What do you think?
Rate this book
The Long Earth #1
The Long Earth
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Best Science Fiction (2012)1916: the Western Front. Private Percy Blakeney wakes up. He is lying on fresh spring grass. He can hear birdsong and the wind in the leaves in the trees. Where have the mud, blood and blasted landscape of No Man's Land gone?
2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson is exploring the burned-out home of a reclusive - some said mad, others dangerous - scientist when she finds a curious gadget - a box containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a... potato. It is the prototype of an invention that will change the way Mankind views his world forever.
And that is an understatement if ever there was one...
2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson is exploring the burned-out home of a reclusive - some said mad, others dangerous - scientist when she finds a curious gadget - a box containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a... potato. It is the prototype of an invention that will change the way Mankind views his world forever.
And that is an understatement if ever there was one...
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 21, 2012
About the author
Terry Pratchett
498 books43k followersBorn Terence David John Pratchett, Sir Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was thirteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe.
Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987, he turned to writing full time.
There are over 40 books in the Discworld series, of which four are written for children. The first of these, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal.
A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback - Harper Torch, 2006 - and trade paperback - Harper Paperbacks, 2006).
In 2008, Harper Children's published Terry's standalone non-Discworld YA novel, Nation. Terry published Snuff in October 2011.
Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to literature” in 1998, and has received honorary doctorates from the University of Warwick in 1999, the University of Portsmouth in 2001, the University of Bath in 2003, the University of Bristol in 2004, Buckinghamshire New University in 2008, the University of Dublin in 2008, Bradford University in 2009, the University of Winchester in 2009, and The Open University in 2013 for his contribution to Public Service.
In Dec. of 2007, Pratchett disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. On 18 Feb, 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
Sir Terry Pratchett passed away on 12th March 2015.
Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987, he turned to writing full time.
There are over 40 books in the Discworld series, of which four are written for children. The first of these, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal.
A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback - Harper Torch, 2006 - and trade paperback - Harper Paperbacks, 2006).
In 2008, Harper Children's published Terry's standalone non-Discworld YA novel, Nation. Terry published Snuff in October 2011.
Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) “for services to literature” in 1998, and has received honorary doctorates from the University of Warwick in 1999, the University of Portsmouth in 2001, the University of Bath in 2003, the University of Bristol in 2004, Buckinghamshire New University in 2008, the University of Dublin in 2008, Bradford University in 2009, the University of Winchester in 2009, and The Open University in 2013 for his contribution to Public Service.
In Dec. of 2007, Pratchett disclosed that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. On 18 Feb, 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.
Sir Terry Pratchett passed away on 12th March 2015.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,398 reviews
September 29, 2023
Everyone loves Sir Terry. I love Sir Terry. I love the books & have great respect for the man. This review is simply my opinion of the success of this particular collaboration. I'll be 1st in line for the next T.P book and I'd even give T.P + S.B another go.
From the slew of 4 & 5* reviews already on show I may be out on a limb on this one - so don't listen to me - give it a try.
-------------
Collaboration. It’s a word with an unfortunate aftertaste. Collaborators get a bad rap. Sir Terry Pratchett’s collaborations with other notable authors have been limited. In 1990 we saw Good Omens, produced with Neil Gaiman. On the crest of that success Pratchett found another partner in Larry Niven but this effort floundered with Niven producing Rainbow Mars in 1999 as a solo work built upon some of their shared ideas. And now 2012 sees The Long Earth, a collaboration with Stephen Baxter. The accompanying promotion contains a photo of the two grandees locked in combat before a laden bookshelf. A certain degree of dynamic tension does help in collaborative writing, too little and you get compromise writing, too much and it’s never going to get finished. I think here both men were pulling punches and the pages could have benefited from a good blooding!
Collaborations can be port and stilton good, or marmite and custard bad. I suspect it’s impossible for two fine writers like Baxter and Pratchett to serve up anything wholly unpalatable, but the Long Earth feels long, although it is short, and is decidedly blah. Think porridge.
The Long Earth is science fiction. In science fiction the IDEA tends to overshadow the characters and even the story. Here the IDEA has flattened both. Glimpses of story and character may be seen poking out from the margins of the IDEA, vital juices pooling. You can’t see much but you can see enough to know you don’t need an ambulance.
The Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame has not shown up to this party. There’s rarely a smile in The Long Earth, and never a laugh. The idea explored is that Earth sits in one of an infinity of parallel universes and that these become opened up to humanity such that pretty much everyone can step through them like moving from one card to the next in a deck of cards. We get to hear a lot about the impact this has on humanity, both social and economic. Sometimes we hear this from characters who pop up and are not heard of again, giving the book a disjointed feel. Of the hundreds of thousands of Earths open to Joe Public almost all are Earth as it would have been without us. A lot of time is spent detailing minor evolutionary variations in the flora and fauna, to the point where you just don’t care about one more slightly smaller elephant or slightly uglier crocodile. A lot of time is spent hopping from one forest world to the next. It’s an idea that is interesting in a paragraph but becomes increasingly dull over 300 pages.
The writing, line by line, is fine. It lacks trade-mark Pratchett sharpness but it does the job. The story arching over chapters is . . . not gripping. There’s essentially no tension in it. Our heroes (a young man who is very good at moving through the worlds, and an artificial intelligence named Lobsang) are exploring, they don’t have any clear goals stated, nothing is after them, they have no serious problems, they don’t appear worried or even to care that much, and thus as a reader one tends to a similar disposition.
The book ends with a bang, but it’s a rather ineffectual one that is, like the bulk of the book, hard to care about. I’m a fan of Sir Terry’s work and I applaud his willingness to experiment with new styles and new writing partners. I hope he keeps doing it. I cannot though, hand on heart say I enjoyed this book. Not even a little.
Edit: RIP Sir Terry - you left us many great books to remember you by.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
..
From the slew of 4 & 5* reviews already on show I may be out on a limb on this one - so don't listen to me - give it a try.
-------------
Collaboration. It’s a word with an unfortunate aftertaste. Collaborators get a bad rap. Sir Terry Pratchett’s collaborations with other notable authors have been limited. In 1990 we saw Good Omens, produced with Neil Gaiman. On the crest of that success Pratchett found another partner in Larry Niven but this effort floundered with Niven producing Rainbow Mars in 1999 as a solo work built upon some of their shared ideas. And now 2012 sees The Long Earth, a collaboration with Stephen Baxter. The accompanying promotion contains a photo of the two grandees locked in combat before a laden bookshelf. A certain degree of dynamic tension does help in collaborative writing, too little and you get compromise writing, too much and it’s never going to get finished. I think here both men were pulling punches and the pages could have benefited from a good blooding!
Collaborations can be port and stilton good, or marmite and custard bad. I suspect it’s impossible for two fine writers like Baxter and Pratchett to serve up anything wholly unpalatable, but the Long Earth feels long, although it is short, and is decidedly blah. Think porridge.
The Long Earth is science fiction. In science fiction the IDEA tends to overshadow the characters and even the story. Here the IDEA has flattened both. Glimpses of story and character may be seen poking out from the margins of the IDEA, vital juices pooling. You can’t see much but you can see enough to know you don’t need an ambulance.
The Terry Pratchett of Discworld fame has not shown up to this party. There’s rarely a smile in The Long Earth, and never a laugh. The idea explored is that Earth sits in one of an infinity of parallel universes and that these become opened up to humanity such that pretty much everyone can step through them like moving from one card to the next in a deck of cards. We get to hear a lot about the impact this has on humanity, both social and economic. Sometimes we hear this from characters who pop up and are not heard of again, giving the book a disjointed feel. Of the hundreds of thousands of Earths open to Joe Public almost all are Earth as it would have been without us. A lot of time is spent detailing minor evolutionary variations in the flora and fauna, to the point where you just don’t care about one more slightly smaller elephant or slightly uglier crocodile. A lot of time is spent hopping from one forest world to the next. It’s an idea that is interesting in a paragraph but becomes increasingly dull over 300 pages.
The writing, line by line, is fine. It lacks trade-mark Pratchett sharpness but it does the job. The story arching over chapters is . . . not gripping. There’s essentially no tension in it. Our heroes (a young man who is very good at moving through the worlds, and an artificial intelligence named Lobsang) are exploring, they don’t have any clear goals stated, nothing is after them, they have no serious problems, they don’t appear worried or even to care that much, and thus as a reader one tends to a similar disposition.
The book ends with a bang, but it’s a rather ineffectual one that is, like the bulk of the book, hard to care about. I’m a fan of Sir Terry’s work and I applaud his willingness to experiment with new styles and new writing partners. I hope he keeps doing it. I cannot though, hand on heart say I enjoyed this book. Not even a little.
Edit: RIP Sir Terry - you left us many great books to remember you by.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
..
February 26, 2018
Science fiction is full of stories that go backwards and forwards; they swing through the spectrum of time and explore the popular trope in all its possibilities. Pratchett and Baxter, on the other hand, step sideways.
The Long Earth is a seemingly endless series of alternate realities with Earth being the focal point. By using a Stepper, a piece of technology that is powered by a potato (Pratchett at work no doubt), the user can travel along the spectrum of Earths and step foot on thousands of different versions of their home world. Needless to say, the scope of such a thing is huge and the possibilities extraordinary. Anything could be out there on one of these Earths. Just imagine an Earth new and fresh, green and full of life, one that hasn’t yet been harvested by man. Sounds beautiful.
"All these parallel Earths are identical on all but the detailed level. Oh, save that they are empty. Well, actually they are full, mainly of forest and swamp. Big, dark, silent forests, deep, clinging, lethal swamps. But empty of people. The Earth is crowded, but the Long Earth is empty."
Did this book just reveal my inner misanthropy? The idea completely sold the story to me. The protagonist, Joshua, a boy who can step without the technology, is rather ordinary. He is hired by a crazy scientist called Labsong who wants protection on an exploration mission. Together they travel to the ends of the The Long Earth to see exactly how far it stretches and to see if it is, indeed, infinite as many scientists theorise. The two men are unassuming and very uninteresting in the beginning. They are not what keep the story going. However, by the end it is very clear that their part in the events will be very vital and their chemistry does develop.
Instead what drove the story forward was wonder, curiosity and, again, possibility. The Idea behind The Long Earth is vastly imaginative and finding exactly what made it work kept me reading. I was in awe at some of the descriptions of the places that the characters found themselves. The descriptions on the first page (that of the image on the cover) were particularly great. I also found the reasons given for natural phenomena and mythological creatures on the real Earth very clever and quite funny. It’s certainly a well thought out book.
