A great way to end the series. I did not think I would like the first 2/3 of the book, but it was the best.

No, no, no, no, no! This book started so well. This series was so good. And the first 2/3rds of this book was so good. Then, it all just fell apart. The book starts out with the protagonist, Marid, being exiled along with his "boss." They are abandoned in the Rub Al Khali Desert. This part is great. But then, he returns to civilization, and the story takes on an almost dreamlike quality. New subplots come and go out of nowhere. Characters start acting out of character. The story seem to lose its focus on the whole exile plot that it began with. There is some potential here as the story seems to be about Marid becoming a Michael Corleone figure, but even that seems to go nowhere.

And then there is "the gun."

***SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH***

For me, the most unforgivable plot point in the story is the gun. Marid's boss gives him a gun used in the murder for which Marid and his boss were framed. The boss tells Marid that he cannot tell him anything about the gun, like where he got it from. This would have saved Marid a lot of work, but it seems the author wants to maintain suspense with the gimmick of "I can't tell you that, nor will I give you a reason why." But this is not the worst part. Later, the owner of the gun seems to miraculously have it back in his possession as he tries to use it to kill Marid. Finally, Marid has magically repossessed the gun for the climax of the story that was really overly simplified and had the feel of an all night term paper that had to be quickly finished an hour before class.

***END SPOILER***

To be fair, I did some research, and it seems Effinger, the writer, had health, financial, and leagal issues. This may have been the source of his wandering plot. It's a shame because I really loved the first two books and would continue reading this series, but this work seems to come at the end of his writing career.

While I don't recommend this book, I do recommend the first two books in the series. If you like them, you can give this one a try. It does have its merits, but in the end, it was a disappointment.

Unfortunately it seems this series never regained the heights the first book achieved. This volume, the final full length Audran novel, is a fairly generic, boring, detective story. Once again set in Effinger's brilliantly realised future North Africa this book introduces nothing new to the Audran saga. The section set in the Saudi desert was good but in the end didn't really change anything.

Audran was still the same. There was no true growth. In a way this book reminded me of another book I read recently, [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora|127455|The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)|Scott Lynch|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320532483s/127455.jpg|2116675], in that the book sets itself up for an intricate, devious battle of wits but it's all over before you know it. After a long, protracted setup within a matter of pages it's all done and they've moved on. I was left wondering if Amazon didn't give me the full book. It was disappointing after the series started so well. I have the final book which is just a collection of short stories and the only chapters written of the planned fourth book but I'm wondering if I really should read or will it just lower this series in my eyes even further. We shall see.

yep, started out interesting. but it devolved by the end. I did expect it to be bad but it wasn't bad just baffling in its mediocrity. as endings go this was quite a return to status quo or something. disappointing.

The Exile Kiss closes the Budayeen trilogy on an ambiguous note. The book starts like a rocket, when a formal dinner sees Marid and Friedlander Bey being kidnapped, hustled to the air field, summarily convicted of murder, and then dumped in the Rub al'Khali, the empty quarter of Arabia. Separated from all their resources, death will be a matter of days in the vast desert.

Of course, they run into a band of Bedouin nomads, living much as Bedouin have lived for centuries. Marid and Friedlander Bey wander with them for a while, witnessing tribal justice over a murdered girl. Then it's back to the good old corrupt Budayeen, to clear their names and get revenge on their political enemies.

As always, the Budayeen is beautifully drawn. But there's an odd slackness in the plotting. Marid never seems properly concerned about clearing his name until the very end, and there's no clear end to the covert war between Friedlander Bey or his nemesis. Marid finishes his transformation from independent hustler to criminal factotum, but he doesn't seem much of a worthy successor to the godfather. He lacks strategy, relying on the ability to punch his way out of a tough spot.

Am not clear on why I so love these three novels by Effinger, but I certainly do. They're a happy marriage of Chandleresque mystery with Gibson-era cyberpunk, but recast into a Muslim world with which we've all become quite familiar. They're written with such breezy charm and clear love for his characters that we don't even mind when the mysteries are wrapped up a bit too easily, and our only real cause for regret or sadness is that the story eventually comes to an end.

I read this more than 10 years after the other stories in the series. If I'd read it right after those, maybe I'd be disappointed that it didn't build very much new into the story. But as it is, I really enjoyed re-acquainting myself with the world and characters. The first 1/3rd of the book takes place in the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia, which is a very harsh environment. That felt new and fresh to me and was my favorite part of the story. The rest is a sort-of detective story set back in the city. It was nice, but the resolution of the mystery was too obvious and too easy. Still, I wish Effinger had lived to create more of these stories.

In this sequel to When Gravity Fails and A Fire in the Sun finds Marid Audran and his patron Friedlander Bey, framed for murder and sentenced to exile in Rub al-Khali in the Arabian Desert. As in real life, the Rub al-Khali ("The Empty Quarter") is a vast, uninhabited sand sea, from which no one emerges alive. The bulk of the book takes place there, as they are rescued by a tribe of Bedouin and undergo deep self-examination. The change of setting makes for a nice difference from the previous two books, and there's a bit more character development as well. As is to be expected, the duo make it back to Cairo to unmask the person who set them up and exact vengeance (rather like Stevenson's Kidnapped). Things work out a little too easily for them upon their return, but on the whole, it's another solid entry in the series.