Misplaced Pages

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28-553: Taking place in a futuristic Middle-Eastern setting, the series reverses some of the usual expectations of a future world order by painting the West in decline while Muslim countries seem to prosper. The book's other main themes are the effects of drug use and alternate personality technologies, as well as the personal interactions and increasing isolation of a flawed protagonist. It is the first book in Effinger's "Marîd Audran" series, named after

56-401: A breast or the organs contained within the torso would be mutilation. Some ethnic groups practice ritual mutilation, for example, burning , clitoridectomy , or flagellation , sometimes as part of a rite of passage . In some cases, the term may even apply to treatment of dead bodies, as in the case of scalping , when a person is mutilated after they have been killed by an enemy. Castration

84-425: A large section of the body of a living or dead person, specifically, the head (also termed decapitation), arms, hands, torso, pelvic area, legs, or feet". Mutilation, by contrast, involves "the removal or irreparable disfigurement, by any means, of some smaller portion of one of those larger sections of a living or dead person. The latter would include castration (removal of the testicles ), evisceration (removal of

112-574: A new middleman between the Budayeen and the police. As a result, Audran is viewed with suspicion by everyone and ends the novel with practically no friends. A Fire in the Sun A Fire in the Sun is a cyberpunk science fiction novel by American writer George Alec Effinger , published in 1989. It is the second novel in the three-book Marîd Audran series, following the events of When Gravity Fails , and concentrating on Marîd's experience as he becomes

140-651: A prisoner during the Spanish conquest of Chile . Maiming has often been a criminal offense; the old law term for a special case of maiming of persons was mayhem , an Anglo - French variant form of the word. Maiming of animals by others than their owners is a particular form of the offense generally grouped as malicious damage. For the purpose of the law as to this offense animals are divided into cattle, which includes pigs and equids , and other animals which are either subjects of larceny at common law or are usually kept in confinement or for domestic purposes. In Britain under

168-669: Is also a form of mutilation. The traditional Chinese practice of foot binding is a form of mutilation. Another form of mutilation that has captured the imagination of Westerners is the "long-neck" people, a sub-group of the Karen known as the Padaung where women wear brass rings around their necks to artificially make them longer. A joint statement released by the United Nations and numerous other international bodies opposes female genital mutilation . Maiming , or mutilation which involves

196-497: Is told from the perspective of Marîd Audran, a young man from low origins (coming from the Maghreb , and being the son of an Algerian prostitute and a Frenchman), who is a small-scale operator and hustler in the Budayeen, the entertainment and criminal quarter of an unnamed Middle-Eastern city, probably somewhere in the Levant , based on several geographical references to other countries around

224-436: Is very fond of many people in the Budayeen, from various prostitutes, barkeepers and other lowlifes of the ghetto to most especially Yasmin, his on-and-off girlfriend. The relationship with Yasmin, a trans woman now working as a (rather successful) prostitute, is especially volatile, with periods of mutual understanding and love being interrupted by vicious fights between the two. A series of brutal murders soon begins to panic

252-466: The Ethiopian imperial throne , had his ears and nose cut off, yet was then freed. This form of mutilation against unsuccessful claimants to thrones has been in use in middle-eastern regions for thousands of years. To qualify as a king, formerly, one had to exemplify perfection. Obvious physical deformities such as missing noses, ears, or lips, are thereby sufficient disqualifications. The victim in these cases

280-589: The Malicious Damage Act 1861 the punishment for maiming of cattle was three to fourteen years' penal servitude; malicious injury to other animals was a misdemeanor punishable on summary conviction. For a second offense the penalty was imprisonment with hard labor for over twelve months. Today maiming of animals falls under the Cruelty to Animals Acts, while maiming by others is additionally treated as criminal damage . In times when even judicial physical punishment

308-529: The Southwest Territory (what would become the state of Tennessee), an example of harsh 'frontier law' under the 1780 Cumberland Compact took place in 1793 when Judge John McNairy sentenced Nashville's first horse thief, John McKain Jr., to be fastened to a wooden stock one hour for 39 lashes, have his ears cut off and cheeks branded with the letters "H" and "T". Nebahne Yohannes , an unsuccessful claimant to

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336-495: The Thirteen Colonies , even relatively minor crimes, such as hog stealing, were punishable by having one's ears nailed to the pillory and slit loose, or even cropped , a counterfeiter would be branded on top (for that crime, considered lèse-majesté , the older mirror punishment was boiling in oil), which was an example of western mutilation. Independence did not render American justice any less brutal. For example, in

364-402: The internal organs ), and flaying (removal of the skin )." According to these parameters, removing a whole hand would constitute dismemberment, while removing or damaging a finger would be mutilation; decapitation of a full head would be dismemberment, while removing or damaging a part of the face would be mutilation; and removing a whole torso would be dismemberment, while removing or damaging

392-482: The modern era , the term has an overwhelmingly negative connotation , referring to alterations that render something inferior, dysfunctional, imperfect, or ugly. In 2019, Michael H. Stone , Gary Brucato, and Ann Burgess proposed formal criteria by which "mutilation" might be systematically distinguished from the act of " dismemberment ", as these terms are commonly used interchangeably. They suggested that dismemberment involves "the entire removal, by any means, of