It evoked a sense of wonder as the two men delved into the unknown, I, too, wanted to know what was at the very ends of it all. As far as the authorship goes, the two writers couldn’t be further apart. This collaboration shouldn’t work; yet, somehow, it does. Pratchett is clearly the idea man, his wisdom and subtle humour is tamed by Baxter’s scientific knowledge. The wiring is informative, though Pratchett’s influence frees Baxter’s mechanical and dry prose from its mundanity. It is snappy in places, explanatory and even has a few laugh out loud moments.
Many of the criticisms for this book centres on its characters and lack of plot drive. For some readers this was a book that didn’t go anywhere, though for me it was a book that went everywhere. I’m not sure how the rest of the series will compare, but I do think this instalment is rather excellent: this series has so much potential. I hope it doesn’t limit itself.
The Long Earth is a seemingly endless series of alternate realities with Earth being the focal point. By using a Stepper, a piece of technology that is powered by a potato (Pratchett at work no doubt), the user can travel along the spectrum of Earths and step foot on thousands of different versions of their home world. Needless to say, the scope of such a thing is huge and the possibilities extraordinary. Anything could be out there on one of these Earths. Just imagine an Earth new and fresh, green and full of life, one that hasn’t yet been harvested by man. Sounds beautiful.
"All these parallel Earths are identical on all but the detailed level. Oh, save that they are empty. Well, actually they are full, mainly of forest and swamp. Big, dark, silent forests, deep, clinging, lethal swamps. But empty of people. The Earth is crowded, but the Long Earth is empty."
Did this book just reveal my inner misanthropy? The idea completely sold the story to me. The protagonist, Joshua, a boy who can step without the technology, is rather ordinary. He is hired by a crazy scientist called Labsong who wants protection on an exploration mission. Together they travel to the ends of the The Long Earth to see exactly how far it stretches and to see if it is, indeed, infinite as many scientists theorise. The two men are unassuming and very uninteresting in the beginning. They are not what keep the story going. However, by the end it is very clear that their part in the events will be very vital and their chemistry does develop.
Instead what drove the story forward was wonder, curiosity and, again, possibility. The Idea behind The Long Earth is vastly imaginative and finding exactly what made it work kept me reading. I was in awe at some of the descriptions of the places that the characters found themselves. The descriptions on the first page (that of the image on the cover) were particularly great. I also found the reasons given for natural phenomena and mythological creatures on the real Earth very clever and quite funny. It’s certainly a well thought out book.
It evoked a sense of wonder as the two men delved into the unknown, I, too, wanted to know what was at the very ends of it all. As far as the authorship goes, the two writers couldn’t be further apart. This collaboration shouldn’t work; yet, somehow, it does. Pratchett is clearly the idea man, his wisdom and subtle humour is tamed by Baxter’s scientific knowledge. The wiring is informative, though Pratchett’s influence frees Baxter’s mechanical and dry prose from its mundanity. It is snappy in places, explanatory and even has a few laugh out loud moments.
Many of the criticisms for this book centres on its characters and lack of plot drive. For some readers this was a book that didn’t go anywhere, though for me it was a book that went everywhere. I’m not sure how the rest of the series will compare, but I do think this instalment is rather excellent: this series has so much potential. I hope it doesn’t limit itself.
January 28, 2016
"The next world is the thickness of a thought away."
This co-authored book (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter) is a wonderful idea, lovingly executed. The Long Earth refers to the discovery of infinite dimensions all next door to one another.
When a scientist publishes the blueprint for a "stepper" - a device that can allow you to step from Earth to the next dimension (Earth 1) and from there onto the next Earth (Earth 2) and the next - online free for all to use, in order to thwart a greedy corporation's attempt to capitalize on it... it changes the world.
The device, so simple any kid could make it - and powered by a common potato - soon leads to hundreds of thousands if not millions of people "stepping" over into other dimensions to make new lives for themselves.
At first, it seems as if these other Earths are uninhabited. But eventually animal life is found, animal life that is wildly different than the ones that evolved on Datum Earth (the Earth we know).
When Joshua, an orphaned man who was raised by nuns, is signaled out by a new AI to explore the Infinite Earth, he can't resist the chance to explore hundreds of thousands of dimensions away from Datum Earth. But there are plenty of surprises waiting for him, not all of them friendly...
...
POSITIVE:
- This book is so innovative and so lovingly rendered you can't help but enjoy it, even a little bit, even against your best efforts. Pratchett and Baxter create wild, imaginative worlds that are so similar and yet so amazingly different than the one we know that our minds are blown.
Here's an Earth where the dinosaurs were NOT wiped out. Here's an Earth where elephants developed chameleon-like camouflage powers. Here's a world where the moon never came into existence.
Hundreds of thousands of worlds, hundreds of thousands of ways for Pratchett and Baxter to stretch their imagination. Beautiful and exciting, like when you saw Jurassic Park for the first time. With the intricacy and thrills of visceral environment, as in Annihilation.
Very creative wildlife and Just super-innovative and pure imagination-candy.
- Baxter is into some ugly stuff. Pratchett's little comedic touches only heighten the creepiness, in my mind. It's a creepy world/concept to begin with, and Pratchett's little quirky threads were icing on the cake for me.
- robotic AI cat who catches mice, stores them in her tummy, and releases them into the wild.
- Two lesbian characters (separate, NOT in a couple with each other).
- I'm very thankful for this.
- Interesting concept about how no one can travel with iron. I, of course, immediately thought: Fairies. Of course they can't travel to other dimensions with iron. Fairies hate iron.
P&B give a more scientific explanation for why iron won't travel - something about it being the most stable element - but I still believe it has to do with fairies and it IS actually possible that I may be correct. (We'll see...)
- Reminiscent of the novel The Time Machine. I wasn't surprised to learn that Baxter had penned a sequel to that famous book.
- Good philosophical and moral questions are raised.
NEUTRAL:
- As in many recent science-fiction novels, hard plug and sell for NASA and NASA funding.
- As in many science fiction novels, a cat and moreover
- Very common "X-Men"-type subplot which involves people who are notmutated able to step being very angry and calling to stop and even kill all mutants steppers. Even though it makes no logical sense since they will be having mutant stepper children and grandchildren and they are a minority at 20% of the population.
- Oh, Joshua is the "Chosen One" with "Special Abilities" and by the way, his mom died when she was 15 giving birth to him and no one knows who his father is and he was raised by nuns. YOU KNOW. Typical hero origin.
- Some kind of message or statement about the U.K. that P&B are making, and I'm pretty sure it's not a flattering one. However, as an American I can not quite understand what they are getting at. Perhaps a British reader would be better equipped to unpack P&B's message here.
NEGATIVE:
- As in many science fiction novels penned by older white males, a propensity to show you are "progressive" by having homosexual characters, and by that I mean "lesbians." No gay men anywhere to be found. Because, you know. That would be 'icky.' Still can't believe this shit.
- Also says stuff like the female MC was "never lovelier than when she was blowing her top" and this "she's so pretty when she's angry, let's purposefully piss her off, LOL" shit is just so male-author.
- Vignettes. P&B tell a LOT of little vignettes and short stories throughout the book. Don't get too attached to the characters in the short stories, or expect them to show up ever again. They are mainly dropped in here and there to prove points.
- No follow-through. There are a lot of insidious, suspicious avenues that P&B open that are not resolved and just kind of fizzle out. Right off the top of my head, I would say
- Not very good characterization. I'm especially thinking of Sally and the whole subplot regarding Rod Green and his
Character development is not a high point in this novel. If you are looking for good emotional explaining and psychological insights into the characters' thoughts and actions... you will be very disappointed.
Tl;dr - Bright, imaginative, and full of promise: the book has four sequels, the last one expected to be published this year. However, this IS scattered with sci-fi tropes, and I should warn you that characterization and plotline follow-through is hazy and sometimes non-existent. I will definitely be reading the next books. Not as good as books like Annihilation, Nexus or vN, but definitely satisfying and stunning in its own way.
R.I.P. Terry Pratchett. Earths, untold Earths. More Earths than could be counted, some said. And all you had to do was walk sideways into them, one after the next, an unending chain.
This co-authored book (Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter) is a wonderful idea, lovingly executed. The Long Earth refers to the discovery of infinite dimensions all next door to one another.
When a scientist publishes the blueprint for a "stepper" - a device that can allow you to step from Earth to the next dimension (Earth 1) and from there onto the next Earth (Earth 2) and the next - online free for all to use, in order to thwart a greedy corporation's attempt to capitalize on it... it changes the world.
The device, so simple any kid could make it - and powered by a common potato - soon leads to hundreds of thousands if not millions of people "stepping" over into other dimensions to make new lives for themselves.
At first, it seems as if these other Earths are uninhabited. But eventually animal life is found, animal life that is wildly different than the ones that evolved on Datum Earth (the Earth we know).
When Joshua, an orphaned man who was raised by nuns, is signaled out by a new AI to explore the Infinite Earth, he can't resist the chance to explore hundreds of thousands of dimensions away from Datum Earth. But there are plenty of surprises waiting for him, not all of them friendly...
...
POSITIVE:
- This book is so innovative and so lovingly rendered you can't help but enjoy it, even a little bit, even against your best efforts. Pratchett and Baxter create wild, imaginative worlds that are so similar and yet so amazingly different than the one we know that our minds are blown.
Here's an Earth where the dinosaurs were NOT wiped out. Here's an Earth where elephants developed chameleon-like camouflage powers. Here's a world where the moon never came into existence.
Hundreds of thousands of worlds, hundreds of thousands of ways for Pratchett and Baxter to stretch their imagination. Beautiful and exciting, like when you saw Jurassic Park for the first time. With the intricacy and thrills of visceral environment, as in Annihilation.
Very creative wildlife and Just super-innovative and pure imagination-candy.
- Baxter is into some ugly stuff. Pratchett's little comedic touches only heighten the creepiness, in my mind. It's a creepy world/concept to begin with, and Pratchett's little quirky threads were icing on the cake for me.
- robotic AI cat who catches mice, stores them in her tummy, and releases them into the wild.
- Two lesbian characters (separate, NOT in a couple with each other).
- I'm very thankful for this.
- Interesting concept about how no one can travel with iron. I, of course, immediately thought: Fairies. Of course they can't travel to other dimensions with iron. Fairies hate iron.
P&B give a more scientific explanation for why iron won't travel - something about it being the most stable element - but I still believe it has to do with fairies and it IS actually possible that I may be correct. (We'll see...)
- Reminiscent of the novel The Time Machine. I wasn't surprised to learn that Baxter had penned a sequel to that famous book.
- Good philosophical and moral questions are raised.
NEUTRAL:
- As in many recent science-fiction novels, hard plug and sell for NASA and NASA funding.
- As in many science fiction novels, a cat and moreover
- Very common "X-Men"-type subplot which involves people who are not
- Oh, Joshua is the "Chosen One" with "Special Abilities" and by the way, his mom died when she was 15 giving birth to him and no one knows who his father is and he was raised by nuns. YOU KNOW. Typical hero origin.
