It was
Brian Atterbery who introduced the idea of ‘fuzzy sets’ in reference to works
of fiction which do not fit comfortably within a genre, rather at the margins,
perhaps even touching upon or existing mostly within other genres. By default, the implication is that a center
exists—an effable something that can be pointed at in representation. Reading George Alec Effinger’s When Gravity Fails (1987), first novel
of the Budayeen series, it’s striking
how stereotypically cyberpunk the novel is.
Featuring computer chips directly inserted into the brain that modify
personality, body modifications between the genders, and a noir crime
storyline, a mainstream chassis has been stripped down and fitted out with Neuromancer parts. It’s a novel at the core of cyberpunk,
nothing fuzzy about it.
When Gravity Fails is the story Marid
Audran. A private eye for hire living in
a seedy disrict called Budayeen (an obvious analog to Effinger’s own French
Quarter of New Orleans), his life of winning and losing a buck here and there
and breaking up and getting back together with his transsexual-stripper girlfriend
Yasmin has a charm he can live with as long as he can have his
independence. While others around move
to the lull and sway of implants and mods in the bustling Arabian city, Audran
chooses to go unaltered. But the freedom
he holds dear begins to disintegrate when a trio of friends (hookers working in
a brothel near his favorite bar) are murdered, one by one. Seeking out the local police and mafia for
answers, events escalate to the point Audran finds himself standing before the
local Bey and facing a choice that is, in fact, not a choice. Budayeen getting even bloodier and messier as
colleagues and enemies are dragged into the mayhem, Audran must fight with all
he’s got to preserve not only his friends who are still alive, but himself.
