
Cities in Flight
by James Blish · first published 1970
4mentions
2recommended by
4HN commenters
2011–2025first – last mentioned
50% recommend50% neutral
Ever wonder what it would be like to live in cities that flew around in space, like small planets? This book takes you there.
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…heard of" lists are books within the past decade but there are just so many older ones. Asimov alone wrote many book outside of the robot and foundation series. One that only the older set may know is Cities in Flight by James Blish (technically a trilogy but primarily sold as the single combined novel).
on “Sci-fi books that you may never have heard of, but definitely should read” ↗…by Peter F Hamilton too - strong mix of scifi and an alternate fantasy world. Missing in my view would be: Greg Bear - Eon (as people have mentioned, but also: M John Harrison - Light James Blish - Cities in Flight Battlefield Earth (awesome book, hopeless film) Brave New World for my ultimate "classic"
on “The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit)” ↗…a hyperdrive up to this, making it the largest "ship" I know. (I use "I know" advisedly... I'm sure somebody somewhere has turned a multiverse into some sort of ship for some reason or other.) In the Cities in Flight series by James Blish, the planet "He" gets about quite well, though that is dwarfed in every measurement by the Ringworld.
on “Size Comparison - Science Fiction spaceships” ↗Was that the inspiration for James Blish's Cities in Flight series? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_in_Flight
on “Chicago has the most lead pipes in the nation” ↗