- Some kind of message or statement about the U.K. that P&B are making, and I'm pretty sure it's not a flattering one. However, as an American I can not quite understand what they are getting at. Perhaps a British reader would be better equipped to unpack P&B's message here.
NEGATIVE:
- As in many science fiction novels penned by older white males, a propensity to show you are "progressive" by having homosexual characters, and by that I mean "lesbians." No gay men anywhere to be found. Because, you know. That would be 'icky.' Still can't believe this shit.
- Also says stuff like the female MC was "never lovelier than when she was blowing her top" and this "she's so pretty when she's angry, let's purposefully piss her off, LOL" shit is just so male-author.
- Vignettes. P&B tell a LOT of little vignettes and short stories throughout the book. Don't get too attached to the characters in the short stories, or expect them to show up ever again. They are mainly dropped in here and there to prove points.
- No follow-through. There are a lot of insidious, suspicious avenues that P&B open that are not resolved and just kind of fizzle out. Right off the top of my head, I would say
- Not very good characterization. I'm especially thinking of Sally and the whole subplot regarding Rod Green and his
Character development is not a high point in this novel. If you are looking for good emotional explaining and psychological insights into the characters' thoughts and actions... you will be very disappointed.
Tl;dr - Bright, imaginative, and full of promise: the book has four sequels, the last one expected to be published this year. However, this IS scattered with sci-fi tropes, and I should warn you that characterization and plotline follow-through is hazy and sometimes non-existent. I will definitely be reading the next books. Not as good as books like Annihilation, Nexus or vN, but definitely satisfying and stunning in its own way.
R.I.P. Terry Pratchett. Earths, untold Earths. More Earths than could be counted, some said. And all you had to do was walk sideways into them, one after the next, an unending chain.
July 29, 2020
Mi problema con esta novela es, que cuando la comencé, no sabía que era la primera de otra larga serie de Terry Pratchet, esta vez, a dos manos con el maestro de la ciencia ficción Stephen Baxter. Me sumergí en ella sin haber leído ninguna reseña previa, y sí, te engancha, pero te deja en un final que más parece un cambio de capítulo.
Toda la teoría de los universos paralelos que es la tierra larga está muy bien definida por los autores, y si te pones a pensar en ella, puedes acabar con un resacón mental de narices. Es una obra más bien filosófica, de ahí que pueda resultar lenta en ocasiones, ya que, pasar, no pasa gran cosa. Tiene muchas connotaciones, y cada una de una índole muy diversa. De cada una de ellas se puede sacar un mensaje, más o menos implícito según la región que nuestros protagonistas estén visitando. O sea, que hay material para grupos de lectura o charlas al calor de la barra de un pub, a ser posible en una noche de frío (y si es un pub irlandés, mejor que mejor). Cada lector sacará sus propias conclusiones, tan válidas como las de su vecino.
Pero de momento, me estanco con la primera entrega, que tengo muchas lecturas pendientes, y, en cualquier caso, de Pratchett me sigo quedando con su serie de “Mundodisco”, mucho más a mi sabor que esta recientemente iniciada.
Toda la teoría de los universos paralelos que es la tierra larga está muy bien definida por los autores, y si te pones a pensar en ella, puedes acabar con un resacón mental de narices. Es una obra más bien filosófica, de ahí que pueda resultar lenta en ocasiones, ya que, pasar, no pasa gran cosa. Tiene muchas connotaciones, y cada una de una índole muy diversa. De cada una de ellas se puede sacar un mensaje, más o menos implícito según la región que nuestros protagonistas estén visitando. O sea, que hay material para grupos de lectura o charlas al calor de la barra de un pub, a ser posible en una noche de frío (y si es un pub irlandés, mejor que mejor). Cada lector sacará sus propias conclusiones, tan válidas como las de su vecino.
Pero de momento, me estanco con la primera entrega, que tengo muchas lecturas pendientes, y, en cualquier caso, de Pratchett me sigo quedando con su serie de “Mundodisco”, mucho más a mi sabor que esta recientemente iniciada.
July 5, 2012
I really wanted to like this book. Turns out I liked parts of it. The idea of millions of Earths branching out from ours--a variation on different choices creating different realities--is pretty cool, as is the mechanism by which people reach them. Pratchett and Baxter gave a lot of thought to how the Earth might have developed differently under different circumstances, such as the lack of a moon altering tides and climate or even failing to deflect large asteroids from the planet. I also liked the vignettes interspersed with the main plot, about how the discovery of Stepping affected ordinary people. The characters were charming and the aliens were interesting, if not particularly original.
Unfortunately, what should have been the high point of the story fell flat. The mystery of who or what they're going to find at the far end of the Long Earth grows increasingly suspenseful--and then the answer is...sort of blah. The reason for the disaster that's driving the aliens inward toward our Earth, the origin Earth, is in fact disastrous, but doesn't feel disastrous--and it's dispensed with too easily, no sacrifice (literally none, as the last sentence of the book proves) and no payoff.
I was more dissatified with the social ramifications the authors believed would arise from this situation:
1. Supposedly, Stepping off to new and untamed wildernesses means the economy of Datum Earth (the main world) would start to collapse. That's sort of true in the sense that if you remove enough of any vital material from an economy, it will destabilize. But the historical example of the depopulation that happened because of the Plague in the 14th century says that not only will the economy restabilize, it can do so in a way that improves the lives of the survivors. Since it's impossible to bring anything made of iron into the other Earths, the people who stay behind get to keep all the resources of civilization. And since the authors also argue that violence and crime are almost entirely caused by overpopulation, wouldn't that mean that Datum Earth would see a similar drop in crime when the poverty-stricken rise out of poverty?
2. Except I don't actually buy the whole "crime is caused by competition for resources" thing. People kill for a lot of reasons that don't have anything to do with theft, and even if you look at one person killing another to take the second person's mate as competition for resources, it only takes three people for that to happen. The utopian settlements of the Long Earth come off, to me, as more of a social statement than a realistic possibility--a given outcome, based on assumptions that they didn't try to prove.
Overall, it was enjoyable once, but not a book I'd want to read again.
Unfortunately, what should have been the high point of the story fell flat. The mystery of who or what they're going to find at the far end of the Long Earth grows increasingly suspenseful--and then the answer is...sort of blah. The reason for the disaster that's driving the aliens inward toward our Earth, the origin Earth, is in fact disastrous, but doesn't feel disastrous--and it's dispensed with too easily, no sacrifice (literally none, as the last sentence of the book proves) and no payoff.
I was more dissatified with the social ramifications the authors believed would arise from this situation:
1. Supposedly, Stepping off to new and untamed wildernesses means the economy of Datum Earth (the main world) would start to collapse. That's sort of true in the sense that if you remove enough of any vital material from an economy, it will destabilize. But the historical example of the depopulation that happened because of the Plague in the 14th century says that not only will the economy restabilize, it can do so in a way that improves the lives of the survivors. Since it's impossible to bring anything made of iron into the other Earths, the people who stay behind get to keep all the resources of civilization. And since the authors also argue that violence and crime are almost entirely caused by overpopulation, wouldn't that mean that Datum Earth would see a similar drop in crime when the poverty-stricken rise out of poverty?
2. Except I don't actually buy the whole "crime is caused by competition for resources" thing. People kill for a lot of reasons that don't have anything to do with theft, and even if you look at one person killing another to take the second person's mate as competition for resources, it only takes three people for that to happen. The utopian settlements of the Long Earth come off, to me, as more of a social statement than a realistic possibility--a given outcome, based on assumptions that they didn't try to prove.
Overall, it was enjoyable once, but not a book I'd want to read again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2016
The main thing that made me interested in reading this would be the promising premise. It offered a million possibilities, and I was not disappointed. While the novel was not perfect, it was still an amazing novel that promises even more exciting things to come in the next novels in the series.
Embarrassingly I haven't read any of the Discworld novels of Pratchett, and none of Baxter's novels too. While anything space related has caught my interest ever since i was young, I haven't invested myself in reading Hard-Sci-Fi before this. Lately while browsing through goodreads though, I always get a feeling of wanting to read a good Sci-Fi book. I finally decided to pick this one up, because it's the most interesting one in my bookshelf.
The premise didn't disappoint, and the novel has a great story. It's about the possibility of countless earths, and the repercussions of having such possibility. I really enjoy speculative fiction, or anything speculative to be concise. As a Sci-Fi fan, I have a very colorful imagination. The possibility of other earths at a reach of a step is beyond interesting. I'm glad that there are 2 more books in the series because I really want to know more of it. I know that this first novel is aimed to be an introduction to the idea of stepping, so hopefully the next ones would offer a more vivid narration of the said possibility.
The characters are well developed and filled with humor. Joshua Valiente is the perfect main character, as he possessed wit and humor. The character of Lobsang would normally annoy me, but Pratchett managed to make me like that humor filled robot.
4/5 stars. There were dull moments in the middle, but I'm still very impressed with this novel. A really satisfying first read of Pratchett and Baxter. I can't wait to read more hard sci-fi novels of the mentioned authors and also vintage/classic ones like Dick, Clarke, Reynolds, and more. Highly recommended.
Embarrassingly I haven't read any of the Discworld novels of Pratchett, and none of Baxter's novels too. While anything space related has caught my interest ever since i was young, I haven't invested myself in reading Hard-Sci-Fi before this. Lately while browsing through goodreads though, I always get a feeling of wanting to read a good Sci-Fi book. I finally decided to pick this one up, because it's the most interesting one in my bookshelf.
The premise didn't disappoint, and the novel has a great story. It's about the possibility of countless earths, and the repercussions of having such possibility. I really enjoy speculative fiction, or anything speculative to be concise. As a Sci-Fi fan, I have a very colorful imagination. The possibility of other earths at a reach of a step is beyond interesting. I'm glad that there are 2 more books in the series because I really want to know more of it. I know that this first novel is aimed to be an introduction to the idea of stepping, so hopefully the next ones would offer a more vivid narration of the said possibility.
The characters are well developed and filled with humor. Joshua Valiente is the perfect main character, as he possessed wit and humor. The character of Lobsang would normally annoy me, but Pratchett managed to make me like that humor filled robot.
4/5 stars. There were dull moments in the middle, but I'm still very impressed with this novel. A really satisfying first read of Pratchett and Baxter. I can't wait to read more hard sci-fi novels of the mentioned authors and also vintage/classic ones like Dick, Clarke, Reynolds, and more. Highly recommended.
January 27, 2013
You know how famous authors will occasionally complain about how readers will come up to them at cons and tell them that they have this amazing idea for a book; the author should write the reader's idea, and then they can split the money. The moral to this kind of story is always that this is a ridiculously ignorant concept--ideas are easy, it's execution that's hard.
This is a novel in which two extremely prolific authors forgot this.
