When Gravity Fails

Jan 27, 2012 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, crime-mystery-thriller, sf-fantasy, lgbt

In the 22nd century, the fiercely independent Marîd Audran is living in a dangerous middle-eastern city in the Budayeen. It is a rich, fascinating and diverse world where people can easily have their brains wired for “moddies”, plastic cartridges with different personality types, from fictional characters to celebrities, that are inserted directly into the skull and “daddies”, smaller add-ons that are inserted next to the moddies to enhance certain skills, like the ability to converse in other l...more In the 22nd century, the fiercely independent Marîd Audran is living in a dangerous middle-eastern city in the Budayeen. It is a rich, fascinating and diverse world where people can easily have their brains wired for “moddies”, plastic cartridges with different personality types, from fictional characters to celebrities, that are inserted directly into the skull and “daddies”, smaller add-ons that are inserted next to the moddies to enhance certain skills, like the ability to converse in other languages, and to depress certain physical and mental functions, like hunger, thirst or fear.

Marîd, son of a Frenchman and an Algerian prostitute, is proud of the fact that his brain is not wired, but instead relies on drugs and alcohol to alter his mood.

The story begins in Chiriga’s nightclub, where Marîd is supposed to meet a client from Reconstructed Russia, a Mr. Bogatyrev, who is looking for his son who was missing for three years. After Marîd receives a packet of money, holotapes, and a complete dossier of his son, a woman screams, a modified James Bond is waving a pistol, Marîd investigates and then returns to his table to find his client took a bullet in the chest.

The shooting becomes a police matter until Marîd’s acquaintances start dying off, one by one. Despite his distrust of the police, he is forced to work with them and then forced by Friedlander Bey, the city’s “Godfather” to undergo modification in order to more easily find the murderer.

This was a fun, gritty, and thought-provoking science fiction story with lots of great ideas about personality modification, knowledge enhancement and ease of changing genders that could be a very real possibility in our future. Some international intrigue caused the story to drag a little and the mystery to fall flat. I loved Marîd’s independence and honesty, though I fear that now he is under Friedlander Bey's control the things I like about him will change dramatically in the next book. I also loved the relationship between Marîd and Yasmin, his fully modified girlfriend who was not born a girl and can’t manage to be on time for anything, even after paying a $50 fine to the owner of the nightclub where she works when she is just a minute late.

I just wished the author used the same loving care in writing a satisfying conclusion as he did in creating this fascinating world.

Also reviewed at Outlaw Reviews (less)

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May 21, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it 3 of 5 stars

When Gravity Fails was pretty good, without ever quite achieving greatness. I enjoyed it, but the pieces never entirely came together and swept me away. It was, however, part of my ongoing project to read all the Hugo nominees for novels. It's going to take a while.

This book is cyberpunk, with a strong dash of noir. (Not that that's surprising - a lot of cyberpunk seems to revolve around noir storytelling.) It is less sterile than Neuromancer, much messier and more lively. So, if it's cyberpunk...more When Gravity Fails was pretty good, without ever quite achieving greatness. I enjoyed it, but the pieces never entirely came together and swept me away. It was, however, part of my ongoing project to read all the Hugo nominees for novels. It's going to take a while.

This book is cyberpunk, with a strong dash of noir. (Not that that's surprising - a lot of cyberpunk seems to revolve around noir storytelling.) It is less sterile than Neuromancer, much messier and more lively. So, if it's cyberpunk, what are the modifications that have been made to bodies that bring whether or not someone is still human into question?

In this case, moddys and daddys. Moddys are other personalities that you can plug into your brain and act as they would act. They're used for sex, a lot. And also so you can be James Bond. Given the fear the main character has of these types of modifications, and how he describes plugging in Nero Wolfe (and I did totally love that it was Nero Wolfe), outside of the sex, I'm not sure why people would want to. It might be helpful, I suppose, but it seems like you're a passive observer while another personality takes over your brain. That's interesting. I'm just not sure why it's so enticing that Marid, the main character, is known as the one man who doesn't have plugs in his head.

