2011-05 WHEN GRAVITY FAILS: roll call and initial impressions (*NO SPOILERS*)

[Candiss]

Please let us know if you have read, are reading, or are planning to read When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger, as well as any initial impressions.

No spoilers in this thread, please!

[Phoenixfalls]

So I totally forgot that this won. . . must move it up to the top of my TBR stack, seeing as I nominated it! ;D

[Chris]

I want to. Just not sure when time will be on my side.

(When is it ever?)

[Nick]

I'm only starting this now, but will definitely be finishing it.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

This is a book I've been wanting to read for a while, but it just hasn't happened yet - and I doubt I'll get to it this month.

[Bill]

I read the SFBC omnibus of Effinger's trilogy The Audran Sequence last November. I found them quite enjoyable and possibly will re-read them again in the future. I've forgotten a lot of names and detail, but the things I found well done are plugin personalities, life in a Moslem ghetto and in the desert reminiscent but different from Dune. The protagonist is an interesting, well-developed character with depth.

At the beginning of When Gravity Falls, I didn't think I was going to like it and almost put it down for later reading, but I got caught and am delighted I continued to the finish of the trilogy.

[Richard]

I read this a few years ago, just got round to posting my very short review of it, which reads:


I absolutely loved this book, hard, gritty, tense, clever, challenging and disturbing.

Vintage atmospheric, middle eastern counter culture cyberpunk.

Should really have given it five stars. Maybe next time I will.


If I can get time I'll definitely give it a reread, and try to join in with the discussion. I'm really interested in what everyone has to say about this one.

[Ron]

Just ordered this--probably won't be in time for the discussion, but I'll read the comments with interest after the book.

[Paul]

I managed to find a copy and flew through it. I found it an excellent early example of down and dirty cyberpunk, obviously very influential with the use of direct personality interface and skill chips (moddies and daddies) and drugs. I loved the blend of cyberpunk, counterculture and the Arabic setting; the setting was fully fleshed out, not just for exotic colour as it would have been with many writers. the pervasiveness of the islamic world in the lives and language of all the characters is superbly done.

[Ron]

My copy arrived and I'm about halfway through. Effinger is definitely going on my list of writers to buy books of at any opportunity. This reminds me strongly of Jon Courtenay Grimwood's "Arabesk" trilogy, and I like Effinger's riff on the hard-boiled detective. My favourite line so far: "I made a mental note, mentally crumpled it, and threw it in my mental wastebasket."