Oh, and I forgot this one, coming out in May: http://www.goldengryphon.com/forth.html#gae2 I've been really impressed so far with Golden Gryphon's products. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael M Jones" <everbard at ix.netcom.com> To: "Dragaera list" <dragaera at dragaera.info> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 3:36 PM Subject: Re: An Effinger Epiphany > 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 | > >