Daddys, though, they do seem more interesting. A little like a babelfish, but more limited in scope. They're add-ons, languages, skills, hunger suppressants, reflex sharpeners, whatever you could want to give yourself an edge.

This world, though, is not the corporate one we see in a lot of other cyberpunk. It's set in the Budayeen, a crime-ridden district in a city in the Middle East that I don't think is ever named. We get flashes about the rest of the world - Russia, the States, and most of Europe have fractured into tiny states. The context for this book is Islamic, and that was definitely interesting and unexpected.

The other major modification is that sex changes seem to be relatively easy (although I don't think they're cheap, which raises the question of how people from this very, very poor district are all affording them). I'd be hard-pressed to go back in the book and find a woman who was born a woman. Although there are plenty of men who were born men. This perspective on the fluidity of gender could be interesting, but it's not handled as well as, say, Varley does it. Once "changed," women who were born men fall into the most stereotypical of gendered behaviours. That's a bit of an issue.

Marid, the lead character, is approached in a bar about finding man's son. But that man is shot to death right in front of him, by James Bond. Marid tries to walk away, but one of his friends comes and approaches him for help, and then disappears. Shortly thereafter, other people start turning up dead, some tidy assassinations, others horrific and bloody. And Marid is caught in the middle, and employed by the local crime lord (who he swore he'd never work for) to look into it.

Marid is a reluctant hero, and a lot of the book is him lounging in bed not looking into things when he really should be.

But the mystery is suitably twisty, and the world very interesting. The characters were a little weak, but this is worth checking out if you're looking for a different kind of cyberpunk. (less)

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Feb 23, 2012 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, cyberpunk, gender-issues, sexuality, exceeded-my-expectations

I've had this on a list of Sci-Fi books to read for quite a while, a list passed on to me by one of my favourite Profs, but it took a group read (thanks, Kim) to finally make me pick up the old, water-stained copy that's been sitting on my shelf.

I imagine I knew what to expect once upon a time, but that time was long gone and When Gravity Fails was full of fun cyberpunky surprises. I loved the easy, full acceptance of the transgendered in the contained culture of the Budayeen, especially the ac...more I've had this on a list of Sci-Fi books to read for quite a while, a list passed on to me by one of my favourite Profs, but it took a group read (thanks, Kim) to finally make me pick up the old, water-stained copy that's been sitting on my shelf.

I imagine I knew what to expect once upon a time, but that time was long gone and When Gravity Fails was full of fun cyberpunky surprises. I loved the easy, full acceptance of the transgendered in the contained culture of the Budayeen, especially the acceptance of it by our protagonist, Marîd Audran. His acceptance made it seem normal, barely worth mentioning, and I loved the comfort this engendered (sorry ... couldn't control myself there). Moreover, I thought George Alec Effinger offered one of the best visions of cyberpunk body alterations that I have ever read. "Daddies" designed to boost one's skills -- mostly for language, but for all sorts of other physical and mental skills -- "mods" to give you other personalities and experiences, and plenty of plastic surgery to reassign one's gender, reshape one's look, reinvent oneself. None of it went too far. All of it made sense to me.

At the nuts and bolts level, the story was a readable one (despite its familiarity). A gritty, noirish, underground mystery where the hard loner who moves teflon-coated through the dirty streets is sucked into a murder investigation to protect himself and the place (and people) he loves. We've seen it a squillion times before (and it rarely tires me). I liked it just fine and was all set to give When Gravity Fails three stars. Don't get me wrong, it was better than okay for most of the read, but it never compelled me to pick it up and read voraciously to the last page. It was mostly just a comfortable read -- the kind I'd pick up when my brain needs a rest.

But then Audran found his killers, and When Gravity Falls did things with Audran (freshly modified despite years of remaining free of augmentations) that I didn't expect. What he becomes, beyond his control or not, is a tale-changer, and the way those around him react is precisely as it should be.

