The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock (1971)
A boys-own classic adventure
Book cover blurb
Captain Oswald Bastable (ex-53rd Lancers and special air Police) finds himself hurled from the North East Frontier of 1902 into the future world of 1973. He makes his way to London where he takes to the skies in the airship, the Loch Etive. Peace and prosperity reign, but not all of the British Empire’s citizens support this seeming stability. Caught up with an anarchist group led by barbarian warlord O.T. Shaw, Batable is forced to question his long-held beliefs.
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My Review
I didn't even know this book existed until a friend on Goodreads mentioned it to me, and I'm so glad he did. Thanks for the recommendation, Jorge.
I love the steampunk idea but it often falls short for me. Retribution Falls is by far the best I've read to date. But I think Moorcock's The Warlord of the Air is something a little different, maybe that's because it was written quite a while back, it may have even been one of the first steampunk novels, I'm not sure. But it is something special.
This is a short book at 215 pages and therefore couldn't spend too much time building up the world we were roaming around in, but even with that I still felt very much immersed. I could picture, feel, being there. I want to say this book is very much of its time, but of course, this time never existed. And I for one would never have guessed this was written in the '70s, it stands up so well that it doesn't feel dated at all to me.
I really enjoyed the beginning of this. It felt just like those old boys-own classics in its telling. Fantastic stuff.
My only criticism is that the third quarter of the book was a little rushed. I would have liked to have dwelled on Bastable's predicament between downfall to revolutionary a little more. But that's just me trying to think of an issue, it's really not that big a deal.
In short, I'd say, a must-read! And yes, I've already bought the next two books in the series.
My copy of this novel
Titan Books paperback edition.
Published in 2013
215 pages
ISBN 9781781161456