First published in 1971 and possibly one of the forerunners to Steampunk literature, The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock has recently been resurrected by Titan Books. Over the years, the book has been evaluated for its views on the social implications of imperial rule and the impact of technological limitations they may cause. But here, we look at this first installment in the classic Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy as a test of the readers believability in what could have been.
While on a British military expedition in North-East India, Captain Oswald Bastable survives an earthquake like event only to find himself transported forward in time from 1902 to an alternate future of 1973. Upon returning to London, this new Utopian world welcomes Bastable,who must claim amnesia to protect the identity of his past and fit into this new society. Still loyal to the crown, he enlists (or re-enlists) with the British military and becomes a member of a vast fleet of airships. But he soon realizes that the serenity of the city may not be as it seems. When he is captured by a band of anarchists, Bastable becomes outraged by the injustice he sees from the other side of the fence. Honor over loyalty, he turns coat and decides to fight for the revolution against the intolerance of the colonial empire.
From the mystical events in North-East India that conveys Bastable to another time to the social stagnation of humanity, what stands out most is the lack of technical advancements. The weaponry evolves very little between the two time periods, well, except when an atomic bomb is dropped from an airship. Sure the armada of airships is compelling, but even from a Steampunk perspective, it’s as if industrialization took a holiday. This is a definitive nod against imperial empowerment from Moorcock.
The believability of the story is in question from the start, but this seems to be an intentional ploy by the author. The book is reminiscent of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine in that the narrator is retelling the adventure as a fantastic back-story. This practice is not uncommon in stories of the fantastic, but this time around it is being transcribed by the fictional grandfather of the author Moorcock, an overworked business man on vacation. By attaching a fictional family member to the account, the reader is prodded to believe the story because the author does. After all, would you continue reading a story after an author questions its believability?
The disoriented character Oswald Bastable first appears when a small freighter making a delivery to an isolated island in the Indian Ocean comes into port. Seeing the man kicked off as a stow-away and addicted to opium, the narrator takes him into confidence as a project of curiosity. The speed of their relationship may seem odd, but in essence, it’s as if the narrator is also saying, “come on, if I can trust this stranger, so should you.” Bastable’s opium use does nothing for the story’s credibility either. The self destruction of somebody living such an unbelievable past might sound logical, but it also raises the reliability flag and again urges the reader to accept the story as either a fact or a delusion. Either perspective helps the author because the reader is coerced into some kind of acceptance of the story.
Sure it’s interesting when considering some of the social indifferences The Warlord of the Air addresses as well as the influences the book might have had on Steampunk literature. But Michael Moorcock also opened the door for future fans of the genre by convincing them the story is worthy of believability. Once the reader is hooked, the rest becomes the thrill of the ride. The books The Land Leviathan and The Steel Tsar by Moorcock complete the Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy and promise even more extraordinary stories. Titan Books’ re-release of these novels not only opens the door for more new fans of Steampunk, but it also opens a small window into the genres history.
