George Alec Effinger’s When Gravity Fails is something of an overlooked classic in the cyberpunk canon: beloved by those who have read it, but rarely mentioned these days in the same breath as much better-loved novels like Neuromancer. It’s a shame that’s the case, since its mix of violent pulp, focus on a more terrestrial used-future setting, and dark, sardonic humor elevate it well above the usual somber city noir cyberpunk calls home. It’s also just begging for a full-series adaptation on a channel or platform that could do justice to the sprawling red-light districts and larger-than-life characters of the Budayeen.
The book offers something for practically everyone: the serial-murder investigation and the conspiracy behind it offer plenty of twists and turns for mystery fans; there’s a heaping helping of horror in discovering exactly how depraved the villains and setting actually are, plus some tense and absolutely brutal fight scenes and a very grim, deadpan sense of humor tying it all together. With its sprawling, diverse, and inclusive cast of characters, a setting that bucks the usual trend of American or East Asian-influenced cities, deep attention to nuance and detail, and offbeat take on classical detective-novel tropes, the right writers’ room and a decent budget could make When Gravity Fails into an instant classic.
