When Gravity Fails

Marid Audran Trilogy, Book 1

By: George Alec Effinger

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

In a decadent world of cheap pleasures and easy death, Marid Audrian has kept his independence the hard way. Still, like everything else in the Budayeen, he's available for a price.

For a new kind of killer roams the streets of the Arab ghetto, a madman whose bootlegged personality cartridges range from a sinister James Bond to a sadistic disemboweler named Khan. And Marid Audrian has been made an offer he can't refuse.The 200-year-old godfather of the Budayeen's underworld has enlisted Marid as his instrument of vengeance. But first Marid must undergo the most sophisticated of surgical implants before he dares to confront a killer who carries the power of every psychopath since the beginning of time.

Wry, savage, and unignorable, When Gravity Fails was hailed as a classic by Effinger's fellow SF writers on its original publication in 1987, and the sequence of Marid Audrian novels it begins were the culmination of his career.

©1987 George Alec Effinger (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Fast, cool, clever, beautifully written, absolutely authoritative. A kind of cyberpunk Raymond Chandler book with dashes of Roger Zelazny, Ian Fleming, and Scheherezade - but altogether original." (Robert Silverberg)

"Ingenious, layered, sophisticated, and consistently bloodcurdling, When Gravity Fails kept me awake long after I had finished reading it." (Spider Robinson)

"[Y]ou people are cheating yourselves if you don't forego food and rent to pick up on Effinger's work. Now, this time, will you for pete's sake listen to me and buy When Gravity Fails? It's as crazy as a spider on ice skates, plain old terrific; and if you don't pay attention I'll have to get tough with you!" (Harlan Ellison)

Extraordinary performance

I had read this book fifteen years ago and rediscovered it in audio.

First, the performance is plain amazing. Every accent is there ! It is a fantastic read.

Then, the story is truly good and deserved the awards it got. Small warning : this is not a cyber detective story like many other inspired by Hammet / Chandler. This is a Don story like Mario Puzo's Don. And it is really well implemented

Last, but not least, the oriental world is very well described, precise and documented. We are not used to read stories in this world, with more stories set up either in the US or oriental world. It's a welcome change :-)

have a look !

Some good. Mostly bad

I’m a sucker for cyberpunk. The problem is most of it is so old the “future technology” is a bit behind where we are today or just plain uninteresting. I enjoyed idea of setting it the Middle East and the idea of a technology advanced Muslim community. The author definitely dropped the ball with the idea. One one side of the coin, the citizens range from devout to extremists (excluding the protagonist). Yet half the city is transgender and no one pays any attention. Most religions aren’t know for tolerance towards such ppl and could have been used to create some interesting conflict.

The modules that characters use to chip in alternative personalities is not well thought out. I don’t understand the appeal or the benefits. And why would chipping in a James Bond Moddie make you a skilled assassin? It would only turn you into Hollywood’s idea of an assassin. Same goes for fictional detectives. Maybe I’m overthinking it but I couldn’t overlook the leap in logic. I think it was just a means to set up the final conflict with the killer?

Lastly, I couldn’t understand why the main character , who is painted as selfish and self serving antihero, cared about Nikki’s death. He never showed any emotional connection to her besides frustration prior to her death. So he’s crusading to avenge a woman he used to know? I found myself constantly asking why he was putting himself through all of this when I wasn’t sure why he cared in the first place.

That being said, I’m glad I stuck it out to the end (I almost quit a little more than halfway though). Perfect ending of a crime noir story.

Noir Arab detective thriller

George Alec Effinger's When Gravity Fails is the first volume of his Marid Audran trilogy. Marid is a kind of private detective / investigator, but moreso an all around troubleshooter. He operates out of the Budayeen which is the seedier / dangerous part of town. He becomes drawn into a series of killings that he either witnesses or finds them and is hired by the local crime boss to figure it all out as business is starting to get affected. The full story is complex and convoluted.

While the mystery is engaging with a number of plot twists, the real draw of the tale is the futuristic scenario that is not so much dystopic as simply different. Set in the 22nd century, the major powers of globe have lost influence leaving the Arab world largely on its own. There is technological progress, but the rest of life seems business as usual. The most noticeable advancements are in the area of sex changes which are nearly routine and neural implants that allow for both instantaneous, but temporary language acquisition as well as wholesale personality changes.

The narration is well done with excellent character distinction and overall solid pacing.

Riveting story, incredible narrator!

I'm enjoying every word of this interesting story and it is narrated so well by Jonathan Davis. I am looking forward to listening to books 2 and 3.

Enjoyable

If you could sum up When Gravity Fails in three words, what would they be?

Naughty sci-fi goodness

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marid Audran. Honestly not to much was written about to many of the other characters.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not sure

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Marid was confronted with the life changing decision to modify his brain.

Any additional comments?

I read these books when I was in my teens in the late 80's. I really enjoyed these books then. I enjoyed them even more now. I was so glad to see them come to audio-book format. Some 20 plus years later.

