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gnostalgia's review against another edition
4.0
Moorcock takes me back to the days of my misspent youth. Summer days sitting in an old wing-backed chair, a book in my lap, and Tony Orlando bellowing Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree. I enjoyed the Elric of Melniboné saga and almost anything from the pen of Michael Moorcock.Like a blast from the past Titan Books will re-print some classic Moorcock steampunk, The Warlord of the Air.
If you are familiar with Moorcock’s eternal champions, you should see some familiar Moorcock magic. I’ve always liked alternate time-line stories with a good dose of steampunkery so this book was right up my alley. It’s been decades since I’ve read this title so it was almost as if I were reading a new novel. In an odd way, it was a little more political than I remembered.
If you haven’t read The Warlord of the Air, I highly recommend it. It’s a must have for your steampunk “Home Library.” Pulpy steampunky goodness, I give it 4 stars out of 5.
If you are familiar with Moorcock’s eternal champions, you should see some familiar Moorcock magic. I’ve always liked alternate time-line stories with a good dose of steampunkery so this book was right up my alley. It’s been decades since I’ve read this title so it was almost as if I were reading a new novel. In an odd way, it was a little more political than I remembered.
If you haven’t read The Warlord of the Air, I highly recommend it. It’s a must have for your steampunk “Home Library.” Pulpy steampunky goodness, I give it 4 stars out of 5.
fishsauce's review against another edition
3.0
Works as satire, but mostly just confirms that I still don't like Moorcock.
steviec's review against another edition
3.0
First let me start by saying that I love steampunk. That being said, this book disappointed me. I agree with many other reviewers that Moorcock's ideas are grand but his execution is hurried. One of the reasons I love steampunk is that generally the genre sucks you in and transports you to magnificent places. This book didn't do that for me. Oswald Bastable is a great character, but he wasn't properly fleshed out. Each phase of his story was so hurried, one never got the chance to connect with him or see his development. It wasn't a bad book, it was entertaining enough, I just wish Moorcock would have slowed down and let us savor each moment of time traveling, airship pirating, imperialism condemning bit of goodness.
therealbluestocking's review
https://www.spdhpod.com/spdhepisodes/2017/6/21/episode-1-islands-in-the-time-streams-1
josefinef's review against another edition
3.0
I don’t even know anymore how I found this book, but I’m glad I did.
Before I start my review, a quick note: this book was written in the early 70’s. The story is rather political and uses certain phrases that you wouldn’t find in today’s books. No glorification or anything, but if you’re sensitive, don’t read it. Also, mixes up some political philosophies (although, that also happens today…).
From page one I loved the writing! It reads like a classic fiction novel, but from a different timeline. It’s written in first person - first from the view of the author’s grandfather, then from the view of Mr. Bastable, who tells the most curious story: he traveled through time.
He traveled from 1902 to 1973 and lived in a world full of airships and a structure that is not too far off from our own history, but based on a different timeline. Due to the short nature of the book, there’s not much character development unfortunately. Some development is actually rather unclear. For example, Mr. Bastable’s loyalty Switches from one political view to another without much explanation of his thought process. All of the sudden he agrees with the side he demonized before. And that happens multiple times throughout the book.
Besides that, it’s a really enjoyable SciFi novel with a lot of stuff happening, fast-paced, and rather unique.
I’ll have to check out the next book in the series.
Before I start my review, a quick note: this book was written in the early 70’s. The story is rather political and uses certain phrases that you wouldn’t find in today’s books. No glorification or anything, but if you’re sensitive, don’t read it. Also, mixes up some political philosophies (although, that also happens today…).
From page one I loved the writing! It reads like a classic fiction novel, but from a different timeline. It’s written in first person - first from the view of the author’s grandfather, then from the view of Mr. Bastable, who tells the most curious story: he traveled through time.
He traveled from 1902 to 1973 and lived in a world full of airships and a structure that is not too far off from our own history, but based on a different timeline. Due to the short nature of the book, there’s not much character development unfortunately. Some development is actually rather unclear. For example, Mr. Bastable’s loyalty Switches from one political view to another without much explanation of his thought process. All of the sudden he agrees with the side he demonized before. And that happens multiple times throughout the book.
Besides that, it’s a really enjoyable SciFi novel with a lot of stuff happening, fast-paced, and rather unique.
I’ll have to check out the next book in the series.
jgkeely's review against another edition
3.0
As ever, Moorcock is a wry, clever author full of ideas and insights, but he ends up rushing from one moment to another when I wish that he would let his stories play out. The characters and their relationships were intriguing and promising, but Moorcock tends to fall back on exposition instead of showing the development of his characters and plot through interaction and carefully-constructed scenes. The scope of his tales rarely seem to match the length of his books.
I have great appreciation for the freedom he allows his imaginative drive, so that he has no compunction about sticking a bit of inexplicable Lovecraftian time travel in as a framing story for his zeppelin combat narrative. That sort of pulp zaniness combined with an authorial voice that can be subtle and clever and precise will keep drawing be back to Moorcock's writing--indeed, he is an inspiration for authors of speculative fiction, if only he'd spend a little more time polishing up.
Some of his political satire was a bit rough, lacking in the precision that makes satire truly effective, but other sections showed a much lighter, knowing touch. Likewise, there were errors in his structure, particularly the killing off of a certain character in a large battle that seemed entirely unnecessary--there was no apparent reason that he needed to be sent into sudden danger when he was, especially as the conflict could have been (and eventually was) resolved by a much simpler method. It seemed he was only thrown to the wolves to procure a bit of drama, which seemed rather cheap to me.
