The Warlord of the Air
by Michael Moorcock
Oswald Bastable series (book 1), The Eternal Champion (The Nomad of Time book 1)
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Set in an unstable world where the British Empire rules over all, this genre-defying novel blends steampunk, alternative history, and time travel science fictionIt is 1973, and the stately airships of the Great Powers hold benign sway over a peaceful world. The balance of power is maintained by the British Empire—a most equitable and just Empire, ruled by the beloved King Edward VIII. A new world order, with peace and prosperity for all under the law. Yet, moved by the politics of envy show more and perverse utopianism, not all of the Empire's citizens support the marvelous equilibrium.
Flung from the North East Frontier of 1902 into this world of the future, Captain Oswald Bastable is forced to question his most cherished ideals, discovering to his horror that he has become a nomad of the time streams, eternally doomed to travel the wayward currents of a chaotic multiverse.
The first in the Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy, The Warlord of the Air sees Bastable fall in with the anarchists of this imperial society and set in train a course of events more devastating than he could ever have imagined. show less
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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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
Eminently readable! Compare this tale of an alternate reality British Empire with S. M. Stirling's recent 'Peshawar Lancers'. What's truly remarkable is that this work, though three decades older is far more progressive, far more intelligent, more thought-provoking, rings more true and perhaps most importantly, much more fun! For a long time my only exposure to Michael Moorock was through the Elric stories, but as I read further, I'm finding I far prefer his time travel/alternate history books to the sword and sorcery stuff.
I have thought that Elric was MM's best idea. This book, a mild pastiche of Wells and Verne, isn't going to change my mind
Oswald Bastable is a man with a problem. The problem is that he was stuck in an earthquake in 1902. He woke up, alone, in 1972. And no one believes him.
The 1972 he finds himself in is obviously an alternate timeline - but close enough that our stalwart Mr. Bastable has a run-in with Ronald Reagan and Mick Jagger amongst others. And while we see that certain things are definitely malleable, there are other significant events that apparently MUST occur in any timeline - like the Hiroshima bomb.
An interesting story, although one not quite worthy of the Eternal Champion tag. I do think it's interesting that this appears to be the first one where the forces of Law are in the wrong, and the Champion is acting on the side of Chaos.
The 1972 he finds himself in is obviously an alternate timeline - but close enough that our stalwart Mr. Bastable has a run-in with Ronald Reagan and Mick Jagger amongst others. And while we see that certain things are definitely malleable, there are other significant events that apparently MUST occur in any timeline - like the Hiroshima bomb.
An interesting story, although one not quite worthy of the Eternal Champion tag. I do think it's interesting that this appears to be the first one where the forces of Law are in the wrong, and the Champion is acting on the side of Chaos.
Not Moorcock's best, but still an interesting read.
Too "Wells" for me.
Old school time travel scifi.
Not immediately tied to Moorcock's Eternal Champion series, but definitely tied to the Multi-verse...
Not immediately tied to Moorcock's Eternal Champion series, but definitely tied to the Multi-verse...
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Author Information
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Michael Moorcock, 1939 - Writer Michael Moorcock was born December 18, 1939 in Mitcham, Surrey, England. Moorcock was the editor of the juvenile magazine Tarzan Adventures from 1956-58, an editor and writer for the Sexton Blake Library and for comic strips and children's annuals from 1959-61, an editor and pamphleteer for Liberal Party in 1962, show more and became editor and publisher for the science fiction magazine New Worlds in 1964. He has worked as a singer-guitarist, has worked with the rock bands Hawkwind and Blue Oyster Cult and is a member of the rock band Michael Moorcock and the Deep Fix. Moorcock's writing covers a wide range of science fiction and fantasy genres. "The Chronicles of Castle Brass" was a sword and sorcery novel, and "Breakfast in the Ruins: A Novel of Inhumanity" uses the character Karl Glogauer as a different person in different times. Karl participates in the political violence of the French Revolution, the Paris Commune, and a Nazi concentration camp. Moorcock also wrote books and stories that featured the character Jerry Cornelius, who had no consistent character or appearance. "The Condition of Muzak" completed the initial Jerry Cornelius tetralogy and won Guardian Literary Prize in 1977. "Byzantium Endures" and "The Laughter of Carthage" are two autobiographical novels of the Russian emigre Colonel Pyat and were the closest Moorcock came to conventional literary fiction. "Byzantium Endures" focuses on the first twenty years of Pyat's life and tells of his role in the Russian revolution. Pyat survives the revolution and the subsequent civil war by working first for one side and then another. "The Laughter of Carthage" covers Pyat's life from 1920-1924 telling of his escape from Communist Russia and his travels in Europe and America. It's a sweeping picture of the world during the 1920's because it takes the character from living in Constantinople to Hollywood. Moorcock returned to the New Wave style in "Blood: A Southern Fantasy" (1994) and combined mainstream fiction with fantasy in "The Brothel of Rosenstrasse," which is set in the imaginary city of Mirenburg. MoorCock won the 1967 Nebula Award for Behold the Man and the 1979 World Fantasy Award for his novel, Gloriana. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Der Herr der Lüfte
- Original title
- The Warlord of the Air
- Original publication date
- 1971
- People/Characters
- Oswald Bastable; Sharan Kang; Michael Jagger; Cornelius Dempsey; Rudolfo Guevara; Una Persson (show all 9); O. T. Shaw; Shuo Ho Ti; Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
- Epigraph*
- »Der Krieg ist endlos. Das Beste, was wir erhoffen können, sind gelegentliche Augenblicke der Ruhe inmitten des Kampfes.«
Lobkowitz - Dedication
- For Julie
- First words
- In the spring of 1903, on the advice of my physician, I had occasion to visit that remote and beautiful fragment of land in the middle of the Indian Ocean which I shall call Rowe Island.
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Mein Großvater kam 1914 nach Frankreich und fiel im Oktober 1916 an der Somme.
Michael Moorcock, 1971 - Publisher's editor*
- Jeschke, Wolfgang
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.087627
- Disambiguation notice
- This is a short story, do NOT combine with the novel.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Science Fiction, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 823.087627 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fiction Science fiction Steampunk
- LCC
- PR6063 .O59 .W35 — Language and Literature English English Literature 1961-2000
- BISAC
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- ISBNs
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