Well, to be honest, calling this a "novel" strikes me as generous. There are some people in it; I've seen ten page short stories that featured more memorable characters with better developed arcs. Some things happen, but they're not really so much a plot as just some events, with some slightly bigger events kinda near the end that don't actually resolve anything. There are settings--oh, so many settings. But while each one has the potential to be a thought experiment, in actuality, each one receives a brief description and no development. Most role-playing supplements do a better job of creating intriguing worlds. More than anything else, this feels like a novel-length list of ideas for a forty book series, each of which could be developed into a story but hasn't been yet.
The book concludes with a note that the story begins in Madison, WI, because the authors were there for a con and so could do research. I would have guessed that they looked at Google Maps for five minutes, for all the individuality the Madison setting displays. Umm, there's a government building. And some cafes. And I think there was a lake or something.
This is a terrible thing to say, but I'm kind of hoping that Pratchett only agreed to this because he was worried about having enough money for his medical care and was hoping he could get a couple bucks more for his heirs out of this.
I have more to rant about, in far more specificity--from the incredible lameness of the ending to the number of issues raised and then never resolved to various gaping plot holes to the sheer number of potentially interesting ideas that are somehow presented in a way that make them completely uninteresting and then dropped. Because honestly, this book pissed me off in its incredible waste of potential. But you know what? It's not actually worth anyone's time. Mine to write them, or yours to read them. And certainly it's not worth your time to read the book itself.
This is a novel in which two extremely prolific authors forgot this.
Well, to be honest, calling this a "novel" strikes me as generous. There are some people in it; I've seen ten page short stories that featured more memorable characters with better developed arcs. Some things happen, but they're not really so much a plot as just some events, with some slightly bigger events kinda near the end that don't actually resolve anything. There are settings--oh, so many settings. But while each one has the potential to be a thought experiment, in actuality, each one receives a brief description and no development. Most role-playing supplements do a better job of creating intriguing worlds. More than anything else, this feels like a novel-length list of ideas for a forty book series, each of which could be developed into a story but hasn't been yet.
The book concludes with a note that the story begins in Madison, WI, because the authors were there for a con and so could do research. I would have guessed that they looked at Google Maps for five minutes, for all the individuality the Madison setting displays. Umm, there's a government building. And some cafes. And I think there was a lake or something.
This is a terrible thing to say, but I'm kind of hoping that Pratchett only agreed to this because he was worried about having enough money for his medical care and was hoping he could get a couple bucks more for his heirs out of this.
I have more to rant about, in far more specificity--from the incredible lameness of the ending to the number of issues raised and then never resolved to various gaping plot holes to the sheer number of potentially interesting ideas that are somehow presented in a way that make them completely uninteresting and then dropped. Because honestly, this book pissed me off in its incredible waste of potential. But you know what? It's not actually worth anyone's time. Mine to write them, or yours to read them. And certainly it's not worth your time to read the book itself.
February 7, 2017
“It is hard for scientists even to talk about the Long Earth without babbling about m-brane manifolds and quantum multiverses.”
It would be hard for Stephen Baxter to resist waxing lyrical about quantum whatsits I suppose. I read his Xeelee omnibus and only understood half of the science expositions (and that is an optimistic estimate). However, with The Long Earth Baxter has the late great Terry Pratchett to help make the science part more palatable and also infuse the novel with the magic of his wit, characterization, and of course, humour. I have not read the Baxter & Clarke collaborations yet (coming soon), but they seem to be very like-minded gentlemen, and while I look forward to reading some mind blowing super science from their books I think the pairing with Pratchett seems like a much more dynamic combination; two very different talents that beautifully complement each other.
The Long Earth is basically about parallel worlds, more specifically parallel Earths. This is hardly a new sci-fi conceit but this book—first in a series of five— explores more of the possibilities, ramifications, and science than other parallel universe books I have read. In The Long Earth, a scientist invents a simple device that enables the user to step into a parallel Earth, in the dimension adjacent to ours, also the next adjacent one, on and on presumably infinitely.
“Earths, untold Earths. More Earths than could be counted, some said. And all you had to do was walk sideways into them, one after the next, an unending chain.”
The Stepper schematic (powered by a potato!)
The design and circuitry of the “Stepper” device are shared on the internet and immediately becomes a worldwide sensation. As millions of people migrate to an alternate Earth, there is suddenly plenty of room and resources for everyone. This puts an end to scarcity, overpopulation and even poverty. The narrative is mostly focused on the adventures of Joshua Valienté and an AI entity called Lobsang across “the Long Earth” (the term for all the parallel Earths). They are later joined by a woman called Sally Linsay. Joshua and Sally are “natural steppers” who can travel without a Stepper device, as for Lobsang, there is very little he can not do. Beside this major story arc, the narrative occasionally switches to a young girl called Helen Green who has migrated to an alternate Earth to set up a colony with her family. There is also a small plot strand about a policewoman called Monica Jansson who is keeping an eye on malcontents who are unable to travel to a parallel Earth due to some innate disability. All the story threads are good, but the main story arc with Joshua and Lobsang is the most epic, as they travel further from “Datum Earth” (our Earth) than anyone else and discover all kinds of strange life forms and discover a danger that threatens every single iteration of Earth.
I remember when The Long Earth came out in 2012 there were many readers who expressed their disappointment with the book. That is why I am reading it now five years later. I have to say this book is a blast, very enjoyable and imaginative. I suspect many of the people who are disappointed with it are die-hard Discworld fans. The Long Earth is very different in tone from a typical Discworld book in that humour is not placed at the front and center of the narrative, it is not even a major component. The emphasis is here is on adventures, colonization, pioneering and exploration; basically The Long Earth is a romp. The wit and charm of Terry Pratchett’s prose and characterization are there in abundance, coupled with Stephen Baxter’s hard sci-fi inventiveness. I have speculated that some Terry Pratchett’s fans may be disappointed by the emphasis on adventures rather than humour, but what about Stephen Baxter’s fans? Well, there is less emphasis on science also, much less than you would find in a solo Baxter book. This is conceivably disappointing for hardcore hard sci-fi fans who probably enjoy Baxter’s normal detailed quantum physics expositions. However, for me, there is just the right amount of science to make the story plausible and fascinating. This collaboration is a synergistic success and I think Baxter is very lucky to have the opportunity to work with Pratchett for five books, and I think sci-fi fans are lucky that these two excellent gentlemen decided to combine forces. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Notes:
• Video interview: Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter on The Long Earth
• Sir Terry Pratchett 1948-2015: an appreciation by Stephen Baxter - a wonderful article.
Quotes:
“Oh, there are certainly others smarter than you, they are stacked high in the universities achieving little or nothing. But smart has to have a depth as well as a length. Some smart brushes over a problem. And some smart grinds exceeding slow, like the mills of God, and it grinds fine, and when it comes up with an answer, it has been tested.”
‘You know I crapped my pants in the course of the engagement.’
‘Should I think less of you for that? Throughout the animal kingdom, it has always made good sense to jettison the cargo in a threatening situation.’
“A smiley, he thought: one curve and two dots, and you see a human face. What was the minimum you needed to see a human being? What has to be said, what has to be laughed?”
“It was once said of an English politician that if you kicked him in the butt not a muscle would move on his face until he had decided what to do about it.”
It would be hard for Stephen Baxter to resist waxing lyrical about quantum whatsits I suppose. I read his Xeelee omnibus and only understood half of the science expositions (and that is an optimistic estimate). However, with The Long Earth Baxter has the late great Terry Pratchett to help make the science part more palatable and also infuse the novel with the magic of his wit, characterization, and of course, humour. I have not read the Baxter & Clarke collaborations yet (coming soon), but they seem to be very like-minded gentlemen, and while I look forward to reading some mind blowing super science from their books I think the pairing with Pratchett seems like a much more dynamic combination; two very different talents that beautifully complement each other.
The Long Earth is basically about parallel worlds, more specifically parallel Earths. This is hardly a new sci-fi conceit but this book—first in a series of five— explores more of the possibilities, ramifications, and science than other parallel universe books I have read. In The Long Earth, a scientist invents a simple device that enables the user to step into a parallel Earth, in the dimension adjacent to ours, also the next adjacent one, on and on presumably infinitely.
“Earths, untold Earths. More Earths than could be counted, some said. And all you had to do was walk sideways into them, one after the next, an unending chain.”
The Stepper schematic (powered by a potato!)
The design and circuitry of the “Stepper” device are shared on the internet and immediately becomes a worldwide sensation. As millions of people migrate to an alternate Earth, there is suddenly plenty of room and resources for everyone. This puts an end to scarcity, overpopulation and even poverty. The narrative is mostly focused on the adventures of Joshua Valienté and an AI entity called Lobsang across “the Long Earth” (the term for all the parallel Earths). They are later joined by a woman called Sally Linsay. Joshua and Sally are “natural steppers” who can travel without a Stepper device, as for Lobsang, there is very little he can not do. Beside this major story arc, the narrative occasionally switches to a young girl called Helen Green who has migrated to an alternate Earth to set up a colony with her family. There is also a small plot strand about a policewoman called Monica Jansson who is keeping an eye on malcontents who are unable to travel to a parallel Earth due to some innate disability. All the story threads are good, but the main story arc with Joshua and Lobsang is the most epic, as they travel further from “Datum Earth” (our Earth) than anyone else and discover all kinds of strange life forms and discover a danger that threatens every single iteration of Earth.
I remember when The Long Earth came out in 2012 there were many readers who expressed their disappointment with the book. That is why I am reading it now five years later. I have to say this book is a blast, very enjoyable and imaginative. I suspect many of the people who are disappointed with it are die-hard Discworld fans. The Long Earth is very different in tone from a typical Discworld book in that humour is not placed at the front and center of the narrative, it is not even a major component. The emphasis is here is on adventures, colonization, pioneering and exploration; basically The Long Earth is a romp. The wit and charm of Terry Pratchett’s prose and characterization are there in abundance, coupled with Stephen Baxter’s hard sci-fi inventiveness. I have speculated that some Terry Pratchett’s fans may be disappointed by the emphasis on adventures rather than humour, but what about Stephen Baxter’s fans? Well, there is less emphasis on science also, much less than you would find in a solo Baxter book. This is conceivably disappointing for hardcore hard sci-fi fans who probably enjoy Baxter’s normal detailed quantum physics expositions. However, for me, there is just the right amount of science to make the story plausible and fascinating. This collaboration is a synergistic success and I think Baxter is very lucky to have the opportunity to work with Pratchett for five books, and I think sci-fi fans are lucky that these two excellent gentlemen decided to combine forces. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series.
Notes:
• Video interview: Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter on The Long Earth
• Sir Terry Pratchett 1948-2015: an appreciation by Stephen Baxter - a wonderful article.
