What do you think?
Rate this book
Cities in Flight Vol. 2
Spanning the far-distant future and the infinite reaches of space, Cities in Flight brings together the famed "Okie" novels - named after the migrant workers of America's Dust Bowl - of science fiction master James Blish. Featuring flying cities roaming the galaxy looking for work and a sustainable way of life, the four volumes in Cities in Flight take us from the death of our universe to the birth of the next." "Blish's classic is built on two crucial discoveries: antigravity devices - "spindizzies" - which allow whole cities to be lifted from Earth to become giant spaceships, and longevity drugs, which enable the cities' inhabitants to live for thousands of years.
- GenresScience Fiction
393 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1991
About the author
James Blish
457 books331 followersJames Benjamin Blish was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
In the late 1930's to the early 1940's, Blish was a member of the Futurians.
Blish trained as a biologist at Rutgers and Columbia University, and spent 1942–1944 as a medical technician in the U.S. Army. After the war he became the science editor for the Pfizer pharmaceutical company. His first published story appeared in 1940, and his writing career progressed until he gave up his job to become a professional writer.
He is credited with coining the term gas giant, in the story "Solar Plexus" as it appeared in the anthology Beyond Human Ken, edited by Judith Merril. (The story was originally published in 1941, but that version did not contain the term; Blish apparently added it in a rewrite done for the anthology, which was first published in 1952.)
Blish was married to the literary agent Virginia Kidd from 1947 to 1963.
From 1962 to 1968, he worked for the Tobacco Institute.
Between 1967 and his death from lung cancer in 1975, Blish became the first author to write short story collections based upon the classic TV series Star Trek. In total, Blish wrote 11 volumes of short stories adapted from episodes of the 1960s TV series, as well as an original novel, Spock Must Die! in 1970 — the first original novel for adult readers based upon the series (since then hundreds more have been published). He died midway through writing Star Trek 12; his wife, J.A. Lawrence, completed the book, and later completed the adaptations in the volume Mudd's Angels.
Blish lived in Milford, Pennsylvania at Arrowhead until the mid-1960s. In 1968, Blish emigrated to England, and lived in Oxford until his death in 1975. He is buried in Holywell Cemetery, Oxford, near the grave of Kenneth Grahame.
His name in Greek is Τζέημς Μπλις"
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 8, 2019
Book 3 takes a much darker tone, and you're in for a surprise if you read this right after the first volume. Book 4 is just crazy.
November 12, 2018
A clasic by one of the Old Masters. Written when any concept was accepted, this is a bit far fetched, but just a bit. Not as entertaining as Volume 1.
July 16, 2020
First of all I must say that I read this without having read the stories that preceded these ones, so maybe my appreciation would be different if I had. However, I didn't feel like I was missing crucial information about the characters or the universe that these stories unfold in.
This book was published in 1991, based on several works originally published in the 1950s. I have no idea how much (if any) re-writing was done for the 1991 edition, but there are certainly some rather sexist views expressed that seem like they would be more at home in the 1950s.
The benefit of a book based on several separate shorter stories is that in the span of just under 400 pages you get, in essence, 5 different adventures happening to the same central cast of characters.
There were things to like here and there were things to not like. The two significant ideas that underpin the stories are both fun and interesting to consider. How logically sound they are is rather more iffy. Anti-gravity tech allows New York city to launch itself into space along with most of Earth's other major cities. This sets up a social structure that apparently is carried over from the earlier stories in this series. Blish seems to base the society of the flying cities on the way hobos in the United States used to travel somewhat randomly and seek out odd jobs to eek out a living.
The other major technical device is anti-aging drugs which effectively pause the aging process as long as the drugs are available. This makes it possible for the people to live indefinitely as long as they can avoid any sort of accidental or combat death. I found both of those concepts interesting.
The author has rather ambitious scope and we follow the protagonist across multiple galaxies over a span of thousands of years. He definitely went for epic scale. I thought he was only partly successful in carrying it off. I did find the main character interesting, super-man abilities balanced out with personality flaws that bring him down to a relatable level.
As for what I did not like, the techno-babble could get to be a bit much at times. I was definitely having that thought during the first 50 pages or so, but it did let up for a while before he dove into some physics stuff near the end. I do not know enough about physics to judge how firm a foundation his jargon is based on, but he certainly laid it on pretty thick. I was bothered quite a bit by what seemed like some glaring gaps in logic in the story-telling. I don't want to spoil any plot points but I will say that at one point the city has a "windfall" of a very significant piece of technology that would give anyone in possession a huge advantage in all sorts of situations. They use it once to solve one problem and then it never comes up again! The whole episode is done in just a few pages, when this really should have been a game-changer!
I did get some enjoyment out of reading this but it certainly had its share of flaws and logical errors. If you can avoid that bothering you too much, it can be entertaining.
This book was published in 1991, based on several works originally published in the 1950s. I have no idea how much (if any) re-writing was done for the 1991 edition, but there are certainly some rather sexist views expressed that seem like they would be more at home in the 1950s.
The benefit of a book based on several separate shorter stories is that in the span of just under 400 pages you get, in essence, 5 different adventures happening to the same central cast of characters.
There were things to like here and there were things to not like. The two significant ideas that underpin the stories are both fun and interesting to consider. How logically sound they are is rather more iffy. Anti-gravity tech allows New York city to launch itself into space along with most of Earth's other major cities. This sets up a social structure that apparently is carried over from the earlier stories in this series. Blish seems to base the society of the flying cities on the way hobos in the United States used to travel somewhat randomly and seek out odd jobs to eek out a living.
The other major technical device is anti-aging drugs which effectively pause the aging process as long as the drugs are available. This makes it possible for the people to live indefinitely as long as they can avoid any sort of accidental or combat death. I found both of those concepts interesting.
The author has rather ambitious scope and we follow the protagonist across multiple galaxies over a span of thousands of years. He definitely went for epic scale. I thought he was only partly successful in carrying it off. I did find the main character interesting, super-man abilities balanced out with personality flaws that bring him down to a relatable level.
As for what I did not like, the techno-babble could get to be a bit much at times. I was definitely having that thought during the first 50 pages or so, but it did let up for a while before he dove into some physics stuff near the end. I do not know enough about physics to judge how firm a foundation his jargon is based on, but he certainly laid it on pretty thick. I was bothered quite a bit by what seemed like some glaring gaps in logic in the story-telling. I don't want to spoil any plot points but I will say that at one point the city has a "windfall" of a very significant piece of technology that would give anyone in possession a huge advantage in all sorts of situations. They use it once to solve one problem and then it never comes up again! The whole episode is done in just a few pages, when this really should have been a game-changer!
I did get some enjoyment out of reading this but it certainly had its share of flaws and logical errors. If you can avoid that bothering you too much, it can be entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews