jeff eaton

In the current climate, it's almost inconceivable that someone would write a near-future cyberpunk novel set in the heart of an Islamic caliphate without making it a harrowing story of terrorism and fascist world conquest. A Fire in the Sun, thankfully, was written in 1989. It was possible, then, to speculate about the future of the Islamic world without being blinded by the headline-du-jour.

The result is an interesting pulp/noir detective vibe transplanted into a curiously different culture. Its characters are shaped by an Islamic culture in the same ways that the characters in The Godfather are shaped by Catholicism -- some devout, some not, but all focused primarily on their own self-interest in the way that humans tend to be.

The plot centers on Marid, a made man under the protection of the freakishly powerful and influential Friedlander Bey. He's a cop, too -- a sort of liaison between the police force and the Arabian godfather who keeps him protected. There's the usual cyberpunky trappings: memory ROMs jacked into neural shunts, esoteric weapons, and gritty murder mysteries. The story doesn't stand out so much as the setting does, but it's definitely worth a read.