Sometimes bad endings can take something I love and make me hate it; it's nice to know that great endings can take something mediocre and make me love it too.(less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Harold Ogle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, cyberpunk

More than anything, I've always loved the IDEA of this book: imagining a cyberpunk, dystopian North Africa of the future. It's much the same reason I enjoyed the idea of The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm: it's refreshing to see takes on science fiction through the lens of other cultures.

That said, I enjoyed this much more when I read it the first time as a teen, when my exposure to other cultures was more limited and I took the trappings of Islam and north African locations as really deep. On re-re...more

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Aug 20, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, 2012-sci-fi-challenge, sf-group

In the 1980's a new sub genre of Science Fiction called "Cyberpunk" emerged. The name is derived from melding the words Cybernetics and punk, and it focuses on the effects on society and individuals of advanced computer technology, artificial intelligence, and bionic implants in an increasingly global culture, especially as seen in the struggles of streetwise, disaffected characters. George Alec Effinger produced one of the best novels of this type with When Gravity Fails. In it he combined elem...more In the 1980's a new sub genre of Science Fiction called "Cyberpunk" emerged. The name is derived from melding the words Cybernetics and punk, and it focuses on the effects on society and individuals of advanced computer technology, artificial intelligence, and bionic implants in an increasingly global culture, especially as seen in the struggles of streetwise, disaffected characters. George Alec Effinger produced one of the best novels of this type with When Gravity Fails. In it he combined elements of the noir detective mystery set in an indeterminate future somewhere in North Africa. With the addition of an elegant depiction of the widespread use of bionic implants he produced an intelligent and intriguing novel.
The culture of drugs is pervasive in the story - reminiscent of Huxley and his descendants, but it is the use of personality modules - "moddies" - and data modules - "daddies" - as bionic amplifications of individuals' brains - a sort of applied autonetics - that distinguishes the world imagined by the author. With this as the setting the protagonist detective Marid Audran, who has an independent and refreshingly honest personal code of justice, faces his greatest challenge when a string of bloody killings disrupt his urban habitat even to the extent of endangering his friends. The community in which he dwells is as iridescently colorful as it is decadent in a street-wise fashion whose futuristic setting is adumbrated by its resemblance to that of previous centuries. It is populated by eccentric characters; but it is his independence and rough-hewn charisma that makes Audran both a fascinating and likeable hero in spite of his major drug habit.
The author brings the culture of the futuristic "Budayeen" community to life with a vibrancy that hums and even crackles at times as the pressure to identify the source of the mysterious killings builds along with the homolgous danger to Audran's own life. The resulting suspense is exciting, but the story is deepened and made more significant by the moral choices and decisions that Audran must make, by himself, in order to solve the mystery behind the killings. The result is an exciting book that well deserves the accolades it received from the moment of its original publication.(less)

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May 29, 2012 Ed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Goodreads ate my review again and I am once again very angry so I shall make the following comments in lieu of ranting:

I liked this book quite a bit and I dearly hope the other two in the series are close to as good.

This book makes me think more SF should be set in Muslim cultural areas because I found it to be refreshing.

George Effinger wrote another book that I have got to read based on the title alone Maureen Birnbaum: Barbarian Swordsperson.

I have found very little use for cabbage in my life...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Michael by: Kim

Shelves: science-fiction, book-club-others, cyberpunk, tech-noir, favourites, glbt, detective, noir, 1980s

It’s been awhile since I’ve been so amerced into a science fiction world like this; I think the last time was with China Mieville’s The City and The City. The city of Budayeen something I’ve not experienced before, the blend of Middle Eastern culture and religion really bring this to life in a unique way. Marîd Audrian makes for a great protagonist; he is hard boiled, reminds me a lot of the private detectives in the pulp genres.

When Gravity Fails is a brilliant example of Tech Noir (so Science...more

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Aug 19, 2007 Monk rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, world_builders

This book had been on my to-do list for several years before I finally picked it up. It was sparked when a sourcebook for a favorite roleplaying game was released. It was a module which incorporated the book into the environment of the game.

