The Gone World

The Gone World is full of echoes: Courtney and Marian, the eternal forest, a sculpture of reflections, looping jack mackerels, multiple versions of characters, ghosts who precede the living. How does the author use the concept of repetition in this novel? And by way of that, what is he saying about the universe?

Why did the author decide that the novel’s main character should have a prosthetic leg? How does Shannon Moss’s injury dictate her story?

How does time travel affect Moss—physically, emotionally, mentally? How do the physical effects of time travel change her relationships in terra firma? How does she think about the people she meets while in an IFT (“inadmissible future trajectory”)? How do they change her understanding of herself? Do you think the costs of time travel are worth it?

In Moss’s own view, she got into law enforcement to resolve her grief over losing Courtney. At the novel’s end, has she satisfied her original intention? What would Courtney think of the person Moss has become?

In The Gone World, the future is not set—it is referred to as “versions of the future,” and we see Moss confront multiple possibilities. Yet even with no clear indication of what has changed in the present, the Terminus keeps getting closer. What is the author saying about free will? About humanity’s ability to control its environment? About responsibility?

What roles do post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury play in this novel? Which actions taken by characters in this novel are dictated by one or the other? How does the author’s evocation of these conditions relate to his use of echoes?

Religious faith is present in The Gone World, in varying ways. Confronting the Terminus, Moss sees a sky full of upside-down crucified bodies, an image that evokes the death of Saint Peter; Nestor professes his own Christian faith andasks Moss if she believes; Hyldekrugger, Fleece, and others employ the symbolism of ancient Norse mythology; Moss herself seems to employ a nihilistic sensibility (from page 53: “Moss thought of all of humanity in a funnel leading toa singular point”). What is the purpose of faith in a world where the end of all things has been witnessed? Can faith allow us to transcend even the annihilation of all life, or is it only a distraction from the truth?

“Terra firma” is a vital idea in The Gone World. The true present from which possible futures extend, it is for Moss and other time travelers both an anchor and a compass. But in the end, Moss learns that she has incorrectly assumed when terra firma is. What is the author saying about truth? About relativism versus absolutism?

After being rescued from the woods, Moss accuses her rescuers, saying “You have the wrong body”(page 5). What does she mean? How is the Moss that is brought back to the Quad-lander different? Who is the real Shannon Moss? Is our Moss truly alive—or is she only an echo of another?

What would this story look like if it was told from the perspective of Moss’s mother? What do you think it’s like to be someone who is connected to a DeepWaters astronaut?

Were Hyldekrugger and his Libra crewmates acting to save the universe, as they say? Whatever acts of evil they committed, were their intentions pure? Were they right to do what they did?

The planet where the crew of the Libra discovered death is referred to as Esperance. What is the author saying by naming the planet that houses the end of everything after the French word for “hope”?

On page 93, it is observed that “hell is a lack of death.” How does the author use the device of time travel to explore immortality?

If time-travel technology were discovered and mastered, as in the novel, how do you think the government should use it? Do you think that a program like Deep Waters is a good idea? Why or why not?

Is the ending of The Gone World a happy one? Were you surprised by how the novel ended? Did you wish that it had ended differently?