The Warlord of the Air

The Warlord of the Air
Cover of the first edition.
AuthorMichael Moorcock
Cover artistDavid Meltzer
LanguageEnglish
SeriesOswald Bastable
GenreScience fiction, alternate history, Steampunk
PublisherAce Books
Publication date
1971
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages187 pp
Followed byThe Land Leviathan 

The Warlord of the Air is a 1971 British alternate history novel written by Michael Moorcock. It concerns the adventures of Oswald Bastable, an Edwardian era soldier stationed in India, and his adventures in an alternate universe, in his own future, wherein the First World War never happened. It is the first part of Moorcock's A Nomad of the Time Streams trilogy and, in its use of speculative technology (such as airships) juxtaposed against an Edwardian setting, it is widely considered to be one of the first steampunk novels. The novel was first published by Ace Books as part of their Ace Science Fiction Specials series.