It's a book that combines something I like with something I know almost nothing about. It combines Cyberpunk fiction with the beliefs and culture of the Middle East.

It covers the story of a man who is a local mover and shaker. He moves independently of the lo...more

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Oct 02, 2010 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, novel, science, american, cyberpunk, private, eye, thriller, middle, east, virtual, reality, wellington, public, library

The novel is set in an Arab-dominated ghetto, the Budayeen, and our hero is one Mar

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May 05, 2013 Ankush rated it 3 of 5 stars

The good:
1. The tech - the personality and addon mods were cool
2. The atmosphere - definitely noir
3. The setting - it was fun having conversations prefaced by 5 lines of pleasantries about the blessings of Allah

The bad:
1. The plot - didn't really make much sense to me even at the end
2. The action - our protagonist is no hero, things sort of just happen to him throughout the book
3. The tech - the ideas, while interesting, are never explored thoroughly
4. The characters - all the female characters...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Outis rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, drugs, religion

Quaint cool to the max. No future writ large.
Going back to this instant classic, I was surprised by how quaint it's become. But it's only made it cooler and punker.
The wonkish turn in the sequel to Metropolitan left me with *punk cravings and this didn't disappoint.

A few pages in, the dialogue mentions in passing the People's Republic of Lorraine. How cool is that? This is supposed to be the 23rd century and not only are people still using data tapes (yawn) but the author uses stuff like a 19th...more

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Nov 06, 2011 Mollie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Great concept, a cyber punk set in a world where the middle east has risen to top dog while previously powerful Europe and America have fallen apart. The part that actually makes it cyberpunk, the "moddies" and "daddies" were very interesting as well.

However, aside from that it was a somewhat boringly by-the-book detective noir. The main character Marid had almost no personality aside from his independent streak and disdain for some of the currently popular high technology. But even that was nev...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Loren rated it 3 of 5 stars

From ISawLightningFall.com

Truth be told, I'm something of a sucker for a book with good promotional copy. An engaging plot summary or a catchy quote from an established authors goes a long way toward pulling me in. George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails has both. An endorsement from George R.R. Martin graces its front ("wry and black and savage"), while on the back appear promises of a bleak, Middle Eastern cyberpunk that "was hailed as a classic ... on its original publication in 1987." That...more From ISawLightningFall.com

Truth be told, I'm something of a sucker for a book with good promotional copy. An engaging plot summary or a catchy quote from an established authors goes a long way toward pulling me in. George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails has both. An endorsement from George R.R. Martin graces its front ("wry and black and savage"), while on the back appear promises of a bleak, Middle Eastern cyberpunk that "was hailed as a classic ... on its original publication in 1987." That sealed the deal for me, but I forgot to ask myself one question: If Gravity was such a stunner, why then did it fall into obscurity after Effinger's death in 2002?

Like everything else in the ghetto called the Budayeen, Marȋd Audran is available for a price. If you want him to hustle or investigate or suss out secrets in this amoral section of the city, then you need to pony up the dough -- and agree to a few preconditions. Marȋd won't carry needle or seizure gun, no thank you. Call him a bad Muslim all you like, but he's still going to pop an astonishing variety of pills while on the job. And he'll never, ever get his brain wired, never slot a moddy or a daddy, those data modules that grant their wearers new personalities or knowledge. At least that's how Marȋd always ran things before the killer appeared in the Budayeen, a murderer who alternately picks off his targets like trained spy or eviscerates them with the sadism of a madman. The trail of bodies left in his wake will thrust Marȋd into international intrigues and bring him face to face with a 200-year-old gangster who thinks more about his afternoon coffee than he does of taking human life.