Quotes:
“Oh, there are certainly others smarter than you, they are stacked high in the universities achieving little or nothing. But smart has to have a depth as well as a length. Some smart brushes over a problem. And some smart grinds exceeding slow, like the mills of God, and it grinds fine, and when it comes up with an answer, it has been tested.”
‘You know I crapped my pants in the course of the engagement.’
‘Should I think less of you for that? Throughout the animal kingdom, it has always made good sense to jettison the cargo in a threatening situation.’
“A smiley, he thought: one curve and two dots, and you see a human face. What was the minimum you needed to see a human being? What has to be said, what has to be laughed?”
“It was once said of an English politician that if you kicked him in the butt not a muscle would move on his face until he had decided what to do about it.”
January 25, 2020
In 2015 humanity discovers a (potato-powered) device that enables it to travel to parallel worlds. While most people need these devices to travel between worlds (i.e. step), there are natural steppers who don't rely on them, and also some that can't step at all, having to be carried over by others.
Natural stepper Joshua Valiente and Lobsang, the super computer, decide to test the limits of these parallel worlds and go on the journey of their ugh... lives. In the meantime, the rest of humanity decides it's time to start over, and begin colonizing the newly discovered worlds, or at least that's the plan. Nature however, seems to have a few choice words about that. Oh and there's also the humans left behind due to their inability to step, who don't seem to be up to any good.
I frequently pick up novels authored by Sir Terry Pratchett, and then often find myself utterly underwhelmed by it all. Still, I his particular brand of humor, keeps making me come back over and over again.
So imagine my surprise when I hardly found any of that in this book, yet I still ended up liking it a lot. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the name Lobsang, I wouldn't have even recognized my favorite author's style.
I liked the whole science behind the concept of a "Long Earth". You can clearly see that someone put a whole lot of thought into it, and didn't just stop at the first random idea. For some reason, the story reminds me of 2001 A Space Odyssey: there's something about the atmosphere that made me want to continue.
Score: 4/5 stars
It's best to read this book without expecting Terry Pratchett's fingerprint at every corner. I don't mean that in a bad way, quite the contrary, but for those of you waiting to see the entertaining aspect from the Discworld novels... well, you'll be heavily disappointed.
Just give it the benefit of doubt, and there's a high chance you'll like it.
Natural stepper Joshua Valiente and Lobsang, the super computer, decide to test the limits of these parallel worlds and go on the journey of their ugh... lives. In the meantime, the rest of humanity decides it's time to start over, and begin colonizing the newly discovered worlds, or at least that's the plan. Nature however, seems to have a few choice words about that. Oh and there's also the humans left behind due to their inability to step, who don't seem to be up to any good.
I frequently pick up novels authored by Sir Terry Pratchett, and then often find myself utterly underwhelmed by it all. Still, I his particular brand of humor, keeps making me come back over and over again.
So imagine my surprise when I hardly found any of that in this book, yet I still ended up liking it a lot. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for the name Lobsang, I wouldn't have even recognized my favorite author's style.
I liked the whole science behind the concept of a "Long Earth". You can clearly see that someone put a whole lot of thought into it, and didn't just stop at the first random idea. For some reason, the story reminds me of 2001 A Space Odyssey: there's something about the atmosphere that made me want to continue.
Score: 4/5 stars
It's best to read this book without expecting Terry Pratchett's fingerprint at every corner. I don't mean that in a bad way, quite the contrary, but for those of you waiting to see the entertaining aspect from the Discworld novels... well, you'll be heavily disappointed.
Just give it the benefit of doubt, and there's a high chance you'll like it.
November 28, 2018
Such a great concept, the execution though fell way short of my expectations. Going to give the sequels a pass...
Shelved as 'flipped-to-the-end'
August 2, 2012A did not finish read.
I think, in its way, this could be regarded as a form of apocalyptica. A device allowing easy jumping to countless alternate worlds (conveniently free of human populations) is invented. Many people embrace this passionately, and rush off to stake their claim in a 'land rush' with no visible end game. A small percentage can't go and others don't want to, but the effect of this mass dispersal is economies collapsing, new religions, fighting among old religions. It's a book about global change.
The book doesn't focus on a single person, showing us the experiences of a half-dozen or so, and headhops through a bunch more, but the primary character is Joshua, one of the first to hop, and also a natural hopper, able to travel without the device. He's an orphan, and inclined to be a major loner, and in part his progression involves finding someone he might want to travel with.
The book didn't work for me in a number of different ways.
The prose scales the pinnacles of beige. The plot is leaden and there's little sense of wonder, of individuals overcoming adversity, or awe or delight. But the biggest problem is Joshua, who is Super Special and Innately Superior to Everyone, so much more in connection with the natural world, so superior in his reactions to the other worlds, so much better a logical thinker, so better able to cope. People keep telling him that, so we can be sure it's not just his opinion. He is full of a combination of disdain and dislike for almost everyone he encounters, and is also a Famous Hero. When the (strangely enormous number of) children in his neighbourhood who simultaneously decided they wanted to follow some guy on the internet's suggestion they figure out how to solder some wires into a circuit and jab them into a potato, he told them that, hey, maybe you should try turning the switch the Other Direction. Genius!
Joshua is extremely unlikeable, and few other characters distinguish themselves in any way. I liked the female police officer a bit, but 20% in I had no Cares left in me and flipped to the end to see whether this was going anywhere interesting. And the answer to that was nowhere unexpected.
I think, in its way, this could be regarded as a form of apocalyptica. A device allowing easy jumping to countless alternate worlds (conveniently free of human populations) is invented. Many people embrace this passionately, and rush off to stake their claim in a 'land rush' with no visible end game. A small percentage can't go and others don't want to, but the effect of this mass dispersal is economies collapsing, new religions, fighting among old religions. It's a book about global change.
The book doesn't focus on a single person, showing us the experiences of a half-dozen or so, and headhops through a bunch more, but the primary character is Joshua, one of the first to hop, and also a natural hopper, able to travel without the device. He's an orphan, and inclined to be a major loner, and in part his progression involves finding someone he might want to travel with.
The book didn't work for me in a number of different ways.
The prose scales the pinnacles of beige. The plot is leaden and there's little sense of wonder, of individuals overcoming adversity, or awe or delight. But the biggest problem is Joshua, who is Super Special and Innately Superior to Everyone, so much more in connection with the natural world, so superior in his reactions to the other worlds, so much better a logical thinker, so better able to cope. People keep telling him that, so we can be sure it's not just his opinion. He is full of a combination of disdain and dislike for almost everyone he encounters, and is also a Famous Hero. When the (strangely enormous number of) children in his neighbourhood who simultaneously decided they wanted to follow some guy on the internet's suggestion they figure out how to solder some wires into a circuit and jab them into a potato, he told them that, hey, maybe you should try turning the switch the Other Direction. Genius!
Joshua is extremely unlikeable, and few other characters distinguish themselves in any way. I liked the female police officer a bit, but 20% in I had no Cares left in me and flipped to the end to see whether this was going anywhere interesting. And the answer to that was nowhere unexpected.
May 23, 2019
This is the second time I'm reading this book but the first time I tried the audio. And I can happily report that both forms are great.
The Long Earth series is not one of those action-laden scifi stories. Rather, it's more of a smart and funny thought experiment with the occasional action - making it far more realistic.
We are on Earth. Earth as we know it. It's called Datum Earth in this series. One day, someone publishes the plan to the so-called Stepper. A device that let's you go left or right, from this Earth to a parallel one - and back. As it turns out, it actually works and there doesn't seem to be a limit to the amounts of Earths left and right to our original one.
These other Earths are similar to ours but always slightly different. The common denominator is that no other Earth seems to have homo sapiens.
People start fleeing from the restraints of taxation and laws, stepping farther and farther out, building settlements or trying to find a quick and easy way to get rich (which isn't working because the economy they know is collapsing, naturally).
Enter Joshua. A boy born on one of the Long Earths by accident. He's one of a not yet disclosed number of "natural steppers", meaning he doesn't actually need the device and knew about stepping before the Long Earth was opened up to (almost) everybody.
There is also Officer Monica Jansson who tries to hold everything together now that so many are leaving and governments are too dumbfounded and slow to react.
Moreover, there is an entity called Lobsang - formerly a Tibetan mechanic first trapped in a beverage vending machine that later becomes co-owner of a big company. He has copied himself into many systems and loves to learn. thus has the financial means as well as leverage to research the Long Earth together with Joshua.
And then there are the people who can't step at all (might be genetic) as well as all the other disgruntled idiots that try to ruin this great and potentially species-saving opportunity.
Other things we get are:
- a glimpse at a settlement that is built about 100.000 Earths away from Datum Earth
- strange other life forms that are designated as elves and trolls
- different variations on our continents and oceans incl. slightly different fauna and flora
- the mysterious Happy Landing
- the Migraine Monster
This is a true pioneer / frontier adventure. It's about exploration. The exploration of the human spirit, of loneliness and a sense of community in various forms. The exploration of a sheer limitless number of planets and what their existence (as well as free access to them for everyone) means to politics, religion and economics.
I loved this as much as the first time around (though hearing the narrator sing the songs to the trolls gave this version a certain bonus). A great scifi trip that gets spiced up by Terry Pratchett's signature sense of humour and sharp social observations.
The Long Earth series is not one of those action-laden scifi stories. Rather, it's more of a smart and funny thought experiment with the occasional action - making it far more realistic.
We are on Earth. Earth as we know it. It's called Datum Earth in this series. One day, someone publishes the plan to the so-called Stepper. A device that let's you go left or right, from this Earth to a parallel one - and back. As it turns out, it actually works and there doesn't seem to be a limit to the amounts of Earths left and right to our original one.
These other Earths are similar to ours but always slightly different. The common denominator is that no other Earth seems to have homo sapiens.
People start fleeing from the restraints of taxation and laws, stepping farther and farther out, building settlements or trying to find a quick and easy way to get rich (which isn't working because the economy they know is collapsing, naturally).
Enter Joshua. A boy born on one of the Long Earths by accident. He's one of a not yet disclosed number of "natural steppers", meaning he doesn't actually need the device and knew about stepping before the Long Earth was opened up to (almost) everybody.
There is also Officer Monica Jansson who tries to hold everything together now that so many are leaving and governments are too dumbfounded and slow to react.
Moreover, there is an entity called Lobsang - formerly a Tibetan mechanic first trapped in a beverage vending machine that later becomes co-owner of a big company. He has copied himself into many systems and loves to learn. thus has the financial means as well as leverage to research the Long Earth together with Joshua.
And then there are the people who can't step at all (might be genetic) as well as all the other disgruntled idiots that try to ruin this great and potentially species-saving opportunity.
