When Gravity Fails

When Gravity Fails PDF Author: George Effinger
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0575124873
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Get Book Here

Book Description
When Gravity Fails, the first Marid novel, is set in a high-tech near-future featuring a divided USA and USSR, a world with mind-or mood-altering drugs for any purpose; brains enhanced by electronic hardware, with plug-in memory additions and modules offering the wearer new personalities (James Bond, celebrities); bodies shaped to perfection by surgery. Marid Audran, an unmodified and fairly honest street-survivor, lives in a decadent Arab ghetto, the Budayeen, and, against his best instincts, becomes involved in a series of inexplicable murders. Some seem like routine assassinations, carried out with an old-fashioned handgun by a man wearing a plug-in James Bond persona; others, involving whores, feature prolonged torture and horrible mutilations. The problem comes to the attention of Budayeen godfather Friedlander Bey, who makes Audran an offer he can't refuse. Audran submits to electronic brain enhancement in order to track down and deal with the killer or killers.

When Gravity Fails

When Gravity Fails PDF Author: George Effinger
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0575124873
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Get Book Here

Book Description
When Gravity Fails, the first Marid novel, is set in a high-tech near-future featuring a divided USA and USSR, a world with mind-or mood-altering drugs for any purpose; brains enhanced by electronic hardware, with plug-in memory additions and modules offering the wearer new personalities (James Bond, celebrities); bodies shaped to perfection by surgery. Marid Audran, an unmodified and fairly honest street-survivor, lives in a decadent Arab ghetto, the Budayeen, and, against his best instincts, becomes involved in a series of inexplicable murders. Some seem like routine assassinations, carried out with an old-fashioned handgun by a man wearing a plug-in James Bond persona; others, involving whores, feature prolonged torture and horrible mutilations. The problem comes to the attention of Budayeen godfather Friedlander Bey, who makes Audran an offer he can't refuse. Audran submits to electronic brain enhancement in order to track down and deal with the killer or killers.

A Fire in the Sun

A Fire in the Sun PDF Author: George Alec Effinger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497605679
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Hugo Award–winning author returns to the futuristic, high-tech Middle East setting of When Gravity Falls in this “major science fiction epic” (Locus). In a world filled with so many puppets, strings tend to get tangled. In this follow-up to the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel When Gravity Fails, the Budayeen is still a very dangerous place, a high-tech Arabian ghetto where power and murder go hand in hand. Marid Audran used to be a low-level street hustler, relying on his wits and independence. Now he’s a cop planted in the force by Friedlander Bey, the powerful “godfather” of the Budayeen. Marid is supposed to simply be Bey’s envoy into the police, but as a series of grisly murders piles up—children, prostitutes, a fellow officer—he is drawn deeper and deeper into the city’s chaos. Would Marid give up all his newfound money and power to get out of this mess? Absolutely. If only he could. But answers are never that easy and choices are never completely one’s own in the Budayeen.

Budayeen Nights

Budayeen Nights PDF Author: George Alec Effinger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497609437
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book Here

Book Description
A “brilliant collection” of short stories set in a “marvelously realized, imaginary Muslim city” from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Long identified as a science fiction writer, except in his own eyes, George Alec Effinger had some of his biggest critical and commercial success with a series even he recognized and characterized as SF. Set in the marvelously realized, imaginary Muslim city of Budayeen, the three novels, When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun and The Exile Kiss garnered rave reviews, award nominations and a wide readership. In addition, Effinger came to be recognized as one of the foundational writers of cyberpunk. Although the novels are perhaps how Budayeen and their hero, Marid Audran, are best known, there are a handful of shorter pieces that add to the vividly drawn and deeply authentic picture of an imagined world and seven short stories, the first part of an uncompleted novel and a story fragment add to the mental images of this exotic and yet somehow completely familiar city and world that Effinger created. This book was originally published by Golden Gryphon Press and comes with a Forword and story notes by Effinger's widow, Barbara Hambly. The lead story in this collection, "Schrodinger's Kitten," won the Hugo, Nebula and Seiun Awards.

