Books : Budayeen Nights

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Author name: George Alec Effinger

: Budayeen Nights
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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781930846562
ISBN number: 1930846568
Label: Golden Gryphon Press
Manufacturer: Golden Gryphon Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 235
Printing Date: September 01, 2008
Publishing house: Golden Gryphon Press
Sale Popularity Level: 262686
Studio: Golden Gryphon Press



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Product Description:

A dark and gritty trip into the imagination of one of science fiction's most gifted authors, this collection presents all nine tales of the Budayeen gathered together in one archival-quality volume, available for the very first time in more than 20 years. Here is the Budayeen: a gritty fusion of Bogart's Casablanca, New Orleans' notoriously seedy French Quarter, and a futuristic Muslim city, all welded together and serving as the perfect backdrop for Marid, a drug-addled policeman and anti-hero of world-class proportion. This is a collection to get lost in, from the city's sordid underbelly to the glamorous excesses of the 'sex moddy' industry, from the tall, ancient mosque towers to the strong-voiced muezzin calling the faithful to morning devotions, the Budayeen leaps to sudden life, making claims to its own reality as only the best science fiction can.





Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - A fine pick for avid science fiction readers and libraries
George Alec Effinger's BUDAYEEN NIGHTS comes from one of the founders of the 'cyberpunk' movement and provides a collection of nine writings - seven stories, the very first part of an uncompleted novel, and a story fragment, set in the imaginary Muslim city of Budayeen. Effinger's humour supplements some zany settings and situations. A fine pick for avid science fiction readers and libraries.



Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Wonderful Tales of the Budayeen
I have to disagree with Brian Starrett's comments below about BUDAYEEN NIGHTS. Brian is disappointed because this book wasn't the fourth Budayeen novel that he so eagerly desires. What it is, is a collection of short stories, all of which take place in, and involve characters from, the Budayeen.

According to the story notes (which precede each story, and were written by Effinger's ex-wife, author Barbara Hambly), one story, "Marîd Changes His Mind," is actually the very first two chapters of the planned fourth Budayeen novel, but unfortunately this is all Effinger ever wrote of that book before his death. Also, according to the story notes, the story entitled "The World As We Know It" actually takes place after the proposed FIFTH Budayeen novel. In this story, Marîd is in hiding from Friedlander Bey's enemies, the same enemies who caused Bey's untimely demise. So there is some consistency between the stories, and, of course, you'll see a lot of the same characters from the novels in these stories as well.

The story that leads off the collection, "Schrödinger's Kitten," won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Japanese Seiun Award (Japan's equivalent of the Hugo Award), all for best short story of the year. Not too shabby . . . And a couple other stories were nominated for these same awards. So you will certainly be entertained with the quality of the writing in this collection.

Please don't let Mr. Starrett's disappointment in not finding the non-existent fourth Budayeen novel dissuade you from reading and experiencing these wonderful tales of the Budayeen.


Rated by buyers 3 out of 5 stars - Review by Effinger Fan
I loved the Trilogy of Marid Audran. Sadly this book is just some confusing short stories of the Budayeen. I was hoping there'd be more from the "4th" book. Save yourself some heartbreak. This a quick read like the other 3 books. If you haven't read the other books (gravity, fire, and exile) buy those instead.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Best SF Collection of 2003!
What isn't obvious about the Publishing houses Weekly review of BUDAYEEN NIGHTS posted above is that this was a *starred* review! Not only is it rare for a sf/fantasy collection even to be reviewed in PW, but to receive a starred review is . . . well, kudos to Golden Gryphon for publishing this long-awaited collection from George Alec Effinger. In fact, anything from GAE is long-awaited! According to the story notes, George contributed directly to the compilation of this collection, it's just sad that he wasn't with us long enough to see its publication, his very first book in like ten years.

