The Gone-Away World

By: Nick Harkaway

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A wildly entertaining debut novel, introducing a bold new voice that combines antic humor (think Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut) with a stunning futuristic vision (á la A Clockwork Orange and 1984, with a little Mad Max thrown in) to give us an electrifyingly original tale of love, friendship, and the apocalypse.

There couldn't be a fire along the Jorgmund Pipe. It was the last thing the world needed. But there it was, burning bright on national television. The Pipe was what kept the Livable Zone safe from the bandits, monsters, and nightmares the Go-Away War had left in its wake. The fire was a very big problem.

Enter Gonzo Lubitsch and his friends, the Haulage & HazMat Emergency Civil Freebooting Company, a team of master troubleshooters who roll into action when things get particularly hot. They helped build the Pipe. Now they have to preserve it - and save humanity yet again. But this job is not all it seems. It will touch more closely on Gonzo's life - and that of his best friend - than either of them can imagine. And it will decide the fate of the Gone-Away World.

Equal parts raucous adventure, comic odyssey, geek nirvana, and ultra-cool epic, The Gone-Away World is a story of - among other things - love, pirates, mimes, greed, and ninjas. But it is also the story of a world, not unlike our own, in desperate need of heroes - however unlikely they may seem.

©2008 Nick Harkaway (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

a writer that can turn a phrase, but slow paced.

Excellent narration. But the story didn't go anywhere quick enough for my taste. I gave up after a couple chapters, and I don't like to quit but I had no curiosity about the story or the characters.

a well told story within a story.

I thoroughly enjoyed, the concept and the story it allowed to be told. I have not read a science fiction based book in a while. But like any truly good book, the genre is just the mechanism used share something deeper. So I would suggest be careful not Pigeon hole this book. And strongly reccomend.
Narration is excellent.

Tempted to start it all over again, incredibly fun

Phenomenal performance of some of the smartest, funniest prose you’ll find in a post-apocalyptic story

Exhaustively witty, but unsatisfying

The Goneaway World is a novel that aspires to be a whole bunch of things at once. It's a breathless adventure story, with pirates, ninjas, mad scientists, and covert military units. It's a coming-of-age story about a young man and his best friend. It's a sardonic satire, criticizing the excesses of capitalism and militarism in a Kurt Vonnegut-like style. It's a post-apocalypse story. It's an absurd, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-style romp, complete with a crack unit of mimes. It's a metaphysical tale about how "real" the things in our mind are.

You'll either find this book delightfully witty or self-indulgent and exhausting. I leaned a little more in the latter direction. On one hand, I admired how clever and inventive Harkaway is, his effortless talent at satirizing human foibles and turning even the most mundane scenario into a madcap adventure (or the most exotic into something perfectly routine). On the other hand, the story careers around the map so wildly, I found it hard to care about any of the characters or what was happening. Even Gonzo, whom the protagonist is obsessed with (for reasons that become apparent later), is about as interesting as a video game character's user manual bio -- e.g. "Gonzo: a manly, cool-under-pressure guy with Polish parents and a stubborn streak." I eventually got bored with the story and all the tone switches, and stopped listening before I got to the final chapters, even though I'm sure there was an exceedingly clever ninja/pirate/mercenary/corporate honcho/mime battle I missed out on.

Don't get me wrong, I think Nick Harkaway is a smart guy with an impressive imagination. But he really needed the firm hand of a good editor here, who might have stopped him from running with arms waving after every butterfly that flitted past, and gotten him to have focused more on the novel as a whole.

Still, other readers might enjoy the unrestrained zaniness more than I did. Doctor Who or Terry Pratchett fans, take note. Lots of dry British humor here.

master craftsmen of words, both author and reader

The story was entertaining on the surface, and many many fragments of it were so extremely good that I wished it was easier to rewind my iPod a couple of minutes, and that there was bookmark capability. The reader gave it just the right voice for the main character, and the other characters were effortless to differentiate. The reader added much and detracted nothing. I enjoyed the length of the book, it was by no means tiresome. I wanted more and more, and it begs for a sequel.

It has the elements of a dystopian apocalypse, a martial arts thriller, political intrigue, and a deeply current satire on the military industrial complex and corporate pathology, and interesting religious perceptions. It's extremely funny, and very credible in it's depiction of the protagonist's thought life. The science fiction is uniquely imaginative and entertaining, and the enjoyment continues throughout, without any boring backwaters.

Best I've listened to of the many audio books I've heard over the years. Better than Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, or Ringworld, from my point of view. I've listened to it several times, and played excepts for family and sent quotes to friends.

But maybe I've oversold it just a little. Or maybe not.

Interesting Idea - Hard to visualize at times

I liked the ideas and the characters in this book. But there were a few things that were a bit confusing and made it difficult to visualize. First is geography. They went from a war in a far off land to being at home without much in between. Secondly, the science is weak and unconvincing. The science behind the magic of it all. If you put your doubt or you desire for more explanation aside, you can enjoy an eventful, imaginative adventure with unexpected twists and fun characters.

Friendship, ninjas, and the apocolypse

What made the experience of listening to The Gone-Away World the most enjoyable?

The narrator does a fabulous job bringing an already lively story to life. The writing style is tangential, which works even better as an audiobook. It's like being told the story firsthand as the character recalls it from memory.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot was extremely creative, the characters so original. I've read enough books that I can usually see where the author's are going with the plot - but when the big reveal happened in this book, I was blown away - I never saw it coming.

Which character – as performed by Kirby Heyborne – was your favorite?

The nameless protagonist, although Dick Wash (burn) was a close second.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

A story about friendship, ninjas, and the apocalypse - but you'll like it anyway. Bring your own Tupperware.

Any additional comments?

The book was highly recommended on the NPR summer reading list - without any details about the plot or characters. When I got the book and read the jacket cover. "this is a book about friendship. ninjas, and the apocalypse." I thought - I've been screwed. But since I know better than to judge a book by it's cover - I read it anyway.I LOVED IT! It was the best book I had read in a long, long time. When I joined Audible, it was the first audiobook that I purchased. I highly recommend this book to all, but especially to fans of Kurt Vonnegut of Douglas Adams.

This book is just a riot of fun!

Loved every minute of it. It is campy, kung-fu meets James bond fun with a love story and some underlying social commentary. I usually like my sci-fi to be serious but I will take this all day! The narration was great as well.

Second listen even more rewarding

Not an easy book, but rewarding. A very disturbing story eased with abundant humor. The narrator is excellent, perhaps the best performance I’ve heard in a long time. Recommended if you commit yourself to the wanderings…

Exceptional

Thank you to both narrator and writer for you attention to detail.

To Mr Harkaway for his daring style and to Mr Heyborne for having a voice for every character, thank you for delivering this tour de force in the Science Fiction Adventure genre.