To even casual fans of SF, it will likely become apparent within the first couple chapters of Gravity just how much it borrows from Neuromancer. Stimulant-addicted protagonist? Hallucinatory, addled sidekick? Surgically enhanced woman of ill-repute? Check, check and check. Unfortunately, Effinger lacked Gibson's literary chops, his style often feeling a bit bland. Indeed, typographical errors pop up from time to time in the edition I was reading, inconsistencies that really ought to have been caught by an editor. Still, the novel has virtues. The plot recalls classic hardboiled -- a Raymond Chandler quote inaugurates the proceedings -- and the ending is surprising and shocking. Also, Gravity takes faith seriously without becoming credulous, pointedly (and rightly, in my view) critiquing the Islamic concept of jihad without descending into the outright antipathy toward religion that marks so much speculative fiction. Effinger may not have penned a masterpiece, but Gravity is worth a read if you enjoy cyberpunk in the least.(less)

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Feb 01, 2010 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

An early cyberpunk classic, When Gravity Falls grabs the reader from the first page. Marid Audran lives in the red light district of a dystopian city right on the edge of the desert. Islamic sayings jump to everyone's lips easily, but killing comes just as easily. Audran feels that he has to either be a hustler or a mark, and in this intense world, he's often both in the same day.
After multiple acquaintances are killed in a grisly fashion, Audran acquiesces to the urges of the local godfather to...more

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Jan 04, 2013 David Mcangus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, nothing-but-the-best, science-fiction, detective-smart-ass

I love Raymond Chandler. I also happen to love SF. It was therefore perhaps expected that I'd like this book. But even then, I was surprised to find a smile firmly attached to my face through its duration. This is largely how my face spent its time with I read Chandler's work. So this is quite the compliment.

On a simple level, this is cyberpunk, though with a greater lean on the punk. But this isn't really the main draw of the story. What it does well, is in replicating the style and atmosphere...more

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Feb 03, 2012 ♥Xeni♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to ♥Xeni♥ by: Kim

Shelves: sci-fi, book-of-the-month, ebook, mystery, cyberpunk

As far as detective mysteries go, they mostly bore me, since I tend to figure out whodunit way beforehand. In this book it wasn't so bad. I was kept amused and in thrall by the world and cultures the author had created and by the time I actively tried to figure out whodunit because I was pretty bored, the main character, Marîd was already on his way to get him.

There are a few key elements about this novel which I really enjoyed. First and foremost was that this portrayal of the future was like...more As far as detective mysteries go, they mostly bore me, since I tend to figure out whodunit way beforehand. In this book it wasn't so bad. I was kept amused and in thrall by the world and cultures the author had created and by the time I actively tried to figure out whodunit because I was pretty bored, the main character, Marîd was already on his way to get him.

There are a few key elements about this novel which I really enjoyed. First and foremost was that this portrayal of the future was like our now, only with a few more high tech things (i.e. the surgeries which modify your brain and allow you to stick in 'daddies' and 'moddies' to alter your own skills, personality, etc). All the squalor and pain were still there... humanity hadn't reached that next level up. And yet, at the same time, it wasn't a terribly dystopian world. Yeah, things had gotten a little shitty and there seemed to be pain and war and disease everywhere, and yet isn't it adversity that makes the best of people? Between these two aspects Effinger found the best possible balance, I feel. At least for the type of story he was trying to unveil.

As to the characters: they're just put out there, and accepted. We see everything through Marîd's eyes, so we get his ideas and thoughts on people as well. He's (compared to someone of today's caliber) oddly accepting of transgender's and regenders and in-between genders. His drug, alcohol and sex habits notwithstanding, he actually is an honorable and decent man in a world that is anything but and forced into situations which will second guess his own ideals and mindsets.

It's a book that got me pondering about our own world and how we view our own culture. How I personally view drugs and sex and money and killing and vengeance and all the other topics that have been raised.

For all that, it was immensely well written. I at no time was too irritated... just at times a bit bored because not much was happening ((view spoiler)). Overall a really good book. Thanks for the read, Kim!(less)

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Mar 09, 2013 Tfitoby rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-as-night, sci-fi

When Gravity Fails is cyberpunk at its influential best written in a way that makes it accessible to everyone but like pretty much everything that came before Snow Crash is not as powerful as it once might have been.

