a citadel that... Read more
Published on August 29, 2007 by Blue Tyson

5.0 out of 5 stars Airships, time travel and Moorcock...it is hard to go wrong.
This is the first volume relating the adventures of Oswald Bastable, and is continued in The Land Leviathan and concluded in The Steel Tsar. Read more
Published on February 8, 2005 by Brett J. Callahan

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat interesting
The alternate history that Moorcock proposes--one in which the colonial powers maintained and expanded their empires, scientific progress was retarded and great warships dominated... Read more
Published on November 20, 2000 by David Bonesteel

3.0 out of 5 stars A slow paced alternate history novel
This is the first novel about Oswald Bastable and his travels through time. The novel starts with M. Read more
Published on June 9, 2000 by Norbert Engel

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