The Exile Kiss

The Exile Kiss PDF Author: George Alec Effinger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1497609372
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Get Book Here

Book Description
From a Nebula Award winner: A “phenomenal,” action-packed tale of crime, corruption, and cybernetics (Locus). Set in a divided near future, The Exile Kiss is author George Alec Effinger’s third book about the high-tech Arab ghetto called the Budayeen. It is a world filled with mind- or mood-altering drugs for any purpose; brains enhanced by electronic hardware, with plug-in memory additions and new personalities; and bodies shaped to perfection by surgery. Marid Audran, having risen from the rank of street hustler, is now an enforcer for Friedlander Bey, one of the most feared men in the Budayeen. But betrayal and exile send Marid and Bey out into the lifeless Arabian desert. Can they survive on their own? Will they make it back into hostile territory? Will they find their revenge? With this culmination of the sequence of Marid books, readers will quickly understand why this series is considered one of the great works of modern SF and a defining example of the cyber-punk genre.

The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles PDF Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679644385
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Get Book Here

Book Description
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY People ∙ O: The Oprah Magazine ∙ Financial Times ∙ Kansas City Star ∙ BookPage ∙ Kirkus Reviews ∙ Publishers Weekly ∙ Booklist NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A stunner.”—Justin Cronin “It’s never the disasters you see coming that finally come to pass—it’s the ones you don’t expect at all,” says Julia, in this spellbinding novel of catastrophe and survival by a superb new writer. Luminous, suspenseful, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles tells the haunting and beautiful story of Julia and her family as they struggle to live in a time of extraordinary change. On an ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer; gravity is affected; the birds, the tides, human behavior, and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world that seems filled with danger and loss, Julia also must face surprising developments in herself, and in her personal world—divisions widening between her parents, strange behavior by her friends, the pain and vulnerability of first love, a growing sense of isolation, and a surprising, rebellious new strength. With crystalline prose and the indelible magic of a born storyteller, Karen Thompson Walker gives us a breathtaking portrait of people finding ways to go on in an ever-evolving world. “Gripping drama . . . flawlessly written; it could be the most assured debut by an American writer since Jennifer Egan’s Emerald City.”—The Denver Post “Pure magnificence.”—Nathan Englander “Provides solace with its wisdom, compassion, and elegance.”—Curtis Sittenfeld “Riveting, heartbreaking, profoundly moving.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more.

The Budayeen Cycle

The Budayeen Cycle PDF Author: George Alec Effinger
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504047400
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 633

Get Book Here

Book Description
The complete Hugo and Nebula Award–nominated cyberpunk trilogy by an author whose work is “wry and black and savage” (George R. R. Martin). Praised as “a perfect example of how exciting the subgenre can and should be,” George Alec Effinger’s Budayeen Cycle is a towering and timeless science fiction achievement that continues to amaze, shock, and captivate readers (SF Signal). When Gravity Fails: Set in a high-tech near future featuring an ascendant Muslim world and divided Western superpowers, this cult classic takes readers into a world with mind- or mood-altering drugs for any purpose, brains enhanced by electronic hardware, and surgically altered bodies. Street hustler Marîd Audran has always prided himself on his independence, free from commitments, connections, and even cybernetic modifications. But when a string of brutal murders lands him on the radar of Friedlander Bey, the most powerful and dangerous man in the decadent Arab ghetto, the Budayeen, Audran is forced to change his loner ways, or risk losing his life . . . A Fire in the Sun: Once a small-time smuggler, Marîd Audran has, to his chagrin, moved up in the ranks of the criminal underworld to become a lieutenant in Friedlander Bey’s shadowy empire. Tasked with being Bey’s eyes and ears inside local law enforcement, Audran finds himself tracking yet another serial killer through the streets of the Budayeen. And the closer he gets to his target, the more embroiled he becomes in the deadly political machinations hidden behind the city’s façade. The Exile Kiss: Marîd Audran is finally learning to appreciate the wealth and benefits that come from being on Friedlander Bey’s payroll when a powerful enemy does the unthinkable, and gets both Audran and Bey exiled from the Budayeen. Abandoned in the lifeless and lethal Arabian Desert, Audran and Bey have only one option: survive long enough to exact revenge on the man responsible.

