THE SKY LORDS

British import from 1988: slowly disintegrating giant airships battle for supremacy above an Earth blighted and overrun by genetic engineering run riot. The tiny feminist utopia of Minerva, sorely beset by monsters and infections from the surrounding blight, must pay tribute to the threatening mile-long airship Lord Pangloth. But the Minervans, near starving and desperate, resolve instead to attack the airship rather than submit. Afterwards, Minerva lies in ruins, and warrior Jan is winched aboard the airship and into slavery. There, she is propositioned by Milo, an unlikable but intriguing character who dominates his fellow-slaves. Soon, Lord Pangloth is attacked by a rival airship and swiftly defeated. The Japanese warlord of the newcomer turns out to be an acquaintance of Milo'sboth, as it turns out, are immortal and possess various enhanced metabolic functions. From the airship's computers Milo learns of the existence of a brand new airship, and forces Jan to help him escape with the information. Finally, treacherous Milo dies in a grotesque comeuppance, Jan discovers a holographic, computerized companion, and seizes the new airship for herself. Inconsistent in places and without any great depth of moment, but well told and with enough ideas, plot, and pace to hold the interest of indulgent readers.