Other things we get are:
- a glimpse at a settlement that is built about 100.000 Earths away from Datum Earth
- strange other life forms that are designated as elves and trolls
- different variations on our continents and oceans incl. slightly different fauna and flora
- the mysterious Happy Landing
- the Migraine Monster
This is a true pioneer / frontier adventure. It's about exploration. The exploration of the human spirit, of loneliness and a sense of community in various forms. The exploration of a sheer limitless number of planets and what their existence (as well as free access to them for everyone) means to politics, religion and economics.
I loved this as much as the first time around (though hearing the narrator sing the songs to the trolls gave this version a certain bonus). A great scifi trip that gets spiced up by Terry Pratchett's signature sense of humour and sharp social observations.
July 3, 2015
I did not expect that much going into this book, I was just hoping for a fun fluffy read. I borrowed it from the library, so the worst case scenario was returning it unfinished. But I was surprised and delighted by this novel and I'm jumping right into the next book.
In a plot that you may feel has been done to death, a mad scientist disappears and leaves instructions to build a stepping device on the internet. Kids throughout the world make a copy and end up travelling into a parallel world. It seems that there are multiple Earth's all lined up and you can either travel in one direction or another, named East or West to a parallel Earth. Hasn't this been done before? Yes. Has it been done like this? My argument is no.
Anyone who knows my taste in books knows that I appreciate the info-dump. I appreciate a great amount of detail as long as it is fascinating. And that is what you get here. I also appreciate thought experiments that explore the implications of scenarios to the best of their ability. I have hot it recently with Locke and Key and The Fifteen Lives of Henry August. This novel explores the implications of these parallel Earth's and throws in some great ideas. There is not too much of a plot at all, and I see this reflected in the bad reviews on here. This is a book that explores ideas rather than human relationships.
I'm going to probably get some gasps at this statement: I don't really enjoy Terry Pratchett's humour. I've read a handful of Discworld novels and they are slightly entertaining, but I liken them to candy floss. Sweet, but forgettable. No sustenance. and the humour can be laid on a bit thick. Yes, Sir Terry I understood you are trying to be witty and intelligent. I was prepared for a bit of that here, but it is very toned down. There is some zaniness in parts, but it is all explained within the system, it never feels zany for the sake of zany.
So a 4 star read for me, and probably any other nerd who loves info-dumps and big ideas. People looking for plot and character development can stick to the annual prize-winners.
In a plot that you may feel has been done to death, a mad scientist disappears and leaves instructions to build a stepping device on the internet. Kids throughout the world make a copy and end up travelling into a parallel world. It seems that there are multiple Earth's all lined up and you can either travel in one direction or another, named East or West to a parallel Earth. Hasn't this been done before? Yes. Has it been done like this? My argument is no.
Anyone who knows my taste in books knows that I appreciate the info-dump. I appreciate a great amount of detail as long as it is fascinating. And that is what you get here. I also appreciate thought experiments that explore the implications of scenarios to the best of their ability. I have hot it recently with Locke and Key and The Fifteen Lives of Henry August. This novel explores the implications of these parallel Earth's and throws in some great ideas. There is not too much of a plot at all, and I see this reflected in the bad reviews on here. This is a book that explores ideas rather than human relationships.
I'm going to probably get some gasps at this statement: I don't really enjoy Terry Pratchett's humour. I've read a handful of Discworld novels and they are slightly entertaining, but I liken them to candy floss. Sweet, but forgettable. No sustenance. and the humour can be laid on a bit thick. Yes, Sir Terry I understood you are trying to be witty and intelligent. I was prepared for a bit of that here, but it is very toned down. There is some zaniness in parts, but it is all explained within the system, it never feels zany for the sake of zany.
So a 4 star read for me, and probably any other nerd who loves info-dumps and big ideas. People looking for plot and character development can stick to the annual prize-winners.
September 11, 2012
I finished The Long Earth yesterday, and came to see what others thought, and in many respects I agree; The Long Earth has an incredibly novel premise, but a storyline that in the end, doesn't really go anywhere (no pun intended).
The book essentially offers a thought exercise of what would happen if relatively unlimited inter-planetary (or more correctly, inter-dimensional) travel were available to the masses on Earth. What would people do? Would there be a mass exodus? Would people try to exploit this travel for their own gain or exploiting others? How would it affect the economy of Earth and the people who remained? What would remain valuable and what wouldn't? Would governments remain intact? So many questions and fascinating to think about.
Unfortunately, the storyline that is the vehicle for this premise is not quite as strong. I won't go into it much as it would spoil things, but I felt rather unfulfilled at the end. I was sure that this coming terror would have been much more metaphysical and not so...meh.
All in all, I would still highly recommend this just to change the way you think, if only a little. =)
oh...and I really want a t-shirt that says "Don't worry! On another Earth it already happened" like Joshua.
The book essentially offers a thought exercise of what would happen if relatively unlimited inter-planetary (or more correctly, inter-dimensional) travel were available to the masses on Earth. What would people do? Would there be a mass exodus? Would people try to exploit this travel for their own gain or exploiting others? How would it affect the economy of Earth and the people who remained? What would remain valuable and what wouldn't? Would governments remain intact? So many questions and fascinating to think about.
Unfortunately, the storyline that is the vehicle for this premise is not quite as strong. I won't go into it much as it would spoil things, but I felt rather unfulfilled at the end. I was sure that this coming terror would have been much more metaphysical and not so...meh.
All in all, I would still highly recommend this just to change the way you think, if only a little. =)
oh...and I really want a t-shirt that says "Don't worry! On another Earth it already happened" like Joshua.
February 20, 2013
One day, humanity discovers they can "step" from our world into parallel worlds. Each of these other Earths is slightly different from the next--but humans exist on no other world but our own. Humans immediately start stepping into other worlds to explore and create new homes. Resources and space are no longer scarce; old hierarchies start breaking down.
Joshua Valiente is a natural Stepper, someone who can jump from one world to the next without any ill effects. And so the first AI to be declared sentient (by dint of claiming to be the reincarnation of a Tibetan motorcycle repairman) hires him to be his companion as they explore farther into the alternate Earths than any humans before. Along the way they discover other sentient beings, who discovered stepping earlier in their evolutionary tracks: the peaceful "trolls" who communicate by song and scent, and the scrawny but aggressive "elves". These creatures are migrating toward the original Earth in what can only be called a very slow stampede. Lobsang, Joshua, and their chance-met companion Sally "step" against the stampede, hoping to find out what danger is approaching. And what they find is beyond their wildest imaginations.
This was not a good book. The dialog is stilted and made up of info-dumps, the descriptions of alternate Earths repetitive and boring. Various side characters, mostly never heard from again, are given a chapter each to tell the tale of their own exploration. Pratchett's contribution is nearly invisible--there's one section in which a WWI private thinks about his boots and another about a religion that seems Pratchett-esque, but there are few moments of humor and no other moments of whimsy. The characters never seem to really have personalities or connect to each other, and the only character who felt remotely real was Monica Jansson (a lesbian cop who is one of the few people who fully understands what alternate earths means for the original Earth). The pacing is soooo slow, and the plot is basically non-existent. It felt like the authors figured out they needed a plot about four chapters from the end, shoved a couple dangers in, and then went back to what they really wanted to talk about, which was boring characters creating boring homesteads. It's not even fun in a Hatchet kind of way, because there's no struggle to survive--humans settle on worlds so rich in resources that they don't even need to farm; fish practically leap into their baskets. And there's no real world-building; they don't explore how the original Earth changes, or talk further about what it means that Happy Landings has no crime or disabled people, or get in depth about anything at all. It was, in all, very disappointing.
Joshua Valiente is a natural Stepper, someone who can jump from one world to the next without any ill effects. And so the first AI to be declared sentient (by dint of claiming to be the reincarnation of a Tibetan motorcycle repairman) hires him to be his companion as they explore farther into the alternate Earths than any humans before. Along the way they discover other sentient beings, who discovered stepping earlier in their evolutionary tracks: the peaceful "trolls" who communicate by song and scent, and the scrawny but aggressive "elves". These creatures are migrating toward the original Earth in what can only be called a very slow stampede. Lobsang, Joshua, and their chance-met companion Sally "step" against the stampede, hoping to find out what danger is approaching. And what they find is beyond their wildest imaginations.
This was not a good book. The dialog is stilted and made up of info-dumps, the descriptions of alternate Earths repetitive and boring. Various side characters, mostly never heard from again, are given a chapter each to tell the tale of their own exploration. Pratchett's contribution is nearly invisible--there's one section in which a WWI private thinks about his boots and another about a religion that seems Pratchett-esque, but there are few moments of humor and no other moments of whimsy. The characters never seem to really have personalities or connect to each other, and the only character who felt remotely real was Monica Jansson (a lesbian cop who is one of the few people who fully understands what alternate earths means for the original Earth). The pacing is soooo slow, and the plot is basically non-existent. It felt like the authors figured out they needed a plot about four chapters from the end, shoved a couple dangers in, and then went back to what they really wanted to talk about, which was boring characters creating boring homesteads. It's not even fun in a Hatchet kind of way, because there's no struggle to survive--humans settle on worlds so rich in resources that they don't even need to farm; fish practically leap into their baskets. And there's no real world-building; they don't explore how the original Earth changes, or talk further about what it means that Happy Landings has no crime or disabled people, or get in depth about anything at all. It was, in all, very disappointing.
June 27, 2012
Those poor French. You lose to Spain at the Euro and Terry Pratchett takes an accurate pot shot at you in this book.
C'est la vie.
I'm unsure to give this three or four stars. I really am. I didn't quite really like it, but I didn't just like it. I went with four because it is my default when I read such a book and it makes me think.
The idea behind this book will be slightly familiar to those who watched Sliders or who have read comic books. The twist is that most people can step to the words either by natural talent or with a device that is readily availble. There is a small minority of humanity that can't do this.
The thing is, unlike Sliders or comic book, Baxter and Pratchett really look at what this would mean to politics, family, and economy. This is the best writing of the book (and give rise to the shot at the French). It is this ascept that really gets your to think.
The down side is that there is another plot involing Joshua and his employer (who really is from Discworld) who are travelling the multiple earths. In some ways, this feels like a quest in search of a plot. And while it allows for wonderful Geekdom references that any Sci-Fi fan will love, I actually wanted to follow the minor characters more because they were most intersting.
Though I loved the cat digression.
The book jacket hints that this will be the first in the series (the ending is slightly cliffhangerish. It can go either way). If that is true, this book than seems more of a door opening world building to allow the two gentleman too play more (which would be great).
The writing styles do seem to merge, there are flashes of Pratchett wit, though no footnotes - but this is a collarbortion not a straight Pratchett. But I enjoyed Baxter's Mammoth series, and after this book, I think I'll try some more by Baxter.
C'est la vie.
