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James Blish

Cities in Flight Paperback – January 4, 2005

by James Blish (Author)

228 ratings

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Originally published in four volumes nearlyfifty years ago, Cities in Flight brings together the famed "Okie novels" of science fiction master James Blish. Named after the migrant workers of America's Dust Bowl, these novels convey Blish's "history of the future," a brilliant and bleak look at a world where cities roam the Galaxy looking for work and a sustainable way of life. In the first novel, They Shall Have Stars, man has thoroughly explored the Solar System, yet the dream of going even further seems to have died in all but one man. His battle to realize his dream results in two momentous discoveries anti-gravity and the secret of immortality. In A Life for the Stars, it is centuries later and antigravity generations have enabled whole cities to lift off the surface of the earth to become galactic wanderers. In Earthman, Come Home, the nomadic cities revert to barbarism and marauding rogue cities begin to pose a threat to all civilized worlds. In the final novel, The Triumph of Time, historyrepeats itself as the cities once again journey back in to space making a terrifying discovery which could destroy the entire Universe. A serious andhaunting vision of our world and its limits, Cities in Flight marks the return to print of one of science fiction's most inimitable writers. A Selection of the Science Fiction Book Club

Print length

608 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The Overlook Press
Publication date

January 4, 2005
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.8 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

9781585676026
ISBN-13

978-1585676026
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A compelling future history, a tale of thistledown cities blown by the winds of time. This is one of sf's most original concepts, an exciting tale deepened and made utterly plausible by Blish s craft and his mature understanding of people and history. If you haven t read this yet, I envy you. Blish s cities will fly through your dreams." Stephen Baxter

"In a century that brimmed with human short-sightedness, James Blish was one of the very first genuine visionaries of a new millennium. If the universe doesn tturn out to be as bold and vivid and wonderful as he imagined, well . . . it ought to!" David Brin

About the Author

James Blish was one of the great science fiction writers of the twentieth century. His other novels include the Hugo Award-winning A Case of Conscience, Doctor Mirabilis, Black Easter andThe Day After Judgment. His later work includes the first twelve of the Star Trek novel series (all based on the original TV scripts) and Spock Must Die, the first original Star Trek novel.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1585676020
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Overlook Press (January 4, 2005)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 608 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781585676026
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1585676026
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.8 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #799,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,446 in Classic American Literature
- #21,230 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #48,711 in Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
228 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		64%
4 star		22%
3 star		7%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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MLK

This is an anthology of 4 individual books by James Blish

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2021

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Blish did his homework on the galactic neighborhood. He was well within 95% of the relative speeds of the Magellanic clouds in the final story, for example. The "spindizzy" effect is, of course, simply artistic license. But the concept of its operation being somewhat logarithmic lends credence to the travel times between stopovers. As Science Fiction, it leans heavily toward being a political statement more than pure Sci-Fi ... but even that turns out to be very prophetic. The world today is fast approaching the state of economics described in the first story, sans the existence of "colonies" within the solar system which led to the discovery of the spindizzy effect. Good (re-)reading in my opinion!

One person found this helpful

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A. Riley

Did not age well

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020

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I liked the concept, and when I originally read this back in the mid-70's, enjoyed it so much. Finally found it online and decided to read it again this year. Maybe it is the fact that so much science has changed, and that the premise, plot, and characters now do not seem so dynamic and imaginative. Or perhaps the current political environment makes me more jaded than even some of the subplots.

2 people found this helpful

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D. C. Goodson

It would be 5 stars for a super science geek.

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2016

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It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered when I read it in the 70's. There was way too much scientific blah-blah explaining the technology. Maybe it meant more to me in college when I was studying chemistry and physics, but it sure doesn't now. It really surprised me because I usually love James Blish.

4 people found this helpful

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Charlie Aukerman

A foundation for modern science fiction

Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2013

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James Blish's "Cities in Flight" is a landmark book in science fiction history. The stories of Mayor John Amalfi and his New York City of the future, sometimes referred to as the Okie Series by older fans, speak of a time when the great cities of the Earth, due to the development of "spin-dizzy" technology, have left Earth and travel throughout the universe seeking work and needed materials from new worlds. Blish was one of the major literary critics of science fiction who shows in this work that he knew how to write it also.