420-495: The Budayeen, and Audran is almost executed by Friedlander Bey, who at first considers him to be the killer. He is then forced by the centuries-old Bey to become his investigator, and even worse, is made to subject himself to extensive, partly experimental cybernetic modifications ; an advanced form of the brain wiring he has dreaded before. While the killer or killers brutally begin wiping out witnesses as well as acquaintances of Audran, he tries to uncover clues to their nature and to

448-477: The end of the 22nd Century, describes an ascendant Arabic/Muslim world, where the West has been in decline for at least a century. The United States, Europe and the Soviet Union are described as having fractured into many small states, squabbling amongst themselves for remnants of former glory, with their citizens often described as visiting the unnamed city of the novel's setting as bumbling, naive tourists in awe at

476-495: The internal organs of their victims. This article about a 1980s science fiction novel is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . See guidelines for writing about novels . Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page . Mutilation Mutilation or maiming (from the Latin : mutilus ) is severe damage to the body that has a subsequent harmful effect on an individual's quality of life . In

504-417: The link between the seemingly unconnected victims. The killer uses "moddies" to make himself into one of the most feared and bestial serial killers of history. After being accosted by and overpowering the modified killer — who had begun stalking Audran himself with sadistic glee and patience — he is not convinced that everything is over, and finds that an important middlemen in the Budayeen was behind some of

532-556: The loss of, or incapacity to use, a bodily member, is and has been practiced by many societies with various cultural and religious significance, and is also a customary form of physical punishment , especially applied on the principle of an eye for an eye . Historical examples are plenty; Chinese general Sun Bin had his kneecaps removed after being framed for treason during the Warring States period , while Araucanian warrior Galvarino had his hands amputated as punishment while as

560-481: The main lieutenant of Friedlander Bey's business empire while realizing that his new master has darker aspects than he suspected. The title of the novel comes from " It's All Over Now, Baby Blue ", a song by Bob Dylan : "Yonder stands your orphan with his gun / crying like a fire in the sun". Taking place some months after the events described in When Gravity Fails , Marîd Audran, once a small-time hustler on

588-490: The murders. When he confronts him, he is almost killed himself, and facing death, has to insert a special "daddy" which makes him go into a bestial frenzy, killing the murderer. However, in his rage, he also slaughters a captured policeman and mutilates both bodies horribly. The gruesome nature of his self-defense disgusts his former acquaintances in the Budayeen. Friedlander Bey, in the final move sealing Audran's fate, then forces him to become one of his lieutenants to serve as

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616-407: The protagonist, and was followed by A Fire in the Sun in 1989 and The Exile Kiss in 1991. Effinger started work on a fourth Audran novel, Word of Night , but died before that work was completed. The existing chapters of Word of Night are now available in the posthumously published Budayeen Nights , along with some other Budayeen and non-Budayeen short stories. Effinger's novel, set near

644-425: The region. Audran considers himself a freelance operator and is fiercely proud of his independence, both from others (including Friedlander Bey, the shadowy, paternalistic crime figure overseeing most of the Budayeen's business interests) and from cybernetic modification. Where most others have their brain "wired", for work or play, Audran's almost superstitious dread of this modification has prevented him from doing

672-674: The religious views of the Anglican episcopacy under William Laud , the Archbishop of Canterbury , had their ears cut off for those writings: in 1630 Alexander Leighton and in 1637 still other Puritans , John Bastwick , Henry Burton , and William Prynne . In Scotland one of the Covenanters , James Gavin of Douglas, Lanarkshire , had his ears cut off for refusing to renounce his religious faith. In Japan, Gonsalo Garcia and his companions were similarly punished. Notably in various jurisdictions of

700-530: The same, and so he cannot use "daddies" (from "add-ons", software chips providing skills like languages or accounting) or "moddies" (modules that contain whole new personalities, for example, those of movie stars or fictional characters). He covers this shortcoming by personal charm, a certain arrogance, and excessive use of stimulants , opiates and other drugs, to which he is effectively addicted . Audran's claims of independence from everyone, often given in wry internal narration , are not fully factual either. He

728-439: The streets of the decadent Budayeen, finds himself as one of the lieutenants of Friedlander Bey or "Papa", the most influential man in the city. With his independence taken from him and being stationed as a liaison between Bey and the local law enforcement under the supervision of Sergeant Hajjar, Audran is forced to pair up with his colleague Jirji Shaknahyi in order to track down yet another serial killer who likes to remove some of

756-505: The wonders of the Muslim world. Later stories relate that the Muslim world itself is fractured politically, and that a major character in the series frequently manipulates political events in the Muslim world to enhance his own fortune and personal power. The Islamic World shows much of the elements commonly associated with it, such as religious faith, intricate rituals of conduct and relationship, and tensions between ethnic groups. The novel

784-453: Was still commonly allowed to cause not only intense pain and public humiliation during the administration but also to inflict permanent physical damage, or even deliberately intended to mark the criminal for life by cropping or branding , one of the common anatomical target areas not normally under permanent cover of clothing (so particularly merciless in the long term) were the ear(s). In England, for example, various pamphleteers attacking

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