Most helpful customer reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Step aside, Gibson., May 20 2004
For my money, this is the definitive work of the cyberpunk genre. All the classic elements are there: just-beyond tomorrow technology, drugs, sex, and a casual disdain for human life. Style is far more important than substance, as eloquently expressed in the form of moddies, jackable personality recordings that make you whomever you want to be. Hard, objective truth is by turns an inconvenience or a victim to practicality and hypocrisy.The two most engaging things about this novel are, in fact, the two things that should stand out in any novel: the characters and the setting. Most often in scifi these both take a back seat to technology. In "Gravity", the technology exists only to enhance the characters, as we see how they use (and abuse) its capabilities. Best of all, Effinger captures the film noir quality of cyberpunk with style and elegance. The good guys might win, but it is a pyrrhic victory. If you're looking for the feel-good hit of the summer, take a pass on this one. If you want a novel with style, grit, and integrity (and not a little cynicism), this is an excellent choice.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Too bad it's out of print, Oct 24 2000
This is a fun book, worth hunting down. I must admit it has its problems...primarily that the plot is weak and the author goes into long tangents that don't forward the plot and are occasionally painful to read. For instance, a perpetually hallucinating taxi driver occupies several pages for no purpose, and just isn't funny. The sci-fi Mid Eastern setting of the book is probably the most interesting world I've ever seen in science fiction. Effinger writes in a smooth, readable style, and doesn't get bogged down in over-explaining the science, as most science fiction authors do. The scenes of the protaganist tryng to get information out of the crime boss, while carefully observing all the required pleasantries of Middle Eastern social ettiquite, are alone worth reading the book. The sequels aren't as good, but the setting of the book is intriguing enough to keep you wanting more.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Cyber-rabia!, Feb 3 2000
Unreal! This and the other two Marid Audran books transport the reader to a fantastical Muslim world of the near future where principles, religion and technology become throwaway commodities available to the highest bidder. Audran's fall from independence to virtual slavery is exciting and damning of the protagonist all at once. A worthy peer of the cyberpunk gods!
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Most recent customer reviews
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by William Gibson
by George Alec Effinger
by George Alec Effinger
