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. Cross posted at Outlaw Reviews and at Shelf Inflicted
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)[all those bodies building up, and then chasing down a bunch of endless dead ends makes for frustrated reader. More dead bodies! (okay, not really. seriously, don't do that!). (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book When Gravity Fails (2005)?
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 book is highly reminiscent of China Miéville's The City and the City. Both are detective novels set in a depressing city in, broadly speaking, a similar part of the world, although Miéville's locale is Balkan whilst Effinger is somewhere in the near middle-east (or, perhaps central asia?). Both are very cynical, with corrupt and byzantine politics.I guess that comparison is what keeps me from giving Effinger that fifth star — while this is a very good read, it isn't at quite the pinnacle of creativity that Miéville achieved. Still, very definitely worth reading.(This is the science fiction selection for the Goodreads SciFi and Fantasy Book Club for the month of February 2012. Visit this link to see all of the discussions, group member reviews, etc.)Update and note to self: I spotted this on my shelves and had no clue what the book had been about. Luckily, my GR friend Sandi gave me a nugget that reminded me: “a depraved, degraded Arabic city where people change gender and personalities like I change shoes” — oh, yeah, that book.
—Richard
Reading through this book again I was surprised at how much I had forgotten about it. But this was a good thing at once again I delighted in the story and the people. A dark, dingy world full of sex, drugs, and murder. One man who has always held himself separate from the rest finds he has to become one of the many to find the killer.This book, far ahead of it's time with regards to sexuality, is great from start to finish. Normally I don't like rereading books but this one is definitely an exception. I will be reading the rest of the series for sure.
—Kim
Brilliant story, great concept, intriguing characters. I really enjoyed this one. It's dark, edgy, and depicts a life lived hand to mouth in a rough neighbourhood where life is cheap and drugs and booze take the edge off. An unlikely hero, and a cast of characters that come and go the way you'd expect in a world of easy loyalties, you'd be surprised how much you come to care for the people living on the Street. The tech is interesting and makes you wonder what choices you'd make given the option. I can't recommend it highly enough.
—Penny
