The Gone-Away World

infobox Book |
name = The Gone-Away World
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author = Nick Harkaway
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country = England
language = English
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genre = Science fiction novel
publisher = Heinemann
pub_date = June 2008
media_type = Print (Hardback)
pages = 544 (Hardcover)
isbn = 978-0434018420
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followed_by =

"The Gone-Away World" is a science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic world crippled by the 'Go-Away War'. First published in June 2008 by Heinemann, it is the first novel to be written by Nick Harkaway.

The book is written from the perspective of an unnamed character, part of a group of ex special-operatives turned truckers that collectively make up the 'Haulage & HazMat Emergency Civil Freebooting Company'. The story largely focuses on the lives of the unnamed character and that of Gonzo Lubitsch, one of the members of the company.

Plot summary

The book is primarily science fiction/fantasy, and the central focus of the book is the build up to — and subsequent aftermath — of a terrible but all-too-brief war (the 'Go-Away War) that completely destroys the world as it is known then, and gives rise to an all-controlling corporation known as 'Jorgmund'. The weapons used by the respective sides in the 'Go-Away War', are known as 'Go-Away Bombs', bombs that contain matter completely stripped of its information — known as 'Stuff'. The consequences of the usage of such weapons are that the 'Stuff', along with anything it has come into contact with, pulls information from the noosphere and is able to become almost anything imaginable — leading to a complete alteration of what human beings have come to consider as normality in the world.

Themes

Important themes in the book are satires on (amongst other things) war and corporation-culture. There is also a key element of philosophy given the author's usage of the noosphere as a significant part of the plot.

References

*http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/25/fiction.features1 Interview with the author on The Guardian (UK) website
*http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6026350 The Gone-Away World on the Waterstones website

External links

* [http://www.goneawayworld.co.uk/ The Gone-Away World Official Website]
*http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-goneaway-world-by-nick-harkaway-840983.html Review on The Independent website
*http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article4080094.ece Review on The Times website
*http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/06/22/bohar122.xml Review on The Daily Telegraph website
*http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/24/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.fiction Review on The Guardian (UK) website