A wildly entertaining debut novel, introducing a bold new voice that combines antic humour with a stunning futuristic vision to give us an electrifyingly original version of the apocalypse. The Jorgmund Pipe is the backbone of the world, and it's on fire. Gonzo Lubitsch, professional hero and troubleshooter, is hired to put it out - but there's more to the fire, and the Pipe itself, than meets the eye. The job will take Gonzo and his best friend, our narrator, back to their own beginnings and into the dark heart of the ...
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A wildly entertaining debut novel, introducing a bold new voice that combines antic humour with a stunning futuristic vision to give us an electrifyingly original version of the apocalypse. The Jorgmund Pipe is the backbone of the world, and it's on fire. Gonzo Lubitsch, professional hero and troubleshooter, is hired to put it out - but there's more to the fire, and the Pipe itself, than meets the eye. The job will take Gonzo and his best friend, our narrator, back to their own beginnings and into the dark heart of the Jorgmund Company itself. From rural childhood in Cricklewood Cove to military service in a bewildering foreign war; from Jarndice University to the sawdust of the Nameless Bar; their story is the story of the Gone-Away World. It is the history of a friendship stretched beyond its limits; a tale of love and loss; of ninjas, pirates, politics; of curious heroism in strange and dangerous places. Part adventure, part comic odyssey, and part geek nirvana, this is The Gone-Away World.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine jacket. 1st Printing. A fine UK slipcased first edition, first printing hardback in a fine unclipped dustjacket-All my books are always securely packed with plenty of bubblewrap in professional boxes and promptly dispatched (within 2-3 days)-SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR-Pictures available upon request.
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Seller's Description:
New. First Edition. Hardback. 8vo. pp 531. Original publisher's illustrated black boards, lettered white at the spine and front cover. Limited numbered edition of 1000 copies. Signed by the author on the title page. Fine in fine d/w and slip-case. Still shrink wrapped. ISBN: 0434019291 Fine in fine slip-case.
This is an amazing first novel. Harkaway takes several thriller/sci-fi cliches (perhaps thanks to the influence of his dad, John LeCarre) and reworks them in such a subtle way that the ending had me literally on the edge of my seat. The first chapter is a ...big tease; prepare to slog through a couple of somewhat slow expository chapters before ramping up to high speed again -- but it's worth the wait and everything comes together marvelously in the end. It's very difficult to describe the plot without spoilers, so I'll keep it vague: in a post-apocaplyptic world, your dreams and nightmares can come true, and a team of truckers (think half a dozen Mad Maxes) are the only ones who can fight the Man and his attempt to recreate consumerist society. My only disappointment was in the poor proofreading; I found six typos in a 600-page book. That's really poor. Boo, Knopf, but bravo, Harkaway!
DontWantToThinkAboutIt
Sep 3, 2009
Excellent Writer
Really well written, very enjoyable read. The character development is outstanding and the story line is very imaginative. The dialog will have you laughing out loud at times, even though the story line is rather dark. The characters are so good that in such an outlandish story line they almost seem wasted. I would hope that in future works he decides to venture beyong the science fiction genre. However, I will read anything he writes for sure. Great book.