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A Fire in the Sun
 
 
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A Fire in the Sun (Paperback)

~ (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...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
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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 )


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…

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Orb Books (February 21, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0765313596
  • ISBN-13: 978-0765313591
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #299,173 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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George Alec Effinger
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WE'D RIDDEN for many days out the coast highway toward Mauretania, the part of Algeria where I'd been born. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Abu Adil, Friedlander Bey, Umm Saad, Shaykh Reda, Phoenix File, Lieutenant Hajjar, Stones That Speak, Wise Counselor, Angel Monroe, Umar Abdul-Qawy, Complete Guardian, Dark Lightning, Gay Che, Officer Shaknahyi, Prophet Muhammad, Sergeant Catavina, White Death, Honey Pilar, Messenger of God, Proxy Hell, Songhay Republic, Stone That Speaks, Fourth Street, Frenchy Benoit, Marid Audran
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When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger
 

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Customer Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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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 review is from: A Fire in the Sun (Paperback)
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.

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6 of 6 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
This review is from: A Fire in the Sun (Paperback)
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.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Miss it!, July 13, 1998
By rapto10847@aol.com (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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader
Broke, independent and criminal maybe better than ok, cop and beholden.


Marid is now basically working for the local crimelord, and doing what he is told, even... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Blue Tyson

4.0 out of 5 stars Marid Matures
The primary focus of this work in the "Marid Trilogy" is the maturation of Marid. We still have the wonderful setting of the Budayeen and the cyberpunk idea of cerebral... Read more
Published on September 24, 2007 by David Hood

3.0 out of 5 stars The first was an easy read, this one its harder to stomach.
If you read the first one and loved it, that's good, but don't expect too much of the same from this one. Read more
Published on July 26, 2007 by Pierce Roth

5.0 out of 5 stars Living With the Devil
A Fire In the Sun (1989) is the second SF novel in the Budayeen series, following When Gravity Fails. Read more
Published on December 27, 2006 by Arthur W. Jordin

4.0 out of 5 stars urban noir inside a futuristic science fiction
In the twenty-second century, private detective Marid Audran wonders if he gave up too much of his independence when he agreed to delete the adjective private from his occupation... Read more
Published on March 1, 2006 by Harriet Klausner

5.0 out of 5 stars Tight, tight narrative
The narrative in 'When Gravity Fails' is uneven; Marid in particular is supposed to be a relatively uneducated son of a prostitute, yet he compares himself to Hamlet. Read more
Published on April 1, 2005 by Ben Thapa

5.0 out of 5 stars Cheers George
As mentioned, this is the second book in a (currently) three book series. Sadly, there won't be a fourth, as George Alec Effinger died last year. Read more
Published on July 3, 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars A pretty good sci-fi read
This book is very uneven, with many strengths and many weaknesses. Though I haven't read the first book in the series, which seems to be out of print, the plot here is more or... Read more
Published on September 27, 2002

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