When Gravity Fails (1987)

super fun body-modification, computer-in-your-head, future-cyberpunk mystery...only set somewhere in a future middle east. it's a gritty, hot world of earthy bartenders and sex-changed prostitutes that actually feels like someplace on another continent (as opposed to the standard future NYC underworld). the mystery gets a little clunky towards the end, but the characters are so thoroughly engaging that you don't care. ( )

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. ( )

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 Fiction Noir) it has a twisted case for Marîd to investigate, which leads him on a fantastic adventure. It kind of reminds me a little of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher in the sense that it takes the best elements of the pulp genre and mixes it with a hard hitting protagonist in a will build speculative fiction world.

The world is gritty and the story is full of sex, drugs and murder, it offers a lot the think about in regards to the modifications and technology on offer in Budayeen; if you can chance every aspect of your body, mind and personality, would you do it and what are the side effects? I can’t wait to dive further into this world and see what Marîd gets up to in the next book. Recommended for fans of Science Fiction and pulp novels or even just fans of The Dresden Files; actually I would probably recommend it to anyone that wants to read a captivating book. ( )

I was always a fan of the cyber genre but somehow missed this series. A list friend suggested it and I gambled on the first volume. It is a noir crime novel crossed with cyber and both crossed with a near future world of tiny states and Islamic predominance. The world is never really explained thereby saving endless data dumps and allowing the reader to exercise his own imagination. Indeed the city is never even named. Doesn't matter. It is all done so well that a straight forward who done it becomes a thing of wonder and joy. If either genre interests you try this book. I have of course ordered the two followup volumes. ( )

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. ( )