A Fire in the Sun (Paperback)

by George Effinger (Author) "WE'D RIDDEN for many days out the coast highway toward Mauretania, the part of Algeria where I'd been born..." (more)
Key Phrases: Abu Adil, Friedlander Bey, Umm Saad (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A major science fiction epic.”
--Locus on A Fire In the Sun

“A Fire In the Sun proves beyond any doubt that Effinger is a master.”
--Mike Resnick

“Like a dive into the eye of a storm.”

--The Washington Post Book World on When Gravity Fails

“A major science fiction epic.” (Locus )

“A Fire In the Sun proves beyond any doubt that Effinger is a master.” (Mike Resnick ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

Marid Audran has become everything he once despised. Not so long ago, he was a hustler in the Budayeen, an Arabian ghetto in a Balkanized future Earth. Back then, as often as not, he didn’t have the money to buy himself a drink. But he had his independence.

Now Marid works for Friedlander Bey, “godfather” of the Budayeen, a man whose power stretches across a shattered, crumbling world. During the day, Marid is a policeman…and Bey’s personal envoy to the police. His new position has brought him money and power which he would abandon in a moment if he could return to a life of neither owning nor being owned. Which, unfortunately, isn’t one of his options.

It’s also not an issue. For something dark is afoot. Something that is sending the city into chaos. Helping a child-mutilator to avoid arrest. Sending a killer to murder Marid’s partner. Murdering prostitutes and savaging their remains. Signs point to the hand of Abu Adil—the one man in the city whose power rivals Friedlander Bey’s. Whatever happens next, it’s not going to be good news for Marid Audran…

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (June 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038526349X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385263498
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,865,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slightly Less Fun than the first, December 21, 2001

By	A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This sequel to When Gravity Fails finds former lowlife gumshoe Marid Audran suddenly becoming the right-hand man of futuristic Cairo's godfather, Friedlander Bey. Marid's transition from near-destitute scum to wealthy and powerful is more than a little awkward for him, since he had always prided himself on his independence. It's also somewhat awkward for the reader, since after a while, it gets old watching him get treated like a marionette. Friedlander Bey reorders Marid's world to separate him from his former friends and life by placing him on the police force, giving him his friend's bar, and giving him a Christian slave. Of course, you can't really refuse gifts from Friedlander Bey, so Marid toils at his job investigating various intrigues against his master. Thus, even more so than in the first book, he's the reluctant hero with a conscience of sorts.

The story starts with Marid in Algiers, searching for his mother and his roots. It doesn't quite work out as well as expected, and soon he's back in Cairo under the thumb of Friedlander Bey, working for the police, running around trying to figure out who's murdering little children and prostitutes. The killings may or may not be linked to Abu Adil, a rival to Friedlander Bey, but Marid doesn't really get going until an obviously corrupt officer keeps thwarting him and his reluctant partner gets killed. This element gets a little hokey, as his relationship with the partner goes through all the phases familiar to us from buddy-cop movies. The action gets a little convoluted as Marid bounces around, and the setting's novelty isn't as compelling as in the first book. Still, it's an interesting mix of Chandler and Dick, and if you like it, you should definitely check out Jonathan Lethem's Gun, With Occasional Music. Followed by The Exile Kiss.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars G Effinger - One of the Unsung Heroes of SF, July 9, 2001

By A Customer

The 3 books (so far) of the Audran series are some of the best SF that has been available in recent years. Sadly often a mix of bargain bin chance find or out of print& unobtainable it can be very difficult to get hold of them, but when you do the satisfaction is all the greater.

The premise behind the series is brilliant. It places the characters in a cyberpunkesque middle east landscape but rather than in the course of one book turning characters into world beating superheroes - the characters remain grounded in an often seedy but very consistent universe. There are real shades here of Phiip K Dick at his best. It may not be SF for juveniles (wish fulfillment if any is darker and a lot more adult).

People in this series spend much of their time doing very human things (evasion of reality & difficult questions through drink, drugs or media being the most common). These books certainly live up to one valuable SF trend of holding a mirror to current daily life.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss it!, July 13, 1998

By	[e-mail] (St. Petersburg, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fire in the Sun (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the second in a series of books (3 so far) about Marid Audran. In this book, he searches for his past while trying to stay alive as a cop, investigating strings of murders... The excellent blend of cyberpunk technology, mystery, and action make it a great story, and I have read it 5 or 6 times so far.