I'm unsure to give this three or four stars. I really am. I didn't quite really like it, but I didn't just like it. I went with four because it is my default when I read such a book and it makes me think.
The idea behind this book will be slightly familiar to those who watched Sliders or who have read comic books. The twist is that most people can step to the words either by natural talent or with a device that is readily availble. There is a small minority of humanity that can't do this.
The thing is, unlike Sliders or comic book, Baxter and Pratchett really look at what this would mean to politics, family, and economy. This is the best writing of the book (and give rise to the shot at the French). It is this ascept that really gets your to think.
The down side is that there is another plot involing Joshua and his employer (who really is from Discworld) who are travelling the multiple earths. In some ways, this feels like a quest in search of a plot. And while it allows for wonderful Geekdom references that any Sci-Fi fan will love, I actually wanted to follow the minor characters more because they were most intersting.
Though I loved the cat digression.
The book jacket hints that this will be the first in the series (the ending is slightly cliffhangerish. It can go either way). If that is true, this book than seems more of a door opening world building to allow the two gentleman too play more (which would be great).
The writing styles do seem to merge, there are flashes of Pratchett wit, though no footnotes - but this is a collarbortion not a straight Pratchett. But I enjoyed Baxter's Mammoth series, and after this book, I think I'll try some more by Baxter.
February 5, 2020
Just finished for the second time (read it again as I purchased the 5 book box set)A fabulous book with fabulous concepts. So many unanswered questions, I suppose I have to figure it out for myself. Its great when you have to use your own imagination to supply the mechanism for the brilliant ideas in this book. A partnership of authors cut short too soon!
Now onto book 2 The Long War
I love these books - superb
They feel more like a Stephen Baxter book with huge contribution from the great late Terry Pratchett. The characters and concepts inhabit a fabulous story line that quite obviously leaves you wanting more - so - onto the next.
Now onto book 2 The Long War
I love these books - superb
They feel more like a Stephen Baxter book with huge contribution from the great late Terry Pratchett. The characters and concepts inhabit a fabulous story line that quite obviously leaves you wanting more - so - onto the next.
May 9, 2017
Like others, I'm often a bit skeptical about collaborations between authors, be they both well-known authors or not. In this case, I was very worried because their styles are very different and they take an amazing jump between hard-SF and character-driven world-building fantasy.
HOWEVER, I couldn't be more pleased with the combo. I was thrilled by the characters and felt the wonderful sense of adventure and then suspense as things got dire. And that's just it. We get the best of both worlds, the hard-SF premise that promises to throw us into a very, very large setting because we're traveling through hundreds of thousands of alternate Earths as people "step" through them, getting the implications explored, from economics to law to nationhood and all the way back to what it means to be an individual.
But what's more, it's a rip-roaring fun ride, with the classic iconoclastic loner with a unique ability to travel quickly between worlds and a truly fantastic Coke machine that thinks he's a human, (Really, he's a Buddhist AI airship, but who's counting?)
And through all this, my expectations for a fun story, great characters, heavy science (explained easily or even just glossed over for the sake of speed, while also remaining accurate), and world building and plain imagination is all thrown into the same bag. I loved it.
I'm a Baxter-phile. I'm also a Pratchett-phile. I don't know WHAT the hell I was thinking about avoiding this so long! On to the next and the next, I think. I may not get to anything else as I fly through these fun novels. :)
HOWEVER, I couldn't be more pleased with the combo. I was thrilled by the characters and felt the wonderful sense of adventure and then suspense as things got dire. And that's just it. We get the best of both worlds, the hard-SF premise that promises to throw us into a very, very large setting because we're traveling through hundreds of thousands of alternate Earths as people "step" through them, getting the implications explored, from economics to law to nationhood and all the way back to what it means to be an individual.
But what's more, it's a rip-roaring fun ride, with the classic iconoclastic loner with a unique ability to travel quickly between worlds and a truly fantastic Coke machine that thinks he's a human, (Really, he's a Buddhist AI airship, but who's counting?)
And through all this, my expectations for a fun story, great characters, heavy science (explained easily or even just glossed over for the sake of speed, while also remaining accurate), and world building and plain imagination is all thrown into the same bag. I loved it.
I'm a Baxter-phile. I'm also a Pratchett-phile. I don't know WHAT the hell I was thinking about avoiding this so long! On to the next and the next, I think. I may not get to anything else as I fly through these fun novels. :)
January 27, 2015
I finished 'The Long Earth' and it was dreadful. I can barely deal with how dreadful it was. There's a smug AI that claims to be the reincarnation of a Tibetan motor cycle repairer. The hero becomes his Doctor Who companion ("Doctor, I am dumb. Please explain stuff.") as they fly over landscapes. "Look, there's a big ocean, there's a crocodile, there's an animal that's half elephant half rhino." Whenever the authors need to do some exposition that the AI and the companion aren't around to see, they just bung in another character. Want to know what's going on in Britain's Houses of Parliament? Introduce a stenographer to listen to a big secret meeting, and then never go back to her again.
The worst, though, the absolute worst, was when the authors introduce a family keen to go all old timer colonial, and the oldest child, a boy, can't step between the alternate Earths because he has a phobia. So they leave him behind. He's thirteen years old! They couldn't have waited five years until he was independent? No one even bats an eyelid over it! I kept hoping his parents would be eaten by dinosaurs.
The worst, though, the absolute worst, was when the authors introduce a family keen to go all old timer colonial, and the oldest child, a boy, can't step between the alternate Earths because he has a phobia. So they leave him behind. He's thirteen years old! They couldn't have waited five years until he was independent? No one even bats an eyelid over it! I kept hoping his parents would be eaten by dinosaurs.
November 5, 2020
I made a go of this when Tray first gifted it to me some time post 2012. I'm not positive I made it all the way through – the envelope I was using as a bookmark (with “MISH MASH” in kidscrawl across it <3) suggests I did not. I honestly have no active recollection of even reading it back then...which is ultimately why I make these notes about my reading. My poor holey brain leaks like a sieve,
This time around I was totally caught up. I really enjoyed this book.
The Long Earth is big in its ideas, and thought provoking. It is, in fact, primarily idea driven. This is perfectly ok with me. I love what-iffing and this story really takes the time to explore multiple facets of its main premise: one day plans for a potato powered box appear on the internet. Easy to construct, the completed mechanism allows its maker to 'step' sideways into an alternative earth, which can also then be stepped sideways from...to, theoretically, an infinite number of progressive iterations of our planet. The alternate Earths appear much the same, though they seem to be the results of some differing geological or evolutionary happening. And though potentially infinite, they seem to be devoid of humanoid life.
Another reviewer called this a road-trip story, and that works. Joshua, a Natural Stepper (who doesn't need the box) and Lobsang, a once-human-but-now-AI, set off in a highly technical floating dirigible to explore the multiple earths as far out as they can. Exploration and adventure is the gig, and an actual plot is very slow to reveal itself.
I was delighted to tag along.
This time around I was totally caught up. I really enjoyed this book.
The Long Earth is big in its ideas, and thought provoking. It is, in fact, primarily idea driven. This is perfectly ok with me. I love what-iffing and this story really takes the time to explore multiple facets of its main premise: one day plans for a potato powered box appear on the internet. Easy to construct, the completed mechanism allows its maker to 'step' sideways into an alternative earth, which can also then be stepped sideways from...to, theoretically, an infinite number of progressive iterations of our planet. The alternate Earths appear much the same, though they seem to be the results of some differing geological or evolutionary happening. And though potentially infinite, they seem to be devoid of humanoid life.
Another reviewer called this a road-trip story, and that works. Joshua, a Natural Stepper (who doesn't need the box) and Lobsang, a once-human-but-now-AI, set off in a highly technical floating dirigible to explore the multiple earths as far out as they can. Exploration and adventure is the gig, and an actual plot is very slow to reveal itself.
I was delighted to tag along.
December 20, 2013
Simple concept, brilliantly executed. This was my first non-discworld Pratchett and my first Baxter and between the two of them they put together an excellent novel.
The premise behind The Long Earth is a fairly simple one at first glance - there are multiple universes parallel to our own and with the aid of a stepper you can move from one to the next in a "linear" fashion. Easy concept, but as with most things, the devil is in the details.
On each Earth, evolution has taken a slightly different path. This leads to all manner of interesting animals and species as well as the occasional "joker" Earth. The ideas presented as some of the characters travel across the Long Earth are fascinating and provide lots of food for thought.
There are also some physical elements that you can't carry from one Earth to another. As such, the value of various metals and minerals either increases or decreases depending on the new availability and scarcity of each. The impact on the original Earth, called Datum Earth are fascinating. Who steps off to explore new worlds? Who stays on this familiar world? Who finds new ways to exploit this new discovery to make more money? What are the repercussions?
The main characters are great, the writing is engaging and interesting, and the story full of interesting ideas that will keep you thinking for a long time after you've put down this book.
The premise behind The Long Earth is a fairly simple one at first glance - there are multiple universes parallel to our own and with the aid of a stepper you can move from one to the next in a "linear" fashion. Easy concept, but as with most things, the devil is in the details.
On each Earth, evolution has taken a slightly different path. This leads to all manner of interesting animals and species as well as the occasional "joker" Earth. The ideas presented as some of the characters travel across the Long Earth are fascinating and provide lots of food for thought.
There are also some physical elements that you can't carry from one Earth to another. As such, the value of various metals and minerals either increases or decreases depending on the new availability and scarcity of each. The impact on the original Earth, called Datum Earth are fascinating. Who steps off to explore new worlds? Who stays on this familiar world? Who finds new ways to exploit this new discovery to make more money? What are the repercussions?
The main characters are great, the writing is engaging and interesting, and the story full of interesting ideas that will keep you thinking for a long time after you've put down this book.
May 19, 2013
This was quite the infuriating book to end up enjoying. A strange blend of young adult and science fiction written for the novice and almost as many pop culture references as Ernest Cline. If I'd only been informed in advance to expect a young adult novel I would have been less annoyed, Pratchett has written some of the very best YA there is, but as it stands this is apparently a book for adults. Stephen Baxter has written some of the most complex science fiction I've ever picked up let alone read and to witness such feats of imagination and imagination stirring ideas watered down in to the fluff contained within these pages was incredibly disappointing. The constant referring to films and the references to the blogging and wikipedia and dead tree technology etc. also felt completely arbitrary, the kind of thing that will immediately date this book unlike the work Asimov and Heinlein et al that The Long Earth is seemingly trying to emulate. Don't get me started on the absurdity of two great English storytellers choosing to set their story in America which can only be seen as a crass attempt to shift units in my opinion. But still, these complaints aside, this is a decent piece of science fiction writing by two natural born storytellers, it isn't bad it is just a disappointment. If I hadn't discovered science fiction before this I just might have become a convert overnight thanks to the imagination firing that takes places during Joshua's quest. My frustration extends to the denouement which after 400+ pages felt more than a bit rushed and anticlimactic followed by a tacked on set up for a sequel. Yes I wanted another several hundred pages but an ending which justified the journey would also have been appreciated.
