The Gone World
by Tom Sweterlitcsh
Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: 2018
Number of Pages: 388
Time Period: 1997 and 2015
Appeal Terms: Intensifying, Intricately-Plotted, Unsettling
Synopsis: The year is 1997: Special Agent Shannon Moss works in a secret division of NCIS that has discovered and perfected how to travel into both "Deep Space" and "Deep Time". This top secret technology allows specially trained agents to travel to the far reaches of space and to time travel to possible realities of the future. Moss' area of expertise involves time traveling to possible versions of the future to help find evidence to solve crimes in present day, 1997, that have hit a dead end and are too important to let go cold. In her latest case, she travels to 2015 to find more information about a murdered Navy SEAL's family when things start getting oddly personal and connecting to her past. To her horror, the longer she spends in these future realities, she begins to uncover that much more than the fate of this one family is at stake in the success of this investigation. She witnesses the Terminus, the horrific and cataclysmic end of humanity, hurtling faster and faster towards present day. Through her time-traveling, she begins to piece together that the murdered family, the Terminus, and her own past are all more intricately intertwined than she ever could have imagined.
Tone: This story, while science fiction, borders on horror and has an incredibly dark and unsettling tone, which leaves the reader constantly filled with a creepy feeling that something just isn't quite right. The impending "doomsday" which is not only approaching, but rapidly accelerating in its approach, gives the story a frantic and hurried feel that is always nagging at the back of the reader's mind.
Characterization: This novel has the sole point of view of one character, Shannon Moss, the entire story. The reader gets to know the character very well as Shannon travels to and from the future, as well as gets glimpses of memories in her past. The reader is thrown into the midst of all that is happening to Shannon, but has a shared comradery with her as both Shannon and the reader begin to piece clues together at the same time.
Storyline: The storyline, as with most science fiction, is centered around the "what if...?" and in this specific story, that what-if is time travel. Not only does it push the reader to consider intriguing possibilities, such as using it to solve crimes, but urges the reader to think philosophically about what sort of impact time travel would have on humanity itself and what it means to be human if we were able to break free from the shackles of time.
Setting: Taking place in both 1997 and 2015, the reader gets to experience both a sense of nostalgia if they were around for the end of the 90s as well as the intrigue of looking at multiple versions of 2015; some that look similar to our current reality, and others that look vastly different.
Pacing: The pacing of this story varies greatly and contributes to the sense of unease that permeates this entire story. There are large chunks of the book that take place over only a day or two, packing in lots of fast-paced action that keep the reader feverishly turning the page. Then there are times when only a few pages cover months of time and not much is happening, lulling the reader into a sense of unsettling calm. Coupled with flashbacks of her past, and the time travel hops between 1997 and 2015, the reader is left feeling just as off-kilter as Shannon does in the story. The cherry on top is the impending countdown to the end of humanity (as mentioned above), that accelerates faster and faster giving the entire story a hurried edge and never truly allowing the reader a moment of rest.
Language: The author is very clever in using language and leaving clues within the writing itself (I won't say any more in order to avoid spoilers, go read it yourself to find out!!). He expertly created a plausible reality in which time travel was possible, giving the reader just enough background science to make the suspension of belief necessary without bogging them down with the lingo and hard science.
Read-Alikes:
Last Year by Robert Charles Wilson
Gate Crashers by Patrick S. Tomlinson
The Peripheral by William Gibson
The Tourist by Robert Dickinson
This annotation reminds me of the book "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch. If you liked this book, you might want to check out Crouch's book.
ReplyDeleteJust looked it up and that sounds amazing! Just added it to my list to read; thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteThere's a good chance that I might have skipped over this on my own. Your annotation is really well done and you make it sound really intriguing. I love the idea of time travel crime solving! Add to that the idea that humanity is doomed to end? Count me in. Definitely adding this one to the to be read list!
ReplyDeleteThis does sound interesting! Is it a stand alone or part of a series?
ReplyDeleteIt's just a standalone. I can't even picture how they WOULD be able to turn it into a series! Definitely worth the read though!
DeleteHello Zach,
ReplyDeleteWhat were your thoughts of this book in the end? I read it recently and am torn about it. On the one hand the time-travel and setting are well developed and intriguing. I also like the crime solving aspect. But I felt like it got too graphic at times. I also was not a fan of the epilogue. Otherwise though it was a great SF book and I would be interested in another book set in this world.
I will try and not give any spoilers while giving my response...... I initially was not a fan of the ending, specifically the epilogue. After reading several discussions about it online though, I think I initially missed the point of the end. The interpretation that I now hold to is that the epilogue is what really was Terra Firma all along (I won't say more because hopefully that is cryptic enough for those who haven't read it yet.) Kind of an "Inception" type ending if you will. That make sense? Honestly, I was hoping for a very bleak finale with a more typical horror ending with no one winning (but I am also a sucker for those types of endings). The ending we got though was still good and did give a nice, loose-ends-tied-up, type ending, as much as that is possible when dealing with time travel.
DeleteThis book sounds really interesting, and I’m not a big sci-fi fan. I just recently read “Dark Matter” which is about traveling to alternate universes, and I absolutely loved it. Maybe I’ll give this one a try, since it seems fairly similar. Did you enjoy it?
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DeleteOh yes, I very much enjoyed it. It can be a bit of a challenge to keep track of the storylines due to the time traveling, but if you can keep up, it definitely pays off. I definitely will be one of my favorites I read for the year, that's for sure!
Excellent job on your annotation, great job mentioning other elements from other genres found in here. Sometimes highlighting crossover appeal is all you need to sway readers. Your summary and appeals were awesome and I definitely need to check this book out now. Full points!
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