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This sounds like John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)

It has the living airships:

“That’s our way off this cliff,” he said. “His name is—” he pursed his lips and whis­tled three clear notes with a war­ble at the end, “—but I see that’s awk­ward to use mixed with Eng­lish. I call him Whistlestop.”

“You call him ‘Whistlestop,’” Cirocco re­peated, numbly.

“That’s right. He’s a blimp.”

“A blimp.”

He looked at her oddly and she grit­ted her teeth. “He looks more like a di­ri­gi­ble, but he’s not, be­cause he doesn’t have a rigid skele­ton. I’ll call him and you can see for your­self.” He put two fin­gers to his lips and whis­tled a long, com­plex tune with odd mu­si­cal in­ter­vals.

And the centaurs:

The Ti­tanide found them while they were tak­ing down the tent prior to mov­ing Bill. It stood on the top of the bluff where Cirocco had been the day be­fore. Cirocco waited for it to make the first move, but it seemed to have the same idea.

The most ob­vi­ous word for the thing was cen­taur. It had a lower part shaped like a horse, and an upper half so human it was fright­en­ing. Cirocco was not quite sure she be­lieved in it.

It was not as Dis­ney had en­vi­sioned cen­taurs, nor did it have much to do with the clas­si­cal Greek model. It had a lot of hair, yet its dom­i­nant fea­ture was pale naked skin. There were great multi-col­ored cas­cades of hair on the head and tail, on the lower parts of all four legs, and on the crea­ture’s fore­arms. Odd­est of all, there was hair be­tween the two front legs, in the place where a de­cent horse—which Cirocco’s mind kept try­ing to see—had noth­ing but smooth hide. It car­ried a shep­herd’s crook, and but for a few small or­na­ments, wore no cloth­ing.

The first book, Titan, is a fairly straightforward adventure story. The second book, Wizard is more of a "quest" type of story. The last book, Demon is a revolution/war story with a little social commentary thrown in. From the OP's question it sounds like they may only have read the second book.

This sounds like John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)

It has the living airships:

“That’s our way off this cliff,” he said. “His name is—” he pursed his lips and whis­tled three clear notes with a war­ble at the end, “—but I see that’s awk­ward to use mixed with Eng­lish. I call him Whistlestop.”

“You call him ‘Whistlestop,’” Cirocco re­peated, numbly.

“That’s right. He’s a blimp.”

“A blimp.”

He looked at her oddly and she grit­ted her teeth. “He looks more like a di­ri­gi­ble, but he’s not, be­cause he doesn’t have a rigid skele­ton. I’ll call him and you can see for your­self.” He put two fin­gers to his lips and whis­tled a long, com­plex tune with odd mu­si­cal in­ter­vals.

And the centaurs:

The Ti­tanide found them while they were tak­ing down the tent prior to mov­ing Bill. It stood on the top of the bluff where Cirocco had been the day be­fore. Cirocco waited for it to make the first move, but it seemed to have the same idea.

The most ob­vi­ous word for the thing was cen­taur. It had a lower part shaped like a horse, and an upper half so human it was fright­en­ing. Cirocco was not quite sure she be­lieved in it.

It was not as Dis­ney had en­vi­sioned cen­taurs, nor did it have much to do with the clas­si­cal Greek model. It had a lot of hair, yet its dom­i­nant fea­ture was pale naked skin. There were great multi-col­ored cas­cades of hair on the head and tail, on the lower parts of all four legs, and on the crea­ture’s fore­arms. Odd­est of all, there was hair be­tween the two front legs, in the place where a de­cent horse—which Cirocco’s mind kept try­ing to see—had noth­ing but smooth hide. It car­ried a shep­herd’s crook, and but for a few small or­na­ments, wore no cloth­ing.

The Blimps and Centaurs "speak" a very music-based language, but it's hinted that it may have a telepathic component.

The first book, Titan, is a fairly straightforward adventure story. The second book, Wizard is more of a "quest" type of story. The last book, Demon is a post-apocalypse/revolution/war story with a little social commentary thrown in. From the OP's question it sounds like they may only have read the second book. Although the third book has more of the post-apocalytic events, it also has a... larger-than-life character that would be pretty hard to forget.

This sounds like John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)

It has the living airships:

“That’s our way off this cliff,” he said. “His name is—” he pursed his lips and whis­tled three clear notes with a war­ble at the end, “—but I see that’s awk­ward to use mixed with Eng­lish. I call him Whistlestop.”

“You call him ‘Whistlestop,’” Cirocco re­peated, numbly.

“That’s right. He’s a blimp.”

“A blimp.”

He looked at her oddly and she grit­ted her teeth. “He looks more like a di­ri­gi­ble, but he’s not, be­cause he doesn’t have a rigid skele­ton. I’ll call him and you can see for your­self.” He put two fin­gers to his lips and whis­tled a long, com­plex tune with odd mu­si­cal in­ter­vals.

And the centaurs:

The Ti­tanide found them while they were tak­ing down the tent prior to mov­ing Bill. It stood on the top of the bluff where Cirocco had been the day be­fore. Cirocco waited for it to make the first move, but it seemed to have the same idea.

The most ob­vi­ous word for the thing was cen­taur. It had a lower part shaped like a horse, and an upper half so human it was fright­en­ing. Cirocco was not quite sure she be­lieved in it.

