The Gone-Away World (Vintage Contemporaries)

Took a while to get through... bit wandering and murky at times, but well worth the effort. Great story--a mish-mash of others that is formed into one bizarre and enjoyable story.

Wish I'd read it next year and it would be my fav of 2010. Great concept, plot, and characters.

I just read The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway. I was very intrigued. It is science fiction - but pretty realistic. It made me think and has stuck with me. Let me know if you would like to borrow it.

Wow! This book is so many things. Well written tale of gong-fu action in a near-future world with a clever twist or three. The main character reminded me sometimes of Adams' Arthur Dent and at other times like Stephenson's Hiro Protagonist. Great read!

This is a sprawling, cluttered, rococo dystopian science fiction with an absolutely compelling narrator and a really pleasing (although not entirely innovative) twist. I think I've read that Harkaway does some screen-writing working, and you can definitely see that in the lovingly described fight sequences. This is also a boisterous and funny book--really, I can't...more

This is a sprawling, cluttered, rococo dystopian science fiction with an absolutely compelling narrator and a really pleasing (although not entirely innovative) twist. I think I've read that Harkaway does some screen-writing working, and you can definitely see that in the lovingly described fight sequences. This is also a boisterous and funny book--really, I can't think of another book featuring a crack squad of Ninja mimes (the "School of the Voiceless Dragon"). (Snaps to Marya for recommending this one to me).   hide

Great book. There are books that are quite lyrical and well written, and there are books that tell a ripping good yarn. This one manages to do both.