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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
 Posted - 29 May 2011 : 08:38:14
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I don't think Ioulaum's Enclave is the very first floating city ever created in Fantasy. But as of the moment, it's the oldest [in terms of the time it first appeared in print] that I can recall... Others are...
The Sky Realm, from Moesta and Anderson's The Sky Realm: Book Three of The Crystal Doors Trilogy. It used to be a land-based city. Pollution and plague destroyed its neighbors. To save it from such cruel fate, a gigantic genie with considerable magical power scooped it with his bare hands and lifted to the sky. It's flight is now maintained by its wizards.
Arianus, from Weis and Hickman's The Death Gate Cycle. I'm still reading Dragon Wing [and enjoying it] so I can't yet shed some light on this [potentially] well-realized realm.
The city of Sky, from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin. It's the new home [or prison] of the once powerful gods who lost an ancient war and became slaves.
Edolas, from the animated series Fairy Tail. It's an alternate world almost devoid of magic; home to a selfish king who abducts wizards from other worlds to steal their magical powers. Its strange architecture and rivers that float and run across the kingdom, defying logic, are reminiscent of Netheril.
The Snow City, from the animated series Yu Yu Hakusho (Ghostfighter/ Ghost Files). It is the birthplace of Hei (Vincent). As the name connotes, it always snows there; and its people have grown impervious to the cold.
And of course, the flying mountain slabs of the Na'vi in the blockbuster film Avatar.
All these were published and shown long after the empire of Netheril was seen in print... But I know I must have missed a lot... Do you know of any other floating cities/realms? Which of them was published first?
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Every beginning has an end. |
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Marc
Senior Scribe
662 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 10:31:34
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In Faerun the cities of cloud giants are older than Ioulaum's enclave, or the Aeree cities. Maybe the flying islands of Alphatia in Mystara.
Laputa from Swift is the oldest, or if you count mythology, city of Daityas from India, or a place where Anu lived in Sumerian myths.
In other fantasy, flying cities of the reptilian K'Chain Che'Malle from the Malaz world are millions of years old.
In SF, Reynold's Revelations Space, on one planet there are airship cities above the oceans. who knows how old. Because an alien species that lives in the sea dissolves those who enter into information. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 10:38:51
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| The Death Star? |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 14:44:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Arianus, from Weis and Hickman's The Death Gate Cycle. I'm still reading Dragon Wing [and enjoying it] so I can't yet shed some light on this [potentially] well-realized realm.
Wait until you meet Zifnab in Elven Star! 
Love that character, and love the series! Weis and Hickman are on that very small list of authors that can sell me a book just by writing it, and I was reading these books as they came out. 
As for other flying cities/nations... There's Alphatia, in the Known World, which is a flying continent. I think the Known World also has a flying city.
Shory, on Golarion, was a nation of flying cities, though not in the same sense as Netheril. One of those flying cities was brought down by the Tarrasque.
From sci-fi, there was also a flying building hosting a long-lasting (generations!) party, described in Life, the Universe and Everything. It was one hell of a party, and it was one hell of a thing to get hit with in the small of the back, which is how Arthur encountered it. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 29 May 2011 14:45:15 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 15:10:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Arianus, from Weis and Hickman's The Death Gate Cycle. I'm still reading Dragon Wing [and enjoying it] so I can't yet shed some light on this [potentially] well-realized realm.
Wait until you meet Zifnab in Elven Star!
No, no... it's Fizban, you silly space hamster. 
quote:
Love that character, and love the series! Weis and Hickman are on that very small list of authors that can sell me a book just by writing it, and I was reading these books as they came out.
Agreed. Either working together, or through their separate novel ventures, I'm always setting aside gold pieces for their works... even before I know what they're about. 
quote:
As for other flying cities/nations... There's Alphatia, in the Known World, which is a flying continent. I think the Known World also has a flying city.
There's a number of flying cities/platforms/curious-constructs in PLANESCAPE too... not to mention the Flying Citadels of DRAGONLANCE.
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"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 15:26:04
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Arianus, from Weis and Hickman's The Death Gate Cycle. I'm still reading Dragon Wing [and enjoying it] so I can't yet shed some light on this [potentially] well-realized realm.
Wait until you meet Zifnab in Elven Star!