It was not as Dis­ney had en­vi­sioned cen­taurs, nor did it have much to do with the clas­si­cal Greek model. It had a lot of hair, yet its dom­i­nant fea­ture was pale naked skin. There were great multi-col­ored cas­cades of hair on the head and tail, on the lower parts of all four legs, and on the crea­ture’s fore­arms. Odd­est of all, there was hair be­tween the two front legs, in the place where a de­cent horse—which Cirocco’s mind kept try­ing to see—had noth­ing but smooth hide. It car­ried a shep­herd’s crook, and but for a few small or­na­ments, wore no cloth­ing.

The first book, Titan, is a fairly straightforward adventure story. The second book, Wizard is more of a "quest" type of story. The last book, Demon is a revolution/war story with a little social commentary thrown in. From the OP's question it sounds like they may only have read the second book.

This sounds like John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)

It has the living airships:

“That’s our way off this cliff,” he said. “His name is—” he pursed his lips and whis­tled three clear notes with a war­ble at the end, “—but I see that’s awk­ward to use mixed with Eng­lish. I call him Whistlestop.”

“You call him ‘Whistlestop,’” Cirocco re­peated, numbly.

“That’s right. He’s a blimp.”

“A blimp.”

He looked at her oddly and she grit­ted her teeth. “He looks more like a di­ri­gi­ble, but he’s not, be­cause he doesn’t have a rigid skele­ton. I’ll call him and you can see for your­self.” He put two fin­gers to his lips and whis­tled a long, com­plex tune with odd mu­si­cal in­ter­vals.

And the centaurs:

The Ti­tanide found them while they were tak­ing down the tent prior to mov­ing Bill. It stood on the top of the bluff where Cirocco had been the day be­fore. Cirocco waited for it to make the first move, but it seemed to have the same idea.

The most ob­vi­ous word for the thing was cen­taur. It had a lower part shaped like a horse, and an upper half so human it was fright­en­ing. Cirocco was not quite sure she be­lieved in it.

It was not as Dis­ney had en­vi­sioned cen­taurs, nor did it have much to do with the clas­si­cal Greek model. It had a lot of hair, yet its dom­i­nant fea­ture was pale naked skin. There were great multi-col­ored cas­cades of hair on the head and tail, on the lower parts of all four legs, and on the crea­ture’s fore­arms. Odd­est of all, there was hair be­tween the two front legs, in the place where a de­cent horse—which Cirocco’s mind kept try­ing to see—had noth­ing but smooth hide. It car­ried a shep­herd’s crook, and but for a few small or­na­ments, wore no cloth­ing.

The first book, Titan, is a fairly straightforward adventure story. The second book, Wizard is more of a "quest" type of story. The last book, Demon is a revolution/war story with a little social commentary thrown in. From the OP's question it sounds like they may only have read the second book.

This sounds like John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)

It has the living airships:

“That’s our way off this cliff,” he said. “His name is—” he pursed his lips and whis­tled three clear notes with a war­ble at the end, “—but I see that’s awk­ward to use mixed with Eng­lish. I call him Whistlestop.”

“You call him ‘Whistlestop,’” Cirocco re­peated, numbly.

“That’s right. He’s a blimp.”

“A blimp.”

He looked at her oddly and she grit­ted her teeth. “He looks more like a di­ri­gi­ble, but he’s not, be­cause he doesn’t have a rigid skele­ton. I’ll call him and you can see for your­self.” He put two fin­gers to his lips and whis­tled a long, com­plex tune with odd mu­si­cal in­ter­vals.

This sounds like John Varley's Gaean Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon)

It has the living airships:

“That’s our way off this cliff,” he said. “His name is—” he pursed his lips and whis­tled three clear notes with a war­ble at the end, “—but I see that’s awk­ward to use mixed with Eng­lish. I call him Whistlestop.”

“You call him ‘Whistlestop,’” Cirocco re­peated, numbly.

“That’s right. He’s a blimp.”

“A blimp.”

He looked at her oddly and she grit­ted her teeth. “He looks more like a di­ri­gi­ble, but he’s not, be­cause he doesn’t have a rigid skele­ton. I’ll call him and you can see for your­self.” He put two fin­gers to his lips and whis­tled a long, com­plex tune with odd mu­si­cal in­ter­vals.

And the centaurs:

The Ti­tanide found them while they were tak­ing down the tent prior to mov­ing Bill. It stood on the top of the bluff where Cirocco had been the day be­fore. Cirocco waited for it to make the first move, but it seemed to have the same idea.

The most ob­vi­ous word for the thing was cen­taur. It had a lower part shaped like a horse, and an upper half so human it was fright­en­ing. Cirocco was not quite sure she be­lieved in it.

It was not as Dis­ney had en­vi­sioned cen­taurs, nor did it have much to do with the clas­si­cal Greek model. It had a lot of hair, yet its dom­i­nant fea­ture was pale naked skin. There were great multi-col­ored cas­cades of hair on the head and tail, on the lower parts of all four legs, and on the crea­ture’s fore­arms. Odd­est of all, there was hair be­tween the two front legs, in the place where a de­cent horse—which Cirocco’s mind kept try­ing to see—had noth­ing but smooth hide. It car­ried a shep­herd’s crook, and but for a few small or­na­ments, wore no cloth­ing.

The first book, Titan, is a fairly straightforward adventure story. The second book, Wizard is more of a "quest" type of story. The last book, Demon is a revolution/war story with a little social commentary thrown in. From the OP's question it sounds like they may only have read the second book.