4 people found this helpful

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albionphotoTop Contributor: Anime

Intellectual sci-fi

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2014

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This is an anthology of four books by James Blish. The first book "They Shall Have Stars" covers the period of the discovery of FTL flight at a time when the East and West were buried in the cold war. Since speed is proportional to mass in this universe the logical development is flying cities. The story of the flying cities and in particular New York, New York is told in the next three books. The final book concerns how mankind can shape the end of time. Forget the afterword it only spoils the excitement. The book is a bit dated in many ways now but the concept, plots and dialogue still deserve a reading even today.

4 people found this helpful

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C. Ott

The collection is good. I preferred books 2 and 3 over 1 ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2015

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The collection is good. I preferred books 2 and 3 over 1 and 4 but they are all solid reads. The title seems to convey a sense of scale that's larger than what Blish actually delivers. The cast is relatively small but they're well written if somewhat underdeveloped. The "cities" of the title don't feel particularly alive but serve the plot none the less and it is an interesting concept. I'd put it in the hard scifi category because it requires you to parse and understand a bit of science in order to keep up with some of the protagonist's schemes.

5 people found this helpful

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Kenneth A. Scharf

Classic SciFi, great ReRead after all these years!

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2014

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I actually read this book many years ago. It is a classic example of early space age science fiction. Buried somewhere in my bookcase was a well worn paperback copy, which I attempted to read. Alas, my close in vision now requires somewhat larger type, so I was very much pleased to find this book in hardcover at a good price.

Being an ex New York City resident I love how he describes the city in terms of the 20th century in a far future setting. I can almost picture a spindizzy in an old 23rd street subway station. While the physics he uses to concoct faster than light travel via anti gravity are now known to be untrue, the works of real scientists were used to describe it, making the story less bound in fantasy and more in true science. Few SciFi authors have had that knack (Asmoiv and Clark come to mind).

2 people found this helpful

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Desert Rat

a classic smoking classics

Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2015

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I read these first decades ago when they were new. The stories hold up amazingly well. Moreover, the concept of plucking entire cities (especially NY) off the earth with antigravity and flying across the galaxy as a roving migrant worker colony is one of the most improbable, ridiculous ideas in SF. The fact that Blish pulls this off and makes a first rate story of it tells you how good a writer he was!

4 people found this helpful

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FriendlyFire

Well worth a revisit

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2021

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Nostalgia brought me to this book. It's years since I last read this series and whilst it's aged better than most classic SCFI it is a product of it's time. I'd say it's a required read if you have an interest in the classics.
I'd like to see a TV or movie treatment as I think it could make quite a visual special and such breath of vision is rare now.
Physical state of the book is just above pulp which seems fitting.

robin street

... a 5 rating because the space opera is very good, though the science in some cases is very ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2015

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I have given this book a 5 rating because the space opera is very good, though the science in some cases is very suspect and boring and was not needed for the main story. It is also a book of its time, a number of writers were hinting about the west becoming more like Russia as it coped with the cold war etc. Meaning that both sides would outwardly look the same and the military and government paramilitary organisations would regulate all.
The book appeared in the shops to the best of my knowledge in the sixties, it is over 40 years since I first read it, and was one of the first space opera books that got under my skin. Migrant for hire workers travelling the galaxy to find work, this along with all the prejudices and exploitation and misunderstandings that our earth bound migrant workers suffer from provides plenty of food for thought in the 21st century. I think this book has a place in science fiction history and should be read bearing that in mind.
Regards
Robin

3 people found this helpful

Mr. A. J. Wilson

It's a great book. I love restro futurism (seeing how people ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2018

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It's a great book. I love restro futurism (seeing how people from many years ago envisioned the future) and this book gives a fantastic dose of that. It contains a number of separate stories all set in the same universe with some character cross over. Some of the stories are better than the others but I largely enjoyed it.

Ellie

ALWAYS READ THE FOREWARD!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2010

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Unusually for me, I read the foreward because this was a reprint in the Masterworks series of this work by Blish.

There are in fact 4 books and the foreward recommended that the reader start with the second book. He was right because the writing is good, the narrative excellent and it allows the reader to become immersed in the story. The concept may seem quite familiar to those Dr Who fan's who have seen that particular episode. James Blish to me always appeared to be the author who wrote Star Trek novels and reading this woke me up to his talent for original, stimulating science fiction.

Jonathan Greenyer

A Clasic from my youth

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2012

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I read all these out of sequence when I was cutting my teeth on SF as a teenabger and found it exciting and difficult to put down. it has not aged well and is full of embarrasing sexual and racial stereo typing that nowadays make the work cringemaking in places. but it was of it's time and not many SF wrirter in the fifties and sixties were very futuristic in their attitude to women, minorities or things that were fundamentally counterculture.

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