About this item
A Best Science Fiction Book of 2017 -- The GuardianFrom the widely acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Tigerman, comes a virtuosic new novel set in a near-future, high-tech surveillance state, that is equal parts dark comedy, gripping detective story, and mind-bending philosophical puzzle.In the world of Gnomon, citizens are constantly observed and democracy has reached a pinnacle of 'transparency.' Every action is seen, every word is recorded, and the System has access to its citizens' thoughts and memories--all in the name of providing the safest society in history. When suspected dissident Diana Hunter dies in government custody, it marks the first time a citizen has been killed during an interrogation. The System doesn't make mistakes, but something isn't right about the circumstances surrounding Hunter's death. Mielikki Neith, a trusted state inspector and a true believer in the System, is assigned to find out what went wrong. Immersing herself in neural recordings of the interrogation, what she finds isn't Hunter but rather a panorama of characters within Hunter's psyche: a lovelorn financier in Athens who has a mystical experience with a shark; a brilliant alchemist in ancient Carthage confronting the unexpected outcome of her invention; an expat Ethiopian painter in London designing a controversial new video game, and a sociopathic disembodied intelligence from the distant future. Embedded in the memories of these impossible lives lies a code which Neith must decipher to find out what Hunter is hiding. In the static between these stories, Neith begins to catch glimpses of the real Diana Hunter--and, alarmingly, of herself. The staggering consequences of what she finds will reverberate throughout the world. A dazzling, panoramic achievement, and Nick Harkaway's most brilliant work to date, Gnomon is peerless and profound, captivating and irreverent, as it pierces through strata of reality and consciousness, and illuminates how to set a mind free. It is a truly accomplished novel from a mind possessing a matchless wit infused with a deep humanity.
About the Author
Nick Harkaway is the author of Gnomon (William Heinemann, October 2017) , as well as The Gone-Away World, Angelmaker (for which he won the Oxfam Emerging Writers Prize and the Kitschies' coveted Red Tentacle) and Tigerman. He has been described variously as 'J. G. Ballard's geeky younger brother', 'William Makepeace Thackerary on acid' and 'a British mimetic speculative godgame novelist'. The Blind Giant, his only full length non-fiction work, examined the interaction of technology and humanity and how best to live in a world where gadgets have become fundamental.
Nick lives in London with his wife and their two children. He publishes occasional articles on Medium, and is mildly noted for extensive and profane political Twitterings. Hosting a conference at London's Science Museum for the European Space Agency in September 2016, he took a rueful moment aside to tell a supportive audience: "In meinem Herz, ich bin Europäer." He loves Borges and Calvino, Proulx and Winterson, Gibson and DeLillo. Other important influences include Benjamin Zidarch, Vittorio Innocenti and Susana Balbo.