Hopefully as the series continues Moorcock will take a bit more confidence in his voice and let the story play out instead of interposing interesting scenes and rather more bland exposition.
I have great appreciation for the freedom he allows his imaginative drive, so that he has no compunction about sticking a bit of inexplicable Lovecraftian time travel in as a framing story for his zeppelin combat narrative. That sort of pulp zaniness combined with an authorial voice that can be subtle and clever and precise will keep drawing be back to Moorcock's writing--indeed, he is an inspiration for authors of speculative fiction, if only he'd spend a little more time polishing up.
Some of his political satire was a bit rough, lacking in the precision that makes satire truly effective, but other sections showed a much lighter, knowing touch. Likewise, there were errors in his structure, particularly the killing off of a certain character in a large battle that seemed entirely unnecessary--there was no apparent reason that he needed to be sent into sudden danger when he was, especially as the conflict could have been (and eventually was) resolved by a much simpler method. It seemed he was only thrown to the wolves to procure a bit of drama, which seemed rather cheap to me.
Hopefully as the series continues Moorcock will take a bit more confidence in his voice and let the story play out instead of interposing interesting scenes and rather more bland exposition.
smcleish's review
5.0
Originally published on my blog here in January 2000.
The War Lord of the Air is one of my favourite Moorcock novels. It inspired by turn of the century adventure stories with a fantastic element, with influences such as Buchan, Haggard and Wells as well as the tradition exemplified by (say) Lanier's Brigadier Ffellowes stories. It is a precursor of the genre known as "steampunk", with its additional element of alternate history centred around alternate technology.
Whilst on a mission to a remote kingdom in the Himalayas in 1902, Captain Oswald Bastable of the British Army is caught in an earthquake. He recovers consciousness in a ruined city - but the ruins seem old. Eventually he discovers that he has travelled through time to 1973 - but not 1973 as we have experienced it. The First World War never happened, and the world remains divided up between the colonial powers. The dominant technology is that of the airship, powered by compact steam engines. Feigning amnesia (and, of course, having no knowledge of any event since 1902), Bastable attempts to make his way in an entirely new world, though actually one not as different from 1902 as the real 1973 would have been.
As in other alternate histories, part of the fun lies in seeing well known people in very different situations. There are several revolutionaries, including Che Guevara and an aged Vladimir Ulianov (Lenin), but the oddest is the clean cut young army lieutenant Michael Jagger.
The War Lord of the Air is one of my favourite Moorcock novels. It inspired by turn of the century adventure stories with a fantastic element, with influences such as Buchan, Haggard and Wells as well as the tradition exemplified by (say) Lanier's Brigadier Ffellowes stories. It is a precursor of the genre known as "steampunk", with its additional element of alternate history centred around alternate technology.
Whilst on a mission to a remote kingdom in the Himalayas in 1902, Captain Oswald Bastable of the British Army is caught in an earthquake. He recovers consciousness in a ruined city - but the ruins seem old. Eventually he discovers that he has travelled through time to 1973 - but not 1973 as we have experienced it. The First World War never happened, and the world remains divided up between the colonial powers. The dominant technology is that of the airship, powered by compact steam engines. Feigning amnesia (and, of course, having no knowledge of any event since 1902), Bastable attempts to make his way in an entirely new world, though actually one not as different from 1902 as the real 1973 would have been.
As in other alternate histories, part of the fun lies in seeing well known people in very different situations. There are several revolutionaries, including Che Guevara and an aged Vladimir Ulianov (Lenin), but the oddest is the clean cut young army lieutenant Michael Jagger.
markk's review
4.0
Sent out to deal with a troublesome warlord on the imperial frontier, Lieutenant Oswald Bastable, an army officer in 1902 India, unexpectedly finds himself in a 1973 where airships ply the skies and the British Empire continues to thrive. Feigning amnesia, he adapts quickly to life in a world which seems nothing less than idyllic. Yet Bastable’s path soon leads to a series of adventures that cause him to reexamine his initial assumptions and lead him to embrace a cause very different from the ones he was trained to defend.
The first entry in “Nomad of Time” trilogy, Michael Moorcock provides readers of this book with an old-fashioned pulp adventure in a steampunk setting. This combination works thanks in no small part to Moorcock’s skills as a writer, which produce a novel that transcends the works which inspired it. He keeps the narrative moving along briskly, and adapts both the tropes of the form and the politics which drive the story in the later chapters to produce a highly entertaining read, one that has aged well in comparison to other novels of its type. This is an excellent starting point for someone wishing to explore the steampunk genre, as well as a fun read for anyone seeking a good book with which to pass the time.
The first entry in “Nomad of Time” trilogy, Michael Moorcock provides readers of this book with an old-fashioned pulp adventure in a steampunk setting. This combination works thanks in no small part to Moorcock’s skills as a writer, which produce a novel that transcends the works which inspired it. He keeps the narrative moving along briskly, and adapts both the tropes of the form and the politics which drive the story in the later chapters to produce a highly entertaining read, one that has aged well in comparison to other novels of its type. This is an excellent starting point for someone wishing to explore the steampunk genre, as well as a fun read for anyone seeking a good book with which to pass the time.
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