One has to keep an open mind with reading. This is very different then what most are used to reading.

I could so see this being something not to far off in the distant future. We are already doing body augmentation. Imagine would it will be like in 200 years. Personality chips why not there is already work on rats using brain tissues and processors.

Great Cyberpunk

Would you listen to When Gravity Fails again? Why?

I was hesitant to listen based on some of the other reviews. Most of the negative reviews couldn't be more wrong, this is great science fiction that presents the gritty Cyberpunk noir world.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot unfolds quickly, and while perhaps not completely unpredictable, take place in a middle eastern ghetto. The cultural variations are a wonder nuance to the Cyberpunk world.

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've never heard of this author before, but I'm going to listen to more of his books.

Any additional comments?

Do your self a favor - ignore the negative comments. Enjoy this book.

Neuromancer in the Middle East

This is another noir cyberpunk story with a reluctant hero who works for people he swore he'd never work for, doing things he swore he'd never do. If you've read "Neuromancer" or "Altered Carbon", you've read "When Gravity Fails". Just replace future-Tokyo or future-San Francisco with future-Damascus. (Actually, the city is never actually named: it could just as easily be Beirut or Amman or Jerusalem or Cairo.) While this was a good story, I'm thinking it was nominated for a Hugo and Nebula in 1988 because "Whoa, dude! Cyberpunk! In the Middle East! Like, everyone's Muslim!"

Aside from that novelty factor, When Gravity Fails serves up what you expect in a cyberpunk novel: digital personalities, downloaded brain modifications, surgically altered bodies, fractured nation-states, and lots of crime and grit and whores.

Marid Audrian is a Moroccan son of a prostitute who's your fairly standard noir protagonist: he hangs out in the Budayeen, an Arab ghetto in an unnamed Middle Eastern city, and his friends, lovers, and business associates are all grifters, bartenders, prostitutes, various-shades-of-dirty cops, street hustlers, just trying to get by, preying on rich tourists and their fellow citizens alike.

Marid gets dragged into a convoluted plot involving a serial killer who initially uses a James Bond persona, which was a mildly clever touch. Since he begins the story stating his abhorrence of having his brain modified, we know he's going to wind up chipped and jacked to the max.

The action scenes are fast-paced and well-written and the technology blends smoothly with the Middle Eastern setting. The "mystery" is a bit of a let-down, as I was expecting something more clever and twisted, but it ultimately made sense, and why should the real killer be some shocking Big Reveal instead of just another grimy scumbag?

Effinger's handling of Middle Eastern culture from a first-person POV did not, I think, exoticize it too much. Marid, while not devout himself, sees Arab culture and Islam as the default, so if he's sometimes critical or even mocking of it, it's no more so than an agnostic American who's not above taking shots at American culture and Christianity.

There are a lot of sex-changed characters in the book, including Marid's girlfriend. I wouldn't say it's particularly sensitive to trans people (there are the usual jokes about "You didn't know she used to be a man?"), but they seem to be accepted like everyone else. When Gravity Fails was probably pretty progressive for 1988. The "Whores! Whores! Whores!" sensibility is pretty de rigueur for cyberpunk. (That said, if you want cyberpunk that's not full of whores and nipply breasts, try Neal Stephenson or Hannu Rajaniemi.)

Like Neuromancer, When Gravity Fails is a book that might have been edgy and mind-blowing in the 80s, but now has nothing you haven't seen rolled out in mass production by Hollywood and dozens of SF imitators. This story about a street operator tracking down a serial killer in an unnamed futuristic Middle Eastern city is an entertaining enough read, but unless either cyberpunk or the Middle Eastern setting holds special appeal for you, it isn't something I'd recommend you go out of your way for.

Neither black nor white

This is a world a greys, loud bold greys, soft foggy greys, shifting sand greys. It was not at all what I expected. Fascinating world and characters, sometimes sympathetic, sometimes repellant. If Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs was less trained and inhabited an Middle Eastern/San Franciscoed version of Bladerunner. A great listen but not all at once.

Dark , very dark

Where does When Gravity Fails rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In a peculiar place, it's a powerful even compelling book but so very dark. I didn't like or relate to a single character but listened to it until the end. I didn't like anything about the Boudayeen but this is an incredible book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of When Gravity Fails?

There are so many but the few times Marie was happy or felt love stand out

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

Everything, his performance is perfect.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Abandon hope....

Any additional comments?

I'm not sure if I love this book or hate it. It's certainly not a fun cozy book

Loved it, but wouldn't recommend to most women

A thrilling mix of Raymond Chandler, Casablanca, Blade Runner, Rex Stout, Ian Fleming, and other gritty sci fi... Altered Carbon, for example. I loved it, but I assume that not everyone would enjoy the cynical guy in strip clubs "male gaze" atmosphere, so it's not for everyone. it's a tale of seedy criminal nightlife within an arabic City. cynical cops. sex changes. powerful rich gangsters. personality implants. grotesque murders. I had a blast listening to it. pulp fiction. The reader was great.