No, no... it's Fizban, you silly space hamster.
quote:
Love that character, and love the series! Weis and Hickman are on that very small list of authors that can sell me a book just by writing it, and I was reading these books as they came out.
Agreed. Either working together, or through their separate novel ventures, I'm always setting aside gold pieces for their works... even before I know what they're about.
quote:
As for other flying cities/nations... There's Alphatia, in the Known World, which is a flying continent. I think the Known World also has a flying city.
There's a number of flying cities/platforms/curious-constructs in PLANESCAPE too... not to mention the Flying Citadels of DRAGONLANCE.
He couldn't use that name, remember? I love his mention of Tanis Half-Elven, though... Or when his dragon complains... 
Good call on the Flying Citadels, though -- my first intro to the concept of something that should be on the ground and is instead up wandering about.
Kinda-sorta similar to that is the castle that was once in the Moonshaes, and is now in the Tears of Selūne. Though, so far as I know, this castle or its disappearance was never mentioned in Realmslore, another of my issues with Realmspace from a purely FR perspective. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 15:45:16
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-Astroid M counts, right? That's 1964.
-Gulliver's Travels was published in the early 1700s, and that had a flying island city, Laputa.
-Going back further, in the Puranas, which date back to the 500s or earlier (and, before being written down were probably oral tales), there's the story of King Harishchandra, who was rewarded by the Vedic deities for his honesty by giving him a heavenly city for he, his family, and all his subjects. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 16:16:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-Astroid M counts, right? That's 1964.
That's right. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on X-Men #5. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 29 May 2011 16:16:42 |
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_Jarlaxle_
Senior Scribe
Germany
584 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 16:30:32
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| Flash Gordon had a Flying City too |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 17:05:42
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| Sigil? |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2011 : 21:44:56
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
That's right. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on X-Men #5.
-Wasn't sure if that'd count, since it's in space, and not a flying city, as in one still in the atmosphere, technically speaking. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 29 May 2011 21:45:15 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 02:08:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
Sigil?
I'd say it's a possibility. Granted, it floats about the Spire in the Outlands, in its own domain, but we really don't know anything more about how it sits there.
quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
That's right. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby on X-Men #5.
-Wasn't sure if that'd count, since it's in space, and not a flying city, as in one still in the atmosphere, technically speaking.
Well, Magneto did bring "it" [being the captured Graymalkin floating station {once owned by Cable} and pseudo-Asteroid M] into Earth's atmosphere and above New York for a time -- during the "Fatal Attractions" storyline -- where it threatened the planet with world-wide destruction. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 09:25:39
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Thanks for all the replies, fellow scribes. Glad to be part of a community of wide readers.
Wooly, Sage, I'm looking forward to meeting him.
Of course, the flying citadels of DL. How could I forget! I think that's my first encounter of such sort.
I rarely---as in very rarely---read Sci-Fi, so I didn't know those that were mentioned. And if ever I read of them or heard of them [most probably in high school, when my inclination to read the said genre was a bit stronger], I really can't tell. Either I found them not that interesting, or my mind for some reason that's too complex to fathom at the moment tossed them to its recycle bin.
Asteroid M. Is that the one featured in a few episodes of X-Men: Evolution, where Magneto, with aid of his Brotherhood and the brainwashed Havoc, abducted the X-Men to his so-called haven for mutants? My memory's a bit hazy... |
Every beginning has an end. |
Edited by - Dennis on 30 May 2011 09:27:24 |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 11:31:08
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Did anyone mention Jack and the Beanstalk?
It's has a floating Castle!
And a GIANT!
And a Golden Egg laying chicken!
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"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
Edited by - Brimstone on 30 May 2011 11:36:23 |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 11:47:40
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But of course! One shouldn't have forgotten the stories he read [or was read to him] as a child... |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 11:52:10
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| That is a D&D campaign right there! |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 15:39:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Asteroid M. Is that the one featured in a few episodes of X-Men: Evolution, where Magneto, with aid of his Brotherhood and the brainwashed Havoc, abducted the X-Men to his so-called haven for mutants? My memory's a bit hazy...
