A Fire in The Sun is, in almost every respect, an improvement upon the novel that gave it life. Like a young athlete adjusting to the speed of the big leagues, Mr. Effinger has found his storytelling stride. He's always had the Voice -- it was perhaps the most memorable and successful element of When Gravity Fails --, but this sequel adds another, valuable string to his literary bow, elevating Marid Audran onto a list of Cyberpunk's greatest characters.
When Gravity Fails was, at root, a novel about freedom from technological bondage and autocratic slavery. In refusing to have his brain wired, Audran was limiting himself to a life as a second-rate hustler, yet, this was the only way to both remain completely himself and to keep below the radar of kingmakers like Freidlander Bey, men who run the world in the 22nd century. But now that Audran has accepted his cutting-edge implants, A Fire in The Sun drops the freedom theme and replaces it with prophecy and destiny. For as we discover in the first few pages here, Marid has become what he feared most, a pawn in the schemes of the king of the Budayeen, the aforementioned Freidlander Bey, a 200-year-old, Arab powerbroker who, with the twilight of the nation state, has stepped into the breach to become one of two overlords who have divvied the world up between them, running their spheres from the background, spiders in the web. Marid has become Bey's lieutenant, moving into his lord's expansive home where he acquaints himself with Bey's eccentric and deadly associates. These choices have only served to further alienate Audran from his former friends, a reality that does not appear to trouble Freidlander Bey one bit. After all, the more Marid drifts away from what once rooted him, the more he becomes Bey's creature.
Though Marid's descent into vassalage is a large component of this piece, the main thrust of the plot concerns a new series of murders in the Budayeen, these even less explicable than the last. But though Marid's obligations to Freidlander Bey preoccupy him, he still has time to take an interest in the killings, crimes which lead him to a most unpleasant truth about his master and the power he wields. Can Audran accept his destiny, or will he recognize what he's becoming and be able to pull himself away from the life being built for him?
Though this is quality Cyberpunk, it has its warts. Mr. Effinger is as subtle as a jackhammer when it comes to important plot developments. His efforts to conceal that many of his characters exist to provide exposition to the reader, and to feed clues to Audran, are pathetic. Not to mention that Audran can be extraordinarily petulant about his plight even though, despite Mr. Effinger's attempts to convince the reader otherwise, his fate is completely within his own control. Nonetheless, Mr. Effinger has generated a truly Machiavellian idea and used it to inject both life and disgust into the mystery here. This, combined with Audran's descent into a life as the right hand to a king, grant this piece a dark, enjoyable vitality. (3/5 Stars)
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