Books written by George Alec Effinger

Dirty Tricks: Stories

“'It withers imperceptibly in the world, This flower-like human heart.'” “That's very pretty,” I said. “But stupid, too." I listened for a few seconds, hearing the chatter of the two girls and the distant, hollow sounds of the amusement ...
Death in Florence

Brant gestured, inviting Staefler to follow her across the street to a small restaurant. He shrugged, but followed her. Inside the cafe Brant left the metal rod by the door, and they took a table near the window.
Those Gentle Voices: A Promethean Romance of the Spaceways

Miss Brant will give you a hand.” “Certainly, Dr. Jennings,” she said, falling immediately into the staged formality they adopted during their working hours. She was pleased; here was an opportunity to put her own scheme into operation.
A Thousand Deaths: Stories

"No," said Brant. "I'm connected," said Courane. "Indirectly." "You'll all like this story," said Phretys. She sat down and took out another cigarette. "There's this asteroid with a domed city on it." She lit the cigarette. We waited.
Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson

They talked about my sword a lot , because they were too embarrassed to mention my costume . I think it's — who ? The ice ? Would you be a dear and leave the boy something ? I don't have a goddamned penny .
The Zork Chronicles

With Glorian prodding him ever onward, Mirakles descends into the Great Underground Empire where he encounters Spike the Protector, the Dragon's Lair, the Wizard's Workroom, the winged vampire were-unicorn, and the Warm Boot of Frobozz
When Gravity Fails

Nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards, the highest honors in the genre, When Gravity Fails, which introduced the cyberpunk Budayeen Cycle, is a pioneering work the Denver Post called “superior science fiction” and Harlan Ellison ...
The Wolves of Memory

The human race has turned over its cares and woes to the infinitely superior mechanism of TECT, but not everyone is at home in this new world.
The Bird of Time

“Well,” he said at last, “if the Agency can peek in here and copy down your whole Prime Sequence and arm me with some error you've made ... You sum the series of the Agency's peeking, and you sum the series of the Underground's peeking, ...
A Thousand Deaths

This volume of science fiction thrillers contains a novel and seven short stories centered on the semi-autobiographical character Sandor Courane.
Dirty Tricks

Dirty Tricks
The Red Tape War

Sixty-seven centuries in the future, a bureaucratic snafu makes Millard Fillmore Pierce the Milky Way's representative to an invasion force from another dimension
The Exile Kiss

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.
Live! From Planet Earth: Stories

Also included here are Effinger’s O.Niemand stories, which perfectly mimic the styles of Steinbeck, Hemingway and Twain. The results are a tour de force sure to please existing fans and make new fans of anyone who reads them.
The Red Tape War

Sixty-seven centuries in the future, a bureaucratic snafu makes Millard Fillmore Pierce the Milky Way's representative to an invasion force from another dimension
The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything and Target: Berlin!: Stories

These two short stories serve as a wonderful glimpse into the mind of multiple Hugo and Nebula Award nominee George Alec Effinger, a singular talent in the world of SF. In The Aliens Who Knew, I Mean, Everything, benevolent aliens have ...
The Nick of Time

The world’s first time traveler embarks on a multiverse misadventure in this madcap novel from “one of SF’s distinctively nutty voices!” (Chicago Tribune).
A Fire in the Sun

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.
Budayeen Nights: Stories

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 Budayeen Cycle: When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun, and The Exile Kiss

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 ...