This is the story of Marîd Audran, citizen of Budayeen, a dangerous enclave in a futuristic Middle Eastern city (think of Ankh Morpork's The Shades for example) filled with crooks and hustlers modified both physically and electronically thanks to advances in technology. Mod chips can...more When Gravity Fails is cyberpunk at its influential best written in a way that makes it accessible to everyone but like pretty much everything that came before Snow Crash is not as powerful as it once might have been.

This is the story of Marîd Audran, citizen of Budayeen, a dangerous enclave in a futuristic Middle Eastern city (think of Ankh Morpork's The Shades for example) filled with crooks and hustlers modified both physically and electronically thanks to advances in technology. Mod chips can be inserted in to brain ports to override your personality, daddie chips can give temporary access to information such as "I know kung fu," men can be surgically altered to become women from head to toe, women can be altered to become men and then dress in drag to become women again, it's a strange new world for an independent hustler to move through, even more so when you factor in the religious zealots and bullies that still rule with the iron fist of Islam and you have no faith yourself.

It is also the story of a crazed killer who moves unnoticed through the Budayeen thanks to his James Bond Mod chip and how the denizens react to the situation. Marîd is forced in to investigating by a criminal kingpin but it is less about the investigation and more how Marîd moves through the Budayeen trying to avoid his task. In this way Effinger paints a portrait of a believable future world that you quickly become immersed in with a shades of grey noir protagonist that you can't help but like.

Effinger, like all good cyberpunk writers seemed to, uses his story to question what it is that makes us human, the nature of reality and self and the purpose/futility of religion in a technologically advanced culture, this coupled with his hardboiled protagonist makes for an entertaining and thought provoking read without becoming too bogged down in the theology and philosophy of it all.

There's a scene featuring Nero Wolfe that had no place in the actual novel except as an amusing aside on the possibilities of the new technology and as a counterpoint to the obvious sexual and pornographic uses that had been posited at length previously. The denouement was a little flat and rushed but when considered in the context of the casual tone adopted throughout the book fits in fine. Expecting anything else would be akin to being disappointed when Terence Malick doesn't end his films with a thirty minute series of explosions and car chases.

These are minor points that shouldn't really detract from from what is essentially an excellent piece of popular fiction and a highlight of its genre. (less)

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Aug 05, 2012 Tor rated it 5 of 5 stars

When Gravity Fails by George Effinger
Gollancz ebook SF Gateway
First published 1987
Ebook 2011

I found When Gravity Fails on my Kindle with no memory of buying it and no notion of the book’s history. I have a feeling that I heard about it at Continuum, Melbourne’s science fiction and fantasy convention. Certainly, I wasn’t aware that it is part of the Gollancz SF and Fantasy Masterworks series. I probably wouldn’t have read it if I’d realised it was. Masterworks so often feel dated. In any event, W...more When Gravity Fails by George Effinger
Gollancz ebook SF Gateway
First published 1987
Ebook 2011

I found When Gravity Fails on my Kindle with no memory of buying it and no notion of the book’s history. I have a feeling that I heard about it at Continuum, Melbourne’s science fiction and fantasy convention. Certainly, I wasn’t aware that it is part of the Gollancz SF and Fantasy Masterworks series. I probably wouldn’t have read it if I’d realised it was. Masterworks so often feel dated. In any event, When Gravity Fails was on my Kindle and my Kindle, being a Kindle, jumped me over all of the fore matter and I hit chapter one under my very own veil of ignorance.

When Gravity Fails is a delight. It’s rich, curious and full of all the wonder that a good SF crime crossover should offer.

The Budayeen is the seedy side of an unnamed Arabic city and Algerian-born Marîd Audran is the unarmed, pill-popping, unwired, unbelieving Muslim guide to the Budayeen’s glorious mashup culture. Marîd does a bit of this and that for money, including the odd investigation that falls into his lap when nudged off Lieutenant Okking’s desk.

At the beginning of the novel, Marîd meets a new client, a Reconstructed Russian named Bogatyrev, who has a missing person problem. Things go violently wrong and Marîd begins a world-weary and paradoxically idealistic investigation aimed at returning the Budayeen to its everyday exploitative, drug-taking, haggling, peddling, violent existence. But not back to chaos because the Budayeen is supremely orderly as it veers from old to new vices and back again.

