From 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.
"A Pynchonesque mega-novel that periodically calls to mind the films of
Inception and The Matrix.... What a ride!" --The Washington Post
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.
