The world of A Philosophy of Air

For those new to my blog, my name’s Marc and I’m writing a fantasy novel called A Philosophy of Air.

A Philosophy of Air is “naturalistic fantasy,” in which a fantastic premise crashes against an otherwise realistic world. Without magic, fantastical creatures, or mysteriously predestined heroes, this tale transports you to a land of island nations and poison seas, where airships rule the skies.

Picture Master and Commander or Pirates of the Caribbean suspended a thousand feet above a sea of poison clouds, and you’ll begin to understand our setting.

Starting today, I’ll be posting a regular series of short blogposts…and sometimes videos…exploring the richly-built world where this story takes place, a world full of rival nations, politics, languages, religions, science, superstition, and discovery.

The premise: not-your-father’s Airships!

In the Archipelago, islands emerge above an acidic cloud layer called the sursus. The people of the Archipelago have developed airships to travel between islands, to explore, to trade, and to wage war, and it’s aboard these airships that our story mostly takes place. Imagine flying vessels patterned after ships from our very own Age of Sail.

Our hero, Nathum “Nym” Larrow, gets thrust into the heat of war, into the explosive politics and conflict raging between rival island-states. Alongside Nym, we’ll learn all about airships and about his world.

Blogging the world

In support of this story, I’ve invested an enormous amount of time and effort into research and world building, and I thought it’d be fun to share this crazy, elaborate world with you. So that’s what this blog series is about: over the coming weeks and months, I’m going to dig into the world of the Archipelago, explaining how airships fly and how they sail. I’ll tell you about the people who sail them and the places they go. I’ll write about the Archipelago’s science and religion, language, food, customs, superstitions, and so much more.

I’ll close this introduction by noting that A Philosophy of Air is a work in progress. Anything and everything may change. In fact, I hope it will. I’m inviting your feedback, looking for ways to deepen and diversify the world. Tell me what you think in the comments. Tell me what works for you and what doesn’t. Help me make it better!

Setting sail

I’m really excited about A Philosophy of Air and the world of the Archipelago. I hope you’ll be inspired to follow along and help me expand on it.

Thanks for joining me on this incredible adventure!

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I write about writing, about my home city of San Francisco. about being a tour guide, and other things which interest me. Please consider subscribing to my blog. You can also follow me on Substack.