Gravity Falls: Journal 3 Special Edition

Gravity Falls: Journal 3 Special Edition PDF Author: Alex Hirsch
Publisher: Disney Press
ISBN: 9781368002509
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Untie the string and unwrap the brown paper to reveal . . . Journal 3 Limited Edition! This 288-page book contains all of the content of the regular edition, plus all-new top-secret black light pages on real parchment; a cover with leather texture and shiny metallic pieces; a magnifying glass; a tassel bookmark; and removable photos and notes. This $150 limited edition will also include a signed note from the creator of Gravity Falls and co-writer of Journal 3, Alex Hirsch himself.

Gravity's Angels

Gravity's Angels PDF Author: Michael Swanwick
Publisher: Frog Books
ISBN: 9781583940297
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Get Book Here

Book Description
These thirteen stories established Michael Swanwick as one of the brightest stars in the science-fiction firmament. Alongside its companion volume, Tales of Old Earth, Gravity's Angels showcases the very best of Swanwick's considerable talent, including the Sturgeon Award--winner "The Edge of the World." Each story is a unique and engrossing exploration of character, conflict, and conscience.

Life as We Knew it

Life as We Knew it PDF Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0152061541
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 337

Get Book Here

Book Description
I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald's still would be open. High school sophomore Miranda's disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth, like "one marble hits another." The result is catastrophic. How can her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis are wiping out the coasts, earthquakes are rocking the continents, and volcanic ash is blocking out the sun? As August turns dark and wintery in northeastern Pennsylvania, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove. Told in a year's worth of journal entries, this heart-pounding story chronicles Miranda's struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world. An extraordinary series debut Susan Beth Pfeffer has written several companion novels to Life As We Knew It, including The Dead and the Gone, This World We Live In, and The Shade of the Moon.

Synthesizing Gravity

Synthesizing Gravity PDF Author: Kay Ryan
Publisher: Grove Press
ISBN: 0802148190
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 216

Get Book Here

Book Description
The first-ever collection of essays by one of our most distinguished poets, the Pulitzer Prize–winner and former Poet Laureate of the United States. Synthesizing Gravity gathers for the first time a thirty-year selection of Kay Ryan’s probings into aesthetics, poetics, and the mind in pursuit of art. A bracing collection of critical prose, book reviews, and her private previously unpublished soundings of poems and poets—including Robert Frost, Stevie Smith, Marianne Moore, William Bronk, and Emily Dickinson—Synthesizing Gravity bristles with Ryan’s crisp wit, her keen off-kilter insights, and her appetite and appreciation for the genuine. Among essays like “Radiantly Indefensible,” “Notes on the Danger of Notebooks,” and “The Abrasion of Loneliness,” are piquant pieces on the virtues of emptiness, forgetfulness and other under-loved concepts. Edited and with an introduction by Christian Wiman, this generous collection of Ryan’s distinctive thinking gives us a surprising look into the mind of an American master. “Synthesizing Gravity is a delight, if a tart and idiosyncratic one . . . If Ryan gives us a view through a keyhole, it’s a view often made richer by its constraints.” —The New York Times Book Review “Reading Ryan’s writing will charge and recharge the mind . . . a wonderful entry point to her work.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Brilliant . . . For poetry enthusiasts and skeptics alike, this will be an inviting portal into the mind of one of America’s greatest living writers.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Damn fine prose . . . What a wonderful voice [Ryan] displays.” —John Freeman, “Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2020”