[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
RARA-AVIS: Future Noir
Doc Savage and Tarzan are SF? Hmm? I suppose the only other thing to call
them is pulp. (love them though!)
However, the mention of SF reminded of George Alec Effinger and his "City
Trilogy". The three books, in order, are: _When_Gravity_Fails_ (1987),
_A_Fire_In_the_Sun_ (1990), and _The_Exile_Kiss_ (1991), published by Bantam
Spectra. The series is open ended and there has been the expectation of
further books, but I understand that author has been seriously ill.
They are set about 200 years into the future in a nameless Arab city. The
protaganist is an altogether too literate young hustler/PI named Marid
Audran. He's on his way up in the world. The only price is his freedom.
Hardboiled and humorous in a Chandler way, with layers of irony that repay
rereading. These stories appear to have happy endings . . .
If you don't mind being tossed, naked and unarmed, into a world that isn't
yet, Effinger is your cup of tea.
If you do mind, then you probably like James Ellroy. Just waded through
_L.A._Confindential_ and would love for someone with sympathy to explain why
Ellroy's telegraphy is considered a "prose style." Compelling plot, in that
I turned every page. Lack of art, in that I can't quote a single line.
myshmysh
-
# RARA-AVIS: To unsubscribe, say "unsubscribe rara-avis"
# to majordomo@icomm.ca
[Archives] | [RARA-AVIS]