Golden Gryphon Press did, indeed, rerelease one of Effinger's books. http://www.goldengryphon.com/budayeen-frame.html Check it out. :> -Michael ----- Original Message ----- From: "Johne Cook" <johne.cook at gmail.com> To: "Dragaera list" <dragaera at dragaera.info> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 2:41 PM Subject: An Effinger Epiphany >I had read a one-off novel sometime during the mid-80s by an author I > knew nothing about. The author is George Alec Effinger and the work > was a futuristic noir piece with an arabic flair about a sort of > gumshoe in a sort of a sort French Quarter of New Orleans section of a > nameless Arabic city in the twenty-second century. The style is what > we now might call cyberpunk, a desgination the author hotly denied, > even though he is considered one of the fathers of the cyberpunk > genre. > > The novel was "When Gravity Fails" and I remember thinking it was very > uneven, kind of depressing, and wildly original. I liked it > immediately, warts and all. I had hoped to read more from this > author, but alas, never tracked down anything else by him. > > Until now. > > A buddy at work showed me a book he was reading by an author I hadn't > heard of. I opened the flap and saw three author blurbs. I > recognized two of the three and mentioned that Zelazny and Effinger > were both dead now. > > That's when it occurred to me that I didn't know how I knew that > latter bit, so I went searching around a little. > > I found the book of his that I remember reading nearly 20 years ago, > "When Gravity Fails": > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/055325555X/002-3554094-2083216 > > I even found a review of it that captures something of the feeling I > remember: > http://members.aol.com/dmchess/www/gravity.html > > But then I read the following blurb and got all aquiver: > "George Alec Effinger wrote three books about Marid Audran, a private > investigator living in the Budayeen, the red light district of an > unnamed Arab country in the 23rd century (but in actuality modeled on > the French quarter in New Orleans, where Effinger lived). When Gravity > Fails is the first of the three books, which introduce us to Marid, > who was raised in Algeria by his mother, an Algerian prostitute, and > who never knew his French father. Considered a barbarian north african > by the Arabs in his city, Marid lives on the fringes among the drug > dealers and users, and the strippers, protitutes, sex changes and > outcasts that live just outside the law, working as a private > detective when he can find a client. Marid prides himself on being > unwired, that is, unlike most residents of the Budayeen, Marid has not > adapted his brain to accept personality modules, or Moddies, or > add-ons, better known as Daddies. Nor does Marid work or live under > the largesse or protection of Friedlander Bey, better known as Papa, > who controls most the business, legitimate or otherwise, in the > Budayeen. > > When a client is killed in front of Marid's eyes and Marid's > acquaintances start dying horrible deaths, Marid is drawn into an > uneasy alliance with both the police, whom he does not trust, and > Papa, to whom he does not want to be beholden. > > Effinger has created a world that is unlike most science fiction > books, keeping the actual science light, and letting us believe that > this is how the Arab world might be in the 23rd century, with not much > changed except a bit of technology. Effinger offers both an > interesting who and why-dunnit, while examining the issues of faith > and identity. Is Marid, a heavy drug and alcohol user who lives by his > own code and is committed neither to Allah nor any other human, the > faithful one, or is it Papa, who kills and extorts in the name of > business but who faithfully prays 5 times a day? What is it like to be > an outsider, and how do you find yourself? > > This book is sadly out of print, but easily available used on the > internet. Still compelling after all this time and well worth tracking > down." > > /Three/ books?! > > I officially know what I want for my next birthday - used books: > > "When Gravity Fails" > http://tinyurl.com/6gpge > > "A Fire in the Sun" > http://tinyurl.com/5rtb5 > > "The Exile Kiss" > http://tinyurl.com/5c59e > > By all accounts, it appears Effinger died before he was able to write > a fourth book in the series, "Retribution". > > A book of Effinger's short stories entitled "Buyadeen Nights" was > apparently published last year with introductions from his wife, > author Barbara Hambly: > http://tinyurl.com/6akct > > -- > johne cook | johne.cook at gmail.com | http://www.phywriter.com |