- Paperback: 592 pages
- Publisher: Harper Voyager (3 Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007232187
- ISBN-13: 978-0007232185
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 156,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
‘An inventive, ambitious work, full of wonders and marvels’ Lisa Tuttle, The Times
‘The characters are convincing and colourful, but the real achievement is the setting, a hellish take on Victorian London … the depth and complexity of Hunt’s vision makes it compulsive reading for all ages’ Guardian
‘Wonderfully assured … Hunt knows what his audience like and gives it to them with a sardonic wit and carefully developed tension’ Time Out
‘Studded with invention’ Independent
‘Rich and colourful … keeps you engrossed … a confident, audacious novel’ SFX
‘Like a magpie, Stephen Hunt has plucked colourful events from history and politics and used them for inspiration … Hunts tells his full-blooded tale with lip-smacking relish, revealing a vivid, often gruesome imagination … T’he Court of the Air’ brims with originality and, from the first, its chase-filled plot never lets up’ Starburst
‘The best book of 2007 … Think Joan Aiken for grown-ups, with echoes of Susanna Clarke … hugely enjoyable’ Historical Novels Review
Book Description
A fantastical tale of high adventure, low-life rogues and orphans on the run.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Trust your whims. I picked this up on a whim and was mightily pleased.
Set on a near earth in a steam-driven, difference engine-run victorian-ish empire, Court of the Air follows the trials, tribulations and finally exultations of two orphans, Molly and Oliver. They experience great heroism and great evil,see the exploits of man, crab-man, mole-man and steam-man, travel from one end of the empire to the other and finally realise their true potential.
Okay, so far, so familiar, and perhaps that is part of it's appeal. The wheel has not been reinvented, but the finish is nice and there's something very chunky about it. For a steampunk fantasy, this has it all, shatring a kinship with the work of Mieville and Reeve but not being as dark as former or teen orientated as the latter. There is brutality; there is levity; there is some pretty amusing wit and oodles of retro tech and high magic.
The pace is cracking for a book this size and though some of the characters transitions feel a little too abrupt there is some good development going on here and the last battle is a doozy, even if the ending is taken out of the hands of mortals - but the clue was in the name of the machine, wasn't it?
Yes, it does borrow heavily from Wells, Verne, Tolkien and Burroughs, but it's good fun and lovingly crafted. China Mieville may have beaten him to the punch, but it is a rare occurence that sees me refusing to do anything else (eat, sleep, other functions) until I have completed a book. Good fun, what what?
Set on a near earth in a steam-driven, difference engine-run victorian-ish empire, Court of the Air follows the trials, tribulations and finally exultations of two orphans, Molly and Oliver. They experience great heroism and great evil,see the exploits of man, crab-man, mole-man and steam-man, travel from one end of the empire to the other and finally realise their true potential.
Okay, so far, so familiar, and perhaps that is part of it's appeal. The wheel has not been reinvented, but the finish is nice and there's something very chunky about it. For a steampunk fantasy, this has it all, shatring a kinship with the work of Mieville and Reeve but not being as dark as former or teen orientated as the latter. There is brutality; there is levity; there is some pretty amusing wit and oodles of retro tech and high magic.
The pace is cracking for a book this size and though some of the characters transitions feel a little too abrupt there is some good development going on here and the last battle is a doozy, even if the ending is taken out of the hands of mortals - but the clue was in the name of the machine, wasn't it?
Yes, it does borrow heavily from Wells, Verne, Tolkien and Burroughs, but it's good fun and lovingly crafted. China Mieville may have beaten him to the punch, but it is a rare occurence that sees me refusing to do anything else (eat, sleep, other functions) until I have completed a book. Good fun, what what?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Court of the Air shines at description and clearly loves its characters, Molly and Oliver, the hero(ine) of the adventure. And an adventure it be, emotionally persuasive with a clever nod towards the trappings of steampunk by grounding the action in a Victorian level post-collapse civilisation.
While hurtling the crew of heroes around what must rank as the most original science fiction world since Dune, its author manages to tease out a lot more from the plot than mere page-flipping high adventure. The Court of the Air starts as a mass-market adventure, but by the time you are halfway through, you realise he is subverting every convention there is an admirable theatre of satire.
There is a church that doesn't believe in god, a parliament that settles disputes with stave fights, sly nods towards Dickens and a dozen other authors' works that will pass over the heads of most of the fans who read this novel, which, much like an Asterix book, means you can read and re-read this work and chuckle at something new every time.
The Court of the Air reads like the hybrid child of Frank Herbert, Joe Abercrombie and David Eddings. Those with wit will release that while it might be marketed as a fantasy novel, it is more a novel about fantasy and how we read it. For the rest, it will just be pure intrigue paced at an Indiana Jones sprint.