Here's what critic/reviewer/editor/author Claude Lalumière had to say about BUDAYEEN NIGHTS on the Locus Online website (www.locusmag.com) in his feature article on the Best of 2003:

"The book that wowed me more than any other in 2003 is BUDAYEEN NIGHTS (Golden Gryphon) by the late George Alec Effinger. BUDAYEEN NIGHTS serves as a beautifully evocative postscript to Effinger's trio of Budayeen novels (WHEN GRAVITY FAILS, etc.). The stories featuring the novels' protagonist, Marîd Audran, are the most effective, but the whole book is wondrously sensuous, seductive, witty, and thrilling. Effinger's creation, the Muslim underworld of the Budayeen, is one of my favourite settings in SF, and revisiting it for this final outing was a moving experience."

And I quoted Claude because I agree -- this book is wondrous, seductive, witty, thought-provoking -- just what one would expect from the writings of George Alec Effinger. If you're a fan of GAE, of the Budayeen novels, this book will not disappoint.


Rated by buyers 2 out of 5 stars - Only Two or Three Stories Are Worth Reading
This posthumous collection of short stories are all linked to Effinger's remarkable late '80s cyberpunk trilogy, set in an unnamed Arab city in the 22nd century. When Gravity Fails (1987), A Fire in the Sun (1989), and The Exile Kiss (1991) were a remarkable set of books which combined pulp crime with cerebral implants in an Islamic setting. Most of the action in those books took place in the Budayeen, a red-light district heavily modeled on New Orleans' French Quarter. The hodgepodge collected here by Effinger's ex-wife (the author Barbara Hambly) is, regrettably, a far cry from those fine works, and will be more of interest to the completist than the average reader.

Things kick off with Effinger's most famous work, the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon Award-winning short story "Schrodinger's Kitten". I personally didn't care for the story, which centers on quantum mechanics. Next is "Marid Changes His Mind", a story very first published in Asimov's, and actually comprises the very first two chapters of A Fire in the Sun. It's fine, but I'm not really sure what the point of including it is. This is followed by "Slow, Slow Burn", a story about Honey Pilar, who is mentioned several times in the trilogy as the world's premier virtual reality porn star. Originally published in Playboy, it's OK, but doesn't really have anything to do with the Budayeen.

"Marid and the Trail of Blood" was specially written for a vampire anthology, and feels like a bit of a throwaway story. It's got Marid and the Budayeen, and implants, but doesn't have a whole lot of vigour or imagination behind it. Next is "King of the Cyber Rifles", which is probably the best of the stories. While set the same world as the trilogy, that's it's only connection. A lone sentry mans a pillbox on the Persian frontier, operating a web of sophisticated weaponry against border-crossing guerilla insurgents. It's a very good story that stands out from the rest of the book. What comes after is an annoyingly tantalizing thirty page entry. It's the very first two chapters of what would have been the follow-up to The Exile Kiss. Titled, "Marid Throws A Party", it's quite nice, but obviously will never be completed. Again, why include this?

"The World As We Know It" is the other strong story of the collection, and very first appeared in the Futurecrime anthology. It's intriguing, because it's set well after the trilogies, and Marid is a rather down at his heels outcast detective. The story concerns people living in "Consensual Realities", sort of like living in a giant Star Trek holosuite. Unfortunately, after this is "The City in the Sand", an atrocious story published thirty years ago. It's apparently the very first Budayeen-set story, but the city is very different from what emerged in the trilogy. This doesn't matter so much as the sheer awfulness and pointlessness of the story, which is about a dissolute expatriate who sits at one of the cafes all day in a Proustian stupor. Last and least is a seven page story fragment called "The Plastic Pasha". Apparently the last thing Effinger worked on before his death, it concerns Marid's younger brother-again, why is this here?

In the end, while I quite enjoy Effinger's Budayeen trilogy, I have to question why this collection exists in the form that it does. I suppose it's nice to have all these fragments in one place, but I really question the value (and ethics) and including unfinished work taken off a dead author's computer. It's not the best introduction to his work, and doesn't do him a great service.

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