Pretty much. Magneto's had several "havens" for mutants -- not the least of which, is Asteroid M. The one I referenced above earlier, for example, was actually called Avalon. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3768 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2011 : 19:02:49
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| -All about Asteroid M that you'll ever need to know: http://marvel.wikia.com/Asteroid_M |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know) |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2011 : 04:03:36
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Skyholm, from the novel Orion Shall Rise by Poul Anderson, looks interesting enough. Though it'd be more so had it been magical, instead of an aerostat. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Snowblood
Senior Scribe
Australia
388 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2011 : 09:51:14
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You forget about Ray Feists City at the end of time in his Magician series...
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Aryvandaar, Ilythiir, Arnothoi, Orva, Sarphil, Anauria/Asram/Hlondath, Uvaeren, Braceldaur, Ilodhar, Lisenaar, Imaskar, Miyeritar, Orishaar, Shantel Othrieir, Keltormir, Eaerlann, Ammarindar, Siluvanede, Sharrven, Illefarn, Ardeep, Rystal Wood, Evereska are all available here for download:http://phasai.deviantart.com/gallery/
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2011 : 10:18:10
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Geez, here I am calling myself a Feist fan, but missing the obvious, an interesting place that appeared in many of his novels---the City Forever. Thanks, Snowblood! Actually, the City exists beyond the constraints of time and space. That's why Macros and Pug were able to break the time trap in A Darkness at Sethanon, moving through time backwards, to the very moment of Creation. I wonder if the last book of the Riftwar Cycle will finally reveal who created it and who used to live there. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2011 : 10:50:23
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| The City Forever wasn't really a flying city, though... It existed somewhere in space, and didn't seem to go anywhere. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Snowblood
Senior Scribe
Australia
388 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2011 : 15:14:45
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| It 'flew' through time and was situated on no common land mass...it just was......... |
Aryvandaar, Ilythiir, Arnothoi, Orva, Sarphil, Anauria/Asram/Hlondath, Uvaeren, Braceldaur, Ilodhar, Lisenaar, Imaskar, Miyeritar, Orishaar, Shantel Othrieir, Keltormir, Eaerlann, Ammarindar, Siluvanede, Sharrven, Illefarn, Ardeep, Rystal Wood, Evereska are all available here for download:http://phasai.deviantart.com/gallery/
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36998 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2011 : 17:43:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Snowblood
It 'flew' through time and was situated on no common land mass...it just was.........
I wouldn't call existing in space and passing thru time flying. Flying implies moving freely over the land and seas, not being in space untethered to anything. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe
USA
804 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2011 : 03:30:32
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Ah, yes, the City At the End of Time aka City Forever aka Eternal City, from Michael Moorcock's novels of thirty years prior to Ray Feist's first book . . . and it wasn't a new concept even then . . .
BB |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2011 : 07:05:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Snowblood
It 'flew' through time and was situated on no common land mass...it just was.........
I wouldn't call existing in space and passing thru time flying. Flying implies moving freely over the land and seas, not being in space untethered to anything.
It depends really on how we define flying given a particular context. If the City Forever is tied to a certain space in a certain time, then its lack of motion would make it a non-flying mass of something. But it moves without direction, and the movement itself, given that there's no land nor sky to base the concept of flying on, can simply be labelled as flying.
-------
Has anyone read the Cities in Flight series by James Blish? I'm quite intrigued by the development of the anti-gravity, known as spindizzy. I might give it a try. Anyone care to share his/her recommendation, or perhaps words of discouragement? |
Every beginning has an end. |
Edited by - Dennis on 03 Jun 2011 03:56:33 |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8066 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2011 : 13:35:22
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| Wikipedia has an article about flying cities which lists these and a number of other fictional examples. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2011 : 16:58:19
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It's all Science Fiction, no Fantasy. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8066 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2011 : 19:17:02
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| Well, y'know, they say any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic ... it's all the same stuff, when you step back from the genres, talismonger and treknobabble alike. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jun 2011 : 08:08:55
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Of all the flying cities/nations/empires, which do you think has the coolest or the most interesting reason for their flight? Arianus's lands emit a kind of gas that is lighter than air. It would have been interesting if there was something (or someone) that "guided" each land/realm's flight ---and my vote would have gone to it. Instead, I pick Netheril. To cleave an entire mountain, then power it with magic-infused crystals so it could fly is sheer ingenuity. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8066 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jun 2011 : 12:24:23
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| I thought Netheril described the first arcanist levitating a mountaintop to make his mythallar-powered enclave. I cannot recall his name, but it was obviously be the first flying city. |
[/Ayrik] |
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The First Flying City
