Ahnu

Warlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VG

Description: FREE shipping for orders of 8 or more items (*sets count as 1 item), and multi-item orders over $100! Please refer to photos. Comes sealed in acid-free bag. Packaged between cardboard in a padded flat mailer (all made from 100% post- consumer recycled materials), by a one-man/single father independent shop. Combined shipping discounts available! Use the "Request Combined Shipping" link above your cart prior to checkout on a computer. The Warlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) by Michael Moorcock 1974 Quartet Books UK Paperback Edition from Wikipedia:The Warlord of the Air is a 1971 British alternate history novel written by Michael Moorcock. It concerns the adventures of Oswald Bastable, an Edwardian era soldier stationed in India, and his adventures in an alternate universe, in his own future, wherein the First World War never happened. It is the first part of Moorcock's A Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy and, in its use of speculative technology (such as airships) juxtaposed against an Edwardian setting, it is widely considered to be one of the first steampunk novels.[2][3] The novel was first published by Ace Books as part of their Ace Science Fiction Specials series. Plot summaryThe novel is transcribed by 'Michael Moorcock' (the author's fictional grandfather) in 1903. Holidaying at the remote Rowe Island, he befriends Oswald Bastable, an ex-soldier stowaway who seems confused and disoriented beyond what could be explained by his opium addiction, and who is tormented by great guilt from an action he performed in his past. Bastable agrees to tell Moorcock the story, and begins his narrative with his experiences in North East India in 1902, sent as part of a British expedition to deal with Sharan Kang, an Indian high priest at the temple of Teku Benga, a mysterious and seemingly supernaturally powerful region. After a confrontation with Kang and his men, Bastable finds himself lost and alone in the caves around the 'Temple of the Future Buddha', where he is assaulted by a mysterious force and knocked into unconsciousness. When he awakes, and escapes the caves, the Temple is in ruins, as if a great amount of time has passed. He is soon found and picked up by a massive airship, where he learns that it is in fact the year 1973, but not the one that the reader would recognise. In this alternate future, the First World War never happened, and the colonial powers continue to assert dominance over their empires—for example, India remains a British territory, though Winston Churchill had been viceroy in this alternate future as well as in Bastable's own. At first, Bastable marvels at the wonders that await him in his 'future' — London is a clean and peaceful city, and the world seems to be a utopia, held in balance by the great empires. Gaining employment amongst the great airship armadas, however, he soon comes into contact with a troop of anarchists – among them a mysterious woman named Una Persson, and a Russian revolutionary named Ulianov. He initially maintains a patriotic resistance to their activities, but gradually discovers the truth: life is peaceful for the dominant empires but the seeming utopia of the empires' home countries is based on decades of unimpeded and unopposed colonial oppression, brutality and domination of their territories. As the First World War never happened to bankrupt the European colonial empires and begin the gradual liberalization and freedom of the colonies, imperialism remains unchecked and the world is greatly unfair and unjust. The United Kingdom, France, the Tsarist Russian Empire, the German Empire, Japan, the Italian Empire and the United States ruthlessly dominate this world and suppress anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist dissent. Bastable, a fair and honourable man, is outraged by the cruelty, injustice and horror revealed to him, and begins to fight for the oppressed peoples of the world (opposing, amongst others, his former friend in the airship service, Major Enoch Powell). Tragically, his actions result in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the hands of the anarchists. The atomic blast knocks him loose from the alternate 1973, sending him to a new 1903. Wracked with guilt over his part in the destruction of countless millions of innocent lives, and dreading the 'future' of science and imperialism gone mad, Bastable makes his way to the caves of Teku Benga and returns to 1903, but alas, not his own original time. His experiences have altered him too much to settle into life in this new alternate universe; both his experiences and this sense of dislocation have driven him to opium. The novel ends with Bastable disappearing mysteriously, much to the 1903 Moorcock's amazement; and a postscript from the modern author Moorcock, establishing his grandfather's death on the Western Front in 1916. Series connectionsThis book is followed by The Land Leviathan and The Steel Tsar.As with many of Moorcock's other books, this book is connected to his larger 'Eternal Champion' multiverse series; as such, many frequently recurring characters / character names (including Una Persson, Major Nye and, in later editions, Count von Bek) appear in the novel. Oswald Bastable is a character created by author E. Nesbit for her book The Story of the Treasure Seekers.Genre elements Famous personagesAs with most alternate history novels, a variety of famous figures are mentioned and raised as being part of the fabric of the alternative society. These include:Winston Churchill as a former Viceroy of India;Enoch Powell as an airship major; in some editions the character is named "Howell".Mick Jagger is a well-mannered junior army officerVladimir Lenin (using his real name Vladimir Ulyanov) as an aged revolutionary, the Russian Revolution having never happened;Leon Trotsky is mentioned by Lenin as having abandoned his revolutionary ambitions and become a "respectable" businessman;A Californian boy scout troop leader named Reagan (who claims to have powerful connections, partly through being a member of the Rough Riders) appears; this would seem to be a reference to then-California Governor Ronald Reagan. In early editions the character is named "Egan" Prominent spokesperson of the left-wing German student movement, Rudi Dutschke, appears as the Prussian nobleman-turned anarchist Count Rudolf von Dutschke. He is close friends with his mentor figure Lenin, whom he fondly relates to as "Uncle Vladimir".Joseph Conrad as the airship captain Joseph Korzeniowski (which was his real name). Cultural allusionsOne of the first ships Bastable flies on is called the Loch Ness. He makes a joke that it is a monster, although the term Loch Ness Monster was not coined until 1930s. The British Empire and airshipsThe assumption that survival of the British Empire as a political entity would entail survival of the airship as the main or only way of travelling by air was taken up by various other alternate British Empires fiction narratives (otherwise considerably different from each other) after Moorcock's 1971 Warlord of the Air, most notably At the Narrow Passage (1973) by Richard C. Meredith, Great Work of Time (1989) by John Crowley, The Two Georges (1995) by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss, The Peshawar Lancers (2002) by S. M. Stirling, and Leviathan (2009) by Scott Westerfeld.

Price: 6.99 USD

Location: Grass Valley, California

End Time: 2025-01-26T00:50:13.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4.99 USD

Product Images

Warlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VGWarlord of the Air (Oswald Bastable #1) M. Moorcock 1974 Quartet UK Paperback VG

Item Specifics

Restocking Fee: No

Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer

All returns accepted: Returns Accepted

Item must be returned within: 30 Days

Refund will be given as: Money Back

Book Title: The Warlord of the Air

Book Series: Oswald Bastable

Narrative Type: Fiction

Publisher: Quartet Books

Original Language: English

Intended Audience: Young Adults, Adults

Vintage: Yes

Publication Year: 1974

Type: Paperback

Format: Paperback

Language: English

Era: 1970s

Illustrator: Patrick Woodroffe

Author: Michael Moorcock, Moorcock, Michael

Features: Polybagged

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Military, Science Fiction

Topic: Books

Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom

Recommended

Battle Rhino Foil Warlord Saga of the Storm SOTS Steed CCG - Lightly Played
Battle Rhino Foil Warlord Saga of the Storm SOTS Steed CCG - Lightly Played

$5.99

View Details
Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom #1 (Dynamite Entertainment 2012)
Warlord of Mars: Fall of Barsoom #1 (Dynamite Entertainment 2012)

$9.00

View Details
Warlord of Mars, Nelson, Arvid
Warlord of Mars, Nelson, Arvid

$9.69

View Details
Yugioh - Sillva, Warlord Of Dark World Ultimate Rare Unlimited Ed. EEN-EN023 HP
Yugioh - Sillva, Warlord Of Dark World Ultimate Rare Unlimited Ed. EEN-EN023 HP

$19.99

View Details
JOHN CARTER WARLORD OF MARS 1 C DYNAMITE VARIANT COMIC JONES MARZ 2014 NM
JOHN CARTER WARLORD OF MARS 1 C DYNAMITE VARIANT COMIC JONES MARZ 2014 NM

$10.00

View Details
Sillva, Warlord of Dark World 1st Edition Platinum Secret Rare RA03-EN158
Sillva, Warlord of Dark World 1st Edition Platinum Secret Rare RA03-EN158

$1.75

View Details
Warlord Games Hail Caesar The Roman Invasion Of Britain NIB
Warlord Games Hail Caesar The Roman Invasion Of Britain NIB

$94.00

View Details
WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS 9 C DYNAMITE VARIANT COMIC GARZA NELSON 2012 VF/NM
WARLORD OF MARS DEJAH THORIS 9 C DYNAMITE VARIANT COMIC GARZA NELSON 2012 VF/NM

$5.00

View Details
Warlord of Mars Dejah Thoris #28 VF CONDITION Wagner Reis RARE Cover D 2011
Warlord of Mars Dejah Thoris #28 VF CONDITION Wagner Reis RARE Cover D 2011

$34.95

View Details
WARLORD OF MARS 11 A NM COMICS BOOKS FABIANO COVER
WARLORD OF MARS 11 A NM COMICS BOOKS FABIANO COVER

$4.00

View Details