By: James Blish Publisher: Overlook TP Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Overlook TP Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 608 Publication Date: January 04, 2005 Release Date: October 26, 2004
Product Description: Long out of print, the science fiction masterpiece by Hugo Award winning writer James Blish
Originally published as four volumes nearly fifty 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. An armada of renegade cities attempts to destroy Earth, their ancient birthplace. In the final novel, The Triumph of Time, history repeats itself as the cities once again journey back in to space making a terrifying discovery which could destroy the entire Universe. A serious and haunting vision of our world and its limits, Cities in Flight marks the return to print of one of science fiction's masterpieces.
Amazon.com Review: Cities in Flight is an omnibus volume of four novels, originally published between 1955 and 1962, two of which are fix-ups of pieces that first appeared in various magazines in the early '50s. Despite having been conceived more than 50 years ago, and produced in episodic fashion, they stand head and shoulders above most SF available today.
In They Shall Have Stars, humankind's will to explore space is renewed with the advent of two discoveries: anti-gravity (the "spindizzy" machines) and the key to almost eternal life (anti-agathic drugs). By A Life for the Stars, centuries have passed and most of the major cities have built spindizzies into their bedrock and left earth, cruising the galaxy looking for work, much like the hobos of the Depression Era. Earthman, Come Home, told from the perspective of John Amalfi, the major of New York, was the first-written of the novels and--although not as tightly woven as the other segments--is still a masterly work. Blish gives the same weight and authority both to the sweeping cultural change wrought and suffered by the cities, and to the emotional growth of a man who is several hundred years old. We stay with Amalfi for the final episode, The Triumph of Time. New York is now planet-bound in the Greater Magellanic Cloud, but when Amalfi learns of the impending destruction of time itself, he is forced into space one more time, to take a last, desperate chance. The novel ends, literally, with a bang.
Despite the occasional, inevitable anachronism, such as vacuum tubes, Cities in Flight stands up remarkably well to modern reading. The novel's political and literary sophistication was unmatched in its time; there is very little to rival it even today. For most readers of a certain age, this was probably the first SF they encountered that was written from a mature standpoint and adult sensibility. The fact that Blish also manages to tell a fabulous, galaxy-spanning adventure tale makes this essential reading. --Luc Duplessis
It shows its age, but the grandeur is still there... It is something to think about.
Science fiction, by its very nature, blends science and fiction together to develop "what if" stories. What if humans possessed a faster-than-light propulsion system? What if aliens were intent on eradicating humans? What if we came into contact with God?
James Blish brings in two "what ifs": the "spindizzy" anti-gravitational device that allows entire cities the size of New York to depart from their home planet and roam the galaxy, and beyond,; and medical procedures and drugs that allow people to live, frankly, forever.
Cities in Flight is a collection of four novels originally published in the mid-twentieth century. Their age is obvious from certain references: "Hazleton had left his slide rule upon the table" (p. 380), and notes about vacuum tubes.
This really is the tale of New York over the span of 1000 years as it rips itself from Earth and finally plants itself on a new home. It's mayor, Amalfi, demonstrates the wisdom of a person who literally has been there, done that, as he deals with discovery and crisis.
Blish brings forth his interest in science as a guiding force on multiple occasions:
"Remember, Bliss, that scientific method is not a natural law. It doesn't exist in nature, but only in our heads; in short, it's a way of thinking about things - a way of sifting evidence" (p.9).
"I am convinced that we must be much slower, in the future, to ignore the fringe notion and the marginal theorist. One of the virtues of these crackpots - if that is what they are - is that they tend to cling to ideas which can be tested. That's worth hanging on to, in a world where scientific ideas have become so abstract that even their originators can't suggest ways to test them" (p. 94-95).
And I caught one mistake: "But it was good for learning things like 1 x 1 = 10..." (p. 506).
Although this collection of books (They Shall Have Stars, A Life For The Stars, Earthman Come Home, and The Triumph Of Time) began to get tedious toward the end, the first two books and a good portion of the third carried the day.
Renewing an old friendship I first ran across novels by James when I was in high school back in the 60's. I read all kinds of science fiction and watched whatever I could find on TV which included some pretty bad movies with pitiful special effects but I didn't care. I loved it all. After all those years, I saw the opportunity to reread something from a writer whose name I still remembered from those golden days. I'm not finished reading it yet, but it is a great read that doesn't seem dated even though we have become so much more "sophisticated" lately. If you want to read something by one of the original masters of science fiction, you won't be disappointed by this one!
You don't know what science fiction is until you've read Cities in Flight This really is a good buy at the Amazon price, considering you're getting 4 books in one. This is a good summer vacation reading book, it'll keep you dug in for a while.
Blish is very economical with words, somehow he missed the concept of being paid by the word, his normal paragraph would have taken any other author 6 pages to relate. You'll find yourself happily rereading sections just to understand everything that's happened, and be amazed at how simply the most earth shattering events can be told with little or no build up, and be left with little patience for other author than stretch things out. You'll find in Cities in Flight more astounding events, wonders of science, amazing concepts on each page than you'd get after reading a whole novel by current writers. You could pick most any page here, tear it out, and spin off a whole book around what just happen there.
What this is all about is the idea of a field device. You turn it on and anything within the field is a unit which can be moved, essentially by repelling gravity. Therefore, it becomes possible to move, easily, whole communities. If you want to go for the ride, you stay put, if not leave before we lift. Thus is born Cities in Flight. This is the story of those cites which are mobile units that move about the known universe picking up the resources they need as they go, much like the hobos of the the early 20th century. These are honest working cities, only looking to improve their economic well being by moving to where the work is, sort of a mobile work force. Thus we get to see the breath of the known universe, multiple cultures, many levels of technology and stunning natural wonders out the windows of this mobile city.
I'd recommend starting this one in the middle, with Earthman, Come home. It was written first and the others came later. Once you see the cities in action you'll be more interested to know the details laid out in the first two books as to how the technology came about.
I rate this a college level read.
Treat With Caution. I've got to admit to being a real fan of classic SF but find that, while some bears up very well with the passage of time, some fares much less well. This has dated very badly and while there a few excellent underlying notions it is impossible to ignore the clunky technology and out-moded social ideas that inform the work.
This is almost certainly a work of 'historical importance' within the SF field and it is that alone, I feel, which explains why it was placed so highly in the 'SF Masterworks' series(one of the things that nudged me into reading it) but I can't recommend it as a reading experience.
Whatever you do don't make this your first journey into 'Classic SF' try Dick(The Man in the High Castle), Bester(The Stars My Destination), Asimov(Foundation),Clarke(The City and the Stars)...
Cities in Flight Even though the science is out of date, it is still a great adventure. James Blish was a prolific sci fi writer, mostly for TV, but always in demand. This is why.
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