Although the prose in this opening section is matter of fact, almost mechanical, there’s a claustrophobic feel to Neith’s investigation, a sense that some force, one not linked to the AI, is watching her. Inspector Neith, our protagonist, is brought in to investigate Hunter’s death. One point of difference is that democracy flourishes through the form of direct representation everyone has the option to vote on any choice facing the society.ĭiana Hunter, a throwback to the days when citizens were free to keep secrets, dies suddenly in custody as her thoughts are scanned. In other words, Harkaway dishes up a garden-variety dystopia where the right to privacy has been abolished. At some point, every citizen has their thoughts scanned, in an attempt to ferret out criminal inclinations. We are introduced to a near future England where mass surveillance, administered by a powerful artificial intelligence called the Witness, has become the norm. The novel’s opening section provides no warning of the roller-coaster, madcap ride that’s about to follow.

To quote Michael Dirda’s astute review of the novel for the Washington Post, Gnomon dazzles. Social media, though, convinced me otherwise and I’m truly pleased it did. I was planning on picking up Gnomon, until I saw it was over 700 pages long and decided I’d wait for the next one. I’ve meant to read his fiction since the publication of The Gone-Away World back in 2008, I even bought the book, but, for whatever reason, never cracked open the covers. I know I’m late to the work of Nick Harkaway.

Gnomon nick harkaway review