Airship

An airship is a buoyant aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. Unlike aerodynamic aircraft which stay aloft by moving an airfoil through the air in order to produce lift, airships stay aloft primarily by means of a cavity (usually quite large) filled with a gas of lesser density than the surrounding atmosphere.

Fiction

Airships were a popular theme in scientific romance (prototypical science fiction) and adventure fiction published in the late 19th century and the earliest years of the 20th century. The theme of aeronautical exploration was most famously explored in this period by Jules Verne (The Clipper of the Clouds) and H. G. Wells (The War in the Air).

Related Topics:
Scientific romance - Science fiction - Adventure - 20th century - Jules Verne - The Clipper of the Clouds - H. G. Wells

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After the invention of the airplane, airships were largely forgotten by mainstream fiction, and today appear mainly in historical fiction and alternate history (particularly the steampunk genre and the work of Michael Moorcock, most notably The Warlord of the Air). In his "Anome" trilogy (The Anome aka The Faceless Man, The Brave Free Men, and The Asutra), Jack Vance depicts a system of airships tethered to unmanned monorail dolleys which keep them on fixed courses.

Related Topics:
Historical fiction - Alternate history - Steampunk - Genre - Michael Moorcock - The Warlord of the Air - Jack Vance - Monorail

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In Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), which takes place in a parallel universe, airships are the only method of air travel. Airships' strengths and weaknesses are well portrayed in these novels: their great lifting capacity makes them valuable for transporting supplies and soldiers, but they are easily destroyed.

Related Topics:
Philip Pullman - His Dark Materials - The Golden Compass - The Subtle Knife - The Amber Spyglass - Parallel universe

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In Theodore Judson's post-apocalyptic Fitzpatrick's War, the neo-feudal Yukon Confederacy makes heavy use of airships as military and civilian transports.

Related Topics:
Theodore Judson - Fitzpatrick's War - Feudal

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Kim Stanley Robinson in his Mars Trilogy envisages rigid airships being used as a major form of transport for the emerging settlements of Mars.

Related Topics:
Kim Stanley Robinson - Mars Trilogy

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Kenneth Oppel's novel Airborn, a young adult adventure set in an alternate history in which airship travel is common, won the 2004 Governor General's Award for children's literature.

Related Topics:
Kenneth Oppel - Airborn - Governor General's Award

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In Philip Reeve's Hungry City Chronicles , which takes place in the distant future, airships are the primary form of travel because of the mobile nature of cities in the books. In the series, it is mentioned that airship technology had advanced beyond the imaginations of the "Ancients". Airships include freighters, sky yachts, fighter airships and immense air destroyers.

Related Topics:
Philip Reeve - Hungry City Chronicles

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In Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series the airship is a significant and popular form of transport.

Related Topics:
Jasper Fforde - Thursday Next

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David Brin's 1990 Hugo nominated near-future, post global-warming science fiction novel, "Earth" (set in 2038), portrays a future where there is regular use of airships for passenger transportation.

Related Topics:
David Brin - 1990 - Hugo - Nominated - Global-warming - Earth - 2038

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China Miéville's Bas Lag novels (Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Iron Council) feature airships ("dirigibles") as a common mode of transport; they are used as taxis and military scouts. The Scar featured two large war airships controlled by the pirate city of Armada: The Arrogance (a captured New Crobuzon airship used as a crow's nest) and the Trident.

Related Topics:
China Miéville - Perdido Street Station - The Scar - Iron Council - Taxis - Crow's nest

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More than a few video games, such as Crimson Skies, Skies of Arcadia and the Final Fantasy series, utilize airships in their fictional worlds as a major mode of transportation. (In some cases (most notably in the Final Fantasy series), the "airship" is actually a ship with wings, propellers, etc..) Also, in , the Soviets' most lethal conventional weapons are their extremely tough but slow Kirov Airships, which drop incredibly powerful bombs.

Related Topics:
Video game - Crimson Skies - Skies of Arcadia - Final Fantasy - Airships - Ship - Wing - Propeller

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