While hurtling the crew of heroes around what must rank as the most original science fiction world since Dune, its author manages to tease out a lot more from the plot than mere page-flipping high adventure. The Court of the Air starts as a mass-market adventure, but by the time you are halfway through, you realise he is subverting every convention there is an admirable theatre of satire.
There is a church that doesn't believe in god, a parliament that settles disputes with stave fights, sly nods towards Dickens and a dozen other authors' works that will pass over the heads of most of the fans who read this novel, which, much like an Asterix book, means you can read and re-read this work and chuckle at something new every time.
The Court of the Air reads like the hybrid child of Frank Herbert, Joe Abercrombie and David Eddings. Those with wit will release that while it might be marketed as a fantasy novel, it is more a novel about fantasy and how we read it. For the rest, it will just be pure intrigue paced at an Indiana Jones sprint.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
My brother, who is a big fan, introduced me to the world of the Jackelian universe. I now understand why people adore it. The Court of the Air is the first of this series of books written by Stephen Hunt, and while a little rough around the edges compared to his last few novels, this one has a raw mad energy that just sucked me along into its incredible, fantastical world.
Compared to the later stories, The Court of the Air is more of a traditional quest story but set in a non-traditional fantasy world. Molly and Oliver must try and work out why they are being lined up to be murdered by various assorted evil forces, and go on the run to save themselves. They flee through a Victorian level society in a far future Earth with depleted resources and various mutant and alien species cohabiting the planet with mankind and it's evolutionary offshoots.
It is brilliant in so many ways, utterly mind-blowing, but anchored within the strictures of page-turning adventure, both of the genre and completely subverting it.
I love the original art of this series' covers, and I see there is a revised style - more airbrushed and mass market - coming along for the new books. If it has to be, it has to be. But can I ask for the collectors like myself who still go for print over e-book... could you re-issue these old books with the new style art too? Or maybe do collector's editions with the old style cover art?
Either works to keep my bookshelf looking good!
Compared to the later stories, The Court of the Air is more of a traditional quest story but set in a non-traditional fantasy world. Molly and Oliver must try and work out why they are being lined up to be murdered by various assorted evil forces, and go on the run to save themselves. They flee through a Victorian level society in a far future Earth with depleted resources and various mutant and alien species cohabiting the planet with mankind and it's evolutionary offshoots.
It is brilliant in so many ways, utterly mind-blowing, but anchored within the strictures of page-turning adventure, both of the genre and completely subverting it.
I love the original art of this series' covers, and I see there is a revised style - more airbrushed and mass market - coming along for the new books. If it has to be, it has to be. But can I ask for the collectors like myself who still go for print over e-book... could you re-issue these old books with the new style art too? Or maybe do collector's editions with the old style cover art?
Either works to keep my bookshelf looking good!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
tries hard and falls between all targets
Seems formulas and genres are the targets here, and the reader if adult finds it too superficial, or teen perhaps too graphic? Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Richards
Promising
Excellent writing style, inventive and with engaging characters. I was both thrilled and riveted throughout the first two thirds, however it seems Hunt ran out of steam; the plot... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Alice
Explosion of ideas
Im an avid fan of fantasy books and steam punk is a new avenue of exploration for me. The ideas behind this book are myriad and fantastic but they explode in all directions. Read more
Published 8 months ago by E. Martin
A phenomenal opener
For a first novel, The Court of the Air is a truly arresting work. It takes all the usual genre clichés of young ingénues in trouble on a quest to save the land, and... Read more
Published 12 months ago by P. Burks
An impressive piece of fantasy writing
The Court of the Air is a little slow to start, but once you get into it, my god, does it engage. The front cover of the novel grabbed my attention, and I have been taking this... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ernest Hardesty
Loaded with action
If you're a fan of escapism and books that fully transport you into another world, then The Court of the Air cannot be beaten. Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. Clay
Riveting fantasy
Where to start with The Court of the Air? Perhaps by saying that I stayed up most of the night reading this fantasy novel straight through. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Laura Peach
Whirlwind Hunt
I've just tried my first Stephen Hunt novel and I can tell you now, it's going to be the first of many, as I see there is an entire series stretched out in front of me. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Paula Dooley
An Unpalatable Mess of Steampunky Ideas
I'm no stranger to long books, fantasy, or science fiction, but this huge mess of ideas grew increasingly tiresome for me the further I got into it. Read more
Published 14 months ago by A. Ross
Spellbinding Courtly epic
Just finished reading The Court of the Air and what can I say but... wow. I have never read such adroit handling of multiple point of view narrative in my life before. Read more
Published 15 months ago by R.B. Taylor
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