Cities In Flight - James Blish

Cities In Flight - James Blish > Reviews > Flying Cities - You're kidding right?

Fiction - Science Fiction - ISBN: 0099264404, 1585670081, 1585676020 more

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Flying Cities - You're kidding right?
A review by Sa1sysoo on Cities In Flight - James Blish
July 21st, 2007


Author's product rating:   Cities In Flight - James Blish - rated by Sa1sysoo

Would you listen to it again? Yes 
Story Outstanding 
Characters Outstanding 
Listenability Pretty compelling but not addictive 
How does it compare to audio works by the same author? Excellent 

Advantages: A very rewarding read
Disadvantages: .  .  . but a challenging one

Recommend to potential buyers: yes 

Full review
Cities in Flight is a ground breaking book in the Sci-Fi genre, and unlike anything I've read before.
That's a pretty big opening isn't it?
The version that I picked up was the Sci Fi Masterworks version, meaning that I was expecting a book that would take me away from the usual concepts that I'd read previously, but I still wasn't prepared for this.
Cities in Flight is made up of four books, all revolving the central theme of two discoveries that change mankind. Firstly, it's the discovery of anti-gravity, or 'spin-dizzies' which form a bubble around something allowing them to travel faster than light, but without effecting gravity. This results in the title, as whole cities, such as New York and Budapest take to space, leaving a stagnating Earth behind.
The second discovery is anti-agathics, drugs that make humans unsuceptible to the ageing process. Humans can still die, accidents do happen after all, but these drugs prevent 'old age' being a problem anymore, meaning that people live centuries.

What makes this book so interesting to read is that it's not a usual 'man flies into space and meets an alien' type of story. It has more layers than that. It looks at these revelations that man has made and it's impact upon the human race.
So, when man and it's most productive cities leave Earth, what happens to Earth? And what happens to the cities? Some settle on other planets and make them their own, with their own belief structures and politics. Others travel the stars, landing on the occupied planets to offer services, whereas yet others become pirates, preying on the weak.
Similar questions are raised by the antiagathics. When should a person start taking them? And as there is a limited supply, who should be given them? Who is to judge whether a person is 'worthy'? And if you live forever, can you fall in love? And what can interest you or challenge you when you already know everything... have seen everything? What will drive you?

I have to admit that I put off writing this review for a while, as I truly felt that I was unable to put into words the vastness of this book. The only word that I've managed to find to describe it is 'epic'. Admittedly it's quite a large book in itself, with over 600 pages, but it's the sheer magnitude of the subject matter that makes it difficult to put into words.

The characters themselves are initially difficult to get on with but gradually you do begin to feel for the characters, and begin to understand why they make decisions that would otherwise seem heartless. You begin to understand their boredom and frustration of a life that will never end. Four Centuries with the same people anyone?

The book does have some pretty hefty ideas, but with the way it's written ideas that usually pass me by, such as the beginning and the end of the universe, almost seem understandable.

Personally, I think that in itself is a comendation of it.

So, to conclude, I would recommend Cities in Flight, but I would warn you not to undertake it lightly. It's not an easy read, but it will be a rewarding one. 
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Cities In Flight (S.F. Masterworks) Cities In Flight (S.F. Masterworks)
One of the grandest, and certainly one of the best written, of wide-screen space operas, ... more
Blish's Cities in Flight takes us from the
collapse of American civilisation at  the moment
of its greatest scientific success to its final
transfiguration at a m...
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Cities in Flight - James Blish Cities in Flight - James Blish
James Blish's galaxy-spanning masterwork originally published in four volumes explores a ... more
future in which two crucial discoveries --
antigravity devices which enable whole cities to
be lifted from the Earth to become giant
spaceships and longevity drugs...
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