What British novelist and fighter pilot inspired Bali Rai?
Bali Rai Bali Rai was born in Leicester in 1971 and grew up in a multicultural, multi-racial community close to the city centre. As a child he dreamt about three things—playing football for Liverpool F.C., being Bob Marley and becoming a writer. At the age of eleven he read the book that would inspire him to write. It was "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole" by Sue Townsend. Other authors had inspired him to write for fun (Roald Dahl in particular) but it was Sue Townsend who became his true role model.
Warlord of the Air The Warlord of the Air is a 1971 British alternate history science fiction 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.