One of the most delicious aspects of When Gravity Fails is the contrast between the sin and violence of the Budayeen and the courtly interactions between the Muslim characters: faithful and faithless alike. When Marîd sits before Abdoulaye and Abdoulaye’s boss Hassan who are overtly violent and dangerous, Marîd is offered coffee spiced with cardamom. Marîd says, ‘May your table last forever’ and Hassan returns, ‘May Allah lengthen your life’ and this is just the beginning of the invocations that last through several cups, all aimed at protecting everyone’s health, welfare, family and people. Underneath the extravagant, flowery, prayerful well-wishing that continues throughout the book, Marîd walks on a knife edge.

It is the infidels who enter the city as marks, sex workers and corrupt businessmen who seem brash, mannerless – even childlike in their lack of culture.

If you enjoy the feeling of being in a different but familiar world and you like your SF and hardboiled crime with a twist, this is a fabulous read. I highly recommend it. When Gravity Fails was a Hugo and Nebular shortlisted novel and US-born George Effinger is said to have helped found Cyberpunk as a genre.
(less)

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Jun 06, 2012 Benjamin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

The Audran Sequence seemed so promising with an interesting world in which many nation-states have fractured and the story is set in a city somewhere in Arabia. However, much of it fell flat for me.

Part of the problem is that the series bills itself as cyberpunk noir, while it never really falls into either category. The only cyberpunk is basically technology modules that can implanted into a wired brain to grant specialized information or change your entire personality. The noir is supposedly...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Matt Mitrovich rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I punk, it's usually with steam.

Any SF fan, regardless of his particular poison, thinks about the future. With my historical background, however, my gaze tends to be fixed on the past and I am rarely distracted by images of the future. The great thing about Amazing Stories, however, is the wealth of viewpoints and opinions it offers. So when I announced my planned exploration of SF detectives, When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger came up more than once and I decided to give it a shot....more

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Sep 01, 2012 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lots of writers in various genres get compared to Raymond Chandler. Most of those comparisons fail. Here I think Effinger melds Chandler and William Gibson very well, and created possibly the best cyberpunk (possibly science fiction in general) noir tale that I have read.

Marid Audran is a small time hustler in the ghetto known as the Budayeen. When a murderer starts knocking off Audran's friends, Bey, the man who really controls the city, makes Audran an offer he can't refuse (unless he wants to...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

The first in the detective Marid series is unique in the cyberpunk genre in that the stories main ethnic and regional setting is in the middle east. Frankly it's the first time I have read any sci-fi genre that includes the middle east at all so if there are others out there then excuse my ignorance. Marid is an character that is hard to get a grasp on, sometimes you like him and feel sorry for him and at other times you wish he wasn't such a dick. He is a slacker, a drug user and his approach t...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

The blurb on the cover (from George R.R. Martin, no less) says "Wry and black and savage" and I'd have to agree. I might add exotic, violent and seedy. This is a grim story of a future where people can have their brain wired to add on personalities or chunks of information - want to have the personality and skills of Sherlock Holmes and also speak fluent Latin? Just plug a couple chips into your skull. The story takes place in a dark Arabic underworld of nightclubs and crime lords. Besides those...more

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Jan 19, 2013 Sandi rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, audiobooks, sci-fi

It took me a really long time to get through the first half of this book. Once I did, it picked up a lot and went really quickly. I found the setting fascinating--a depraved, degraded Arabic city where people change gender and personalities like I change shoes. Although it was written in 1987, it doesn't seem dated. In fact, it fits in with current science fiction better than the SF of 1987.

Jonathan Davis is the perfect narrator for this book. He does very well with books set in non-Western soci...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Richard by: SciFi & Fantasy Group 2012-02 Fantasy Selection

Shelves: bookclub, scifi, scifi-cyberpunk

Wow, very close to being a five-star book. Actually, I'm not even quite sure what is holding me back.

