Reviews

I definitely wouldn't give this less than 3 stars, but I just can't bring myself to give it more, despite liking it a lot. It's much too long, and often obfuscatory for the sake of obfuscation. That said, these criticisms could well be accounted for by the book's nature as a meta-fiction mash-up of science fiction dystopia, detective story, and high-minded cyberpunk head-fuckery. A second read might increase my estimation of the book, but I just don't know if I have the time.

erinflight's review

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5.0

I was very undecided while reading this book. I couldn't decide if I even liked it. And then, abruptly, near the end, I decided it was one of the best books I'd ever read.

This book hit me in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time, and it hit me hard.

I don't think this will be true for everyone, though I think the writing and plot are good enough that most genre fans will at least enjoy it.

There's so little I can say here, because this is one of those books that is about discovery, about peeling back the truth layer by layer, and it shouldn't be spoiled.

There's one thing I can say.

This book is the opposite of escapism. It looks at the present, and the near future, and the picture it paints is terrifying in its plausibility.

This book hit me hard because there are things that I don't want to think about. This book led me to them sideways and then shoved them in my face and made me really look. If you're already thinking about them, or if you don't think they matter, then maybe this book might not mean much to you. But if you're like me, than this book is important.

"We would never allow that" we think, but in our indifference, we could so easily be wrong.

alexisrt's review against another edition

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5.0

In Britain in the unspecified future, there is a state of constant government surveillance, all computerized and accessible--and perceived to be of benefit by its citizens. The death in custody of a suspected dissident, Diana Hunter, sends an inspector down a rabbit hole.

Gnomon has a rather intricate structure, in which the narrative quickly switches from the central mystery to another set of stories. It transpires that these are actually stories within the mind of Diana Hunter, and the novel switches back and forth between them and the investigation into her death.

While I enjoyed Harkaway's debut, The Gone Away World, I found the style to be distracting. Here he's gone for a much less rambling, not trying-too-hard style--the main narrative is much closer to a typical techno-thriller, though he's not sworn off random information dumps. Don't be sloppy, though: there's a LOT of information here. Much like the System provides its user-citizens with an onslaught of data that is analyzed and searched, Harkaway includes a lot of detail to keep track of, and at 671 pages (in fairly small print) that adds up. Small details wind up being consequential, and this rewards close reading. At first, I found the separate narratives somewhat jarring as they took away from the central plot, but gradually, they knit together and it becomes clear why it's structured the way it is.

I've always been a fan of dystopian literature, and Harkaway gives it a twist here by not making the dystopic nature apparent to all the characters within it. The System works, from their point of view--though to the reader, constant surveillance and the possibility of a brain probe don't seem so benign.

I almost want to take a star off because of the ending: it makes sense in context, but at the same time was a cheap shot to pull off. I enjoyed the ride there enough to forgive it, though. Recommended, though not for those who like their SF zippy.

andy_mortimer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I made it! I'm still not 100% sure what I just read, although it took me a lot of work to get through.

The parts of the story with Meilikki Neith were a great read, kinda-near-future techno-thriller with some interesting thoughts about the role of surveillance in our world. I've thought about this aspect again a few times since finishing the book.

The other 80% of the content, I didn't totally follow. It was well written, pleasant and interesting to the ear, but either (a) there was a lot of classical detail in there which I don't have the background to understand, or (b) there was a lot of waffle which didn't move the story forward very fast. I'm still not sure which!