From what I understand, it's pronounced sort of like finger (F-inger). Kind of wish you had said more about the setting, the Budayeen is rather unlike your typical cyberpunk sprawl slum (even if the characters share similar archetypes) and it's much more than window dressing, Effinger obviously did a lot of studying on middle eastern culture and Islam. You could have also touched on its extremely progressive views on trans-sexuality (for a book published in the mid-80s), Marîds on-and-off girlfriend being a trans woman. It's also worth noting there's a game, Circuit's Edge, set between this and "A Fire in the Sun", that's pretty decent.
I loved everything about this book except for the story. Audran is a passenger who things happen around or too. Very little he does advances the investigation and SPOILER: the bad guy just shows up. For no reason. Coincidence is king and without it the story doesn't advance. The world, characters and premise are superb. G.A.E just needed to learn how to write a story that matches them.
It's one of my favorite books, fresh air into the (sadly still) saturated American-Japanese settings of cyberpunk. Not only that, it incorporated the Arab culture, sex workers and trans folks in an organical way. I love this book, its sad the author passed away before ending Marid's misadventures. Still, it remains in a very special place in my heart.
From what I understand, it's pronounced sort of like finger (F-inger). Kind of wish you had said more about the setting, the Budayeen is rather unlike your typical cyberpunk sprawl slum (even if the characters share similar archetypes) and it's much more than window dressing, Effinger obviously did a lot of studying on middle eastern culture and Islam. You could have also touched on its extremely progressive views on trans-sexuality (for a book published in the mid-80s), Marîds on-and-off girlfriend being a trans woman. It's also worth noting there's a game, Circuit's Edge, set between this and "A Fire in the Sun", that's pretty decent.
I loved everything about this book except for the story. Audran is a passenger who things happen around or too. Very little he does advances the investigation and SPOILER: the bad guy just shows up. For no reason. Coincidence is king and without it the story doesn't advance.
The world, characters and premise are superb. G.A.E just needed to learn how to write a story that matches them.
Great book.
This is blade runner meet middle east
It's one of my favorite books, fresh air into the (sadly still) saturated American-Japanese settings of cyberpunk. Not only that, it incorporated the Arab culture, sex workers and trans folks in an organical way. I love this book, its sad the author passed away before ending Marid's misadventures. Still, it remains in a very special place in my heart.