Fleshed out characters, mostly showing a great deal of psychological depth, a wondrously convoluted plot... this was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award. The winners of those, back in 1988, were Brin's The Uplift War and Murphy's The Falling Woman, respectively. I've never heard of the latter, and although I enjoyed the former, I think Effinger wrote a better book.

In many ways this b...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Daniel Hembree rated it 2 of 5 stars

A story about a 2-bit hood moving up the ranks in a world dominated by gangsters. The main character means well but just can't handle reality or real women. It's the first book of a trilogy and you hope for better life for him in the next book. Technically, the story is well written and narrated. It's fast paced and keeps your interest. The narrator does well but the dialogue is painful. Do Arabs really talk that way? All the ones I've met don't but they've been here where informal won't be puni...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Mekerei rated it 3 of 5 stars

I enjoy reading "whodunit" novels and hoped that I would be able to guess "whodunit" - but I didn't. I read this on my kindle and suddenly the story was wrapping up - I wasn't ready for it to finish (maybe I'm still getting used to the percentage rather then the visual clues of where you are in the book)- I knew that Friedlander Bey was probably the puppet master in most things, and that at some stage Marid would "plug-in" and things would not be nice afterwards.

I'm not going to rush out and rea...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

I liked the book. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could. What I don't like is the setup for the next book. It looks like this is going to be one of those series where the hero is always out of luck and forced to do things he doesn't want to do. I don't really like that style of writing.

Something else that was disappointing is the technology in the book. It's not consistent. People have their brain wired, but there are no artificial intelligence's. People don't plug into virtual networks. It seem...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Olethros rated it 3 of 5 stars

-El “Noir” más clásico vestido de “Cyberpunk” poco convencional.-

Género. Ciencia-Ficción.

Lo que nos cuenta. En una indeterminada ciudad árabe del siglo XXII, el Budayén es un barrio muy peligroso en el que los comportamientos están algo alejados de los mandamientos del Profeta pero donde la fe se respeta. Marîd Audran se mueve como pez en el agua en ese ambiente con cierta independencia, pero cuando un potencial cliente es asesinado ante sus ojos y más cadáveres empiezan a aparecer en el barrio...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Olethros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

-El “Noir” más clásico vestido de “Cyberpunk” poco convencional.-

Género. Ciencia-Ficción.

Lo que nos cuenta. En una indeterminada ciudad árabe del siglo XXII, el Budayén es un barrio muy peligroso en el que los comportamientos están algo alejados de los mandamientos del Profeta pero donde la fe se respeta. Marîd Audran se mueve como pez en el agua en ese ambiente con cierta independencia, pero cuando un potencial cliente es asesinado ante sus ojos y más cadáveres empiezan a aparecer en el barrio...more

like · see review

topics	posts	views	last activity
SciFi and Fantasy...: For Those Who Have Finished spoilers	14	41	Feb 27, 2012 05:35pm
SciFi and Fantasy...: Sex and Gender Stuff in this Better Book spoilers	23	77	Feb 27, 2012 02:19pm
SciFi and Fantasy...: Moddies and Daddies Mark Spoilers	9	36	Feb 27, 2012 09:58am
SciFi and Fantasy...: First Impressions no spoilers	28	68	Feb 23, 2012 08:30am
SciFi and Fantasy...: A Whole New World marked spoilers	6	24	Feb 18, 2012 09:04am
SciFi and Fantasy...: Chapters 11-15 No Spoilers Past Chapter 15	3	109	Feb 13, 2012 10:35pm
SciFi and Fantasy...: Chapters 6-10 No Spoilers Past Chapter 10	1	20	Feb 05, 2012 02:59am

title link	preview: When Gravity Fails
avg rating	preview: When Gravity Fails Goodreads rating: 4.00 (2281 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/132694.When_Gravity_Fails?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316729685l/132694.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/132694.When_Gravity_Fails?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger[/url]

When Gravity Fails (Marîd Audran #1)

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When Gravity Fails (Marîd Audran #1)

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