March 12, 2018
I finished this book but I turned into edge of abandoning it many times. It was a bit slow and there were parts I just wanted to skip. It started so good and promising, feeling a bit sad that I won't read the rest of the series. The writing is good so and it's Pratchett so I can't give less than 3 stars!
July 3, 2020
Recunosc că eram debusolat foarte mult la început, dar, consultând diferite surse de informații, am priceput ce au vrut autorii să scoată în evidență. Ideea existenței Pământurilor paralele mi se pare ingenioasă, iar surplusul de aventuri a intensificat interesul meu acordat lecturii.
"Dar ce rost avea totul? Maica Agnes îi spunea pe vremuri că sensul vieții era să fii tot ceea ce puteai fi, încercând desigur în același timp să-i ajuți și pe ceilalți să devină cea mai bună versiune a lor."
"- Faptele grăite sunt ca spuma mării; faptele sunt pepite de aur."
"Dar ce rost avea totul? Maica Agnes îi spunea pe vremuri că sensul vieții era să fii tot ceea ce puteai fi, încercând desigur în același timp să-i ajuți și pe ceilalți să devină cea mai bună versiune a lor."
"- Faptele grăite sunt ca spuma mării; faptele sunt pepite de aur."
April 23, 2017
An adventuresome tale of kids who follow a mysterious geek’s design on the internet to employ some simple electronic gear from Radio Shack (and a potato) to construct a device that allows them to go stepping into parallel worldlines. Some of these alternate earths are little different, but others are almost empty of people. It was a lot of fun to experience the discovery process of the pioneering participants and equally so the emerging response of governments and society, faced with the disappearance of a generation of youth, to begin extend their reach across adjacent universes/worlds. Venues for emigrants to try a better way of living, but still need policing from criminals and tyrants among them. Worlds ripe for exploitation of known resources and, if possible, taxing.
Our main character is a loner boy, Josh, who can step worlds without a device and goes further afield along the dimension of alternative worlds. A female police office, Monica, makes for an empathetic supporting character who aims to keep people safe, foil serious criminals in nearby parallel worlds, and find some kind of solution for those who are left behind due to disability or poor reactions to stepping. Years after the breakout from one earth, Josh is sought out by a quirky genius AI named Lobsang, who is imbued with a colorful and often comic personality extracted from a real person, a Tibetan motorcycle repairman. With funding from a global tech corporation and a vacuum-tight luxurious airship , they set out to explore the far reaches of thousands or millions of alternate worlds down the path from their own.
Along the way, they discover worlds with altered evolution and essential alien versions of both sentient primates and of predator species, many of which have evolved conscious stepping like Josh. They also gain the alliance of one Sally, who becomes a kindred spirit in their pursuit of answers to many mysteries of the multiverse as well as a potential love interest for Josh. Eventually, their pursuit of patterns leads them to the hypothesis of some large threat down the worldline that is leading many races and species to travel a direction opposite to their trajectory. The book did a fair job leaving this aspect hanging for the sequels in the series while achieving some closure on major plot elements. From the titles of the four successor volumes, one can gather that extensions of multiverse travel will take us through a big war, colonization of mars, exploration of utopias, and something with a cosmic dimension for the last. I am satisfied with stopping for now with this volume under my belt, as I feel the innovative aspects of the scenario must surely reach a peak in the first novel of the set.
The teamwork between Baxter, a writer of hard science fiction with weird aliens and odd physics or time travel, and Pratchett, most known for his playful Discworld fantasy series (I’ve read three of each), was satisfying to experience. Apatt is apt in his lovely review on Goodreads in his projections on which parts of the novel derive from which author in the collaboration. To me, the pleasurable sense of adventure and discovery of wonders in the tale reminds me of comparable stories with oddball teams exploring new worlds and possibilities. Examples include Farmer’s “Riverworld”, where all humans who ever lived awake on the shore of a seemingly infinite river; Niven and Pournelle’s “Ringworld”, where a team of humans and aliens explore a world constructed a ring around a sun; and Varley’s “Titan”, in which a space crew is trapped inside a world-size craft with a zoo of other alien captives.
The concept of travel through the multiverse is a great innovation itself to the limited literature that struggles to make human sense of a theory that first took a serious stage among scientists in the 60s. Yes, there is a growing collection of alternative history novels, but there are relatively few books that help us in our current horizon to take account of the likelihood of many parallel universes, possible spinning out infinitely from alternative paths of the present. Stephenson’s novel “Anathem” stands out a pretty lonely in that regard. Books like Atkinson’s “Life After Life” hold up a vision of being able to replay one’s life choices to take alternate tracks in history, while Crouch’s “Dark Matter” has the innovation of a door between alternate worlds with different personal histories. I guess I am not surprised as it took decades for quantum physics to be meaningfully accommodated into sci fi beyond adaptation of wormholes to travel.
Our main character is a loner boy, Josh, who can step worlds without a device and goes further afield along the dimension of alternative worlds. A female police office, Monica, makes for an empathetic supporting character who aims to keep people safe, foil serious criminals in nearby parallel worlds, and find some kind of solution for those who are left behind due to disability or poor reactions to stepping. Years after the breakout from one earth, Josh is sought out by a quirky genius AI named Lobsang, who is imbued with a colorful and often comic personality extracted from a real person, a Tibetan motorcycle repairman. With funding from a global tech corporation and a vacuum-tight luxurious airship , they set out to explore the far reaches of thousands or millions of alternate worlds down the path from their own.
Along the way, they discover worlds with altered evolution and essential alien versions of both sentient primates and of predator species, many of which have evolved conscious stepping like Josh. They also gain the alliance of one Sally, who becomes a kindred spirit in their pursuit of answers to many mysteries of the multiverse as well as a potential love interest for Josh. Eventually, their pursuit of patterns leads them to the hypothesis of some large threat down the worldline that is leading many races and species to travel a direction opposite to their trajectory. The book did a fair job leaving this aspect hanging for the sequels in the series while achieving some closure on major plot elements. From the titles of the four successor volumes, one can gather that extensions of multiverse travel will take us through a big war, colonization of mars, exploration of utopias, and something with a cosmic dimension for the last. I am satisfied with stopping for now with this volume under my belt, as I feel the innovative aspects of the scenario must surely reach a peak in the first novel of the set.
The teamwork between Baxter, a writer of hard science fiction with weird aliens and odd physics or time travel, and Pratchett, most known for his playful Discworld fantasy series (I’ve read three of each), was satisfying to experience. Apatt is apt in his lovely review on Goodreads in his projections on which parts of the novel derive from which author in the collaboration. To me, the pleasurable sense of adventure and discovery of wonders in the tale reminds me of comparable stories with oddball teams exploring new worlds and possibilities. Examples include Farmer’s “Riverworld”, where all humans who ever lived awake on the shore of a seemingly infinite river; Niven and Pournelle’s “Ringworld”, where a team of humans and aliens explore a world constructed a ring around a sun; and Varley’s “Titan”, in which a space crew is trapped inside a world-size craft with a zoo of other alien captives.
The concept of travel through the multiverse is a great innovation itself to the limited literature that struggles to make human sense of a theory that first took a serious stage among scientists in the 60s. Yes, there is a growing collection of alternative history novels, but there are relatively few books that help us in our current horizon to take account of the likelihood of many parallel universes, possible spinning out infinitely from alternative paths of the present. Stephenson’s novel “Anathem” stands out a pretty lonely in that regard. Books like Atkinson’s “Life After Life” hold up a vision of being able to replay one’s life choices to take alternate tracks in history, while Crouch’s “Dark Matter” has the innovation of a door between alternate worlds with different personal histories. I guess I am not surprised as it took decades for quantum physics to be meaningfully accommodated into sci fi beyond adaptation of wormholes to travel.
May 5, 2019
The Long Earth is the first book in a five-book science fiction series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. The main premise is that humans have discovered that it’s possible to “step” to a seemingly-unlimited number of alternate earths, all of which appear to be pristine wildernesses with no humans to be found. Many people take advantage of this discovery for a variety of purposes: to start new pioneer colonies, to exploit resources, to enjoy solitude, and to just explore.
I thought the premise was interesting, and there were interesting ideas throughout, but the execution was often dull. My interest was all over the place while I read it. Sometimes I was caught up in the story, other times I was completely bored, and everything in-between. It wandered off into side stories a lot, but sometimes it was the side stories I enjoyed more than the main narrative. Most if not all of the side stories did tie into the main narrative eventually.
This book didn’t feel like a complete story by itself. Several questions are answered, and others are hinted at, but this is clearly just the beginning of a longer story. I didn’t enjoy the first book enough to continue, though. Alternate universes are a science fiction trope I usually enjoy, but this one didn’t work that well for me.
I thought the premise was interesting, and there were interesting ideas throughout, but the execution was often dull. My interest was all over the place while I read it. Sometimes I was caught up in the story, other times I was completely bored, and everything in-between. It wandered off into side stories a lot, but sometimes it was the side stories I enjoyed more than the main narrative. Most if not all of the side stories did tie into the main narrative eventually.
This book didn’t feel like a complete story by itself. Several questions are answered, and others are hinted at, but this is clearly just the beginning of a longer story. I didn’t enjoy the first book enough to continue, though. Alternate universes are a science fiction trope I usually enjoy, but this one didn’t work that well for me.
February 13, 2014
3.5
Though this book feels in many parts like an awkward blend of The Hitch-hiker's Guide and The Time Machine, but lacking in Adams' trademark humour and oddities (and Pratchett's, come to think of it) The Long Earth is still an interesting read. Focusing on ideas rather than plot has been pretty unusual in recent releases so it's quite refreshing to be allowed to explore all these worlds - different earth versions - without having to keep up with multiple relationships and character developments.
Though this book feels in many parts like an awkward blend of The Hitch-hiker's Guide and The Time Machine, but lacking in Adams' trademark humour and oddities (and Pratchett's, come to think of it) The Long Earth is still an interesting read. Focusing on ideas rather than plot has been pretty unusual in recent releases so it's quite refreshing to be allowed to explore all these worlds - different earth versions - without having to keep up with multiple relationships and character developments.
May 23, 2015
1.5 stars, I really struggled to finish it, I even skipped passages.
This is by far worst Terry Pratchett's book I read.Sure I given 2 stars to some Discworld books but that is because they where relatively weak compared to other Discworld books, I still had some fun with them.Story is uninteresting and most of the characters are just totally dull.Only reason I didn't give it 1 star because Joshua's PoV parts are not that bad and there are occasionally flashes of Pratchett's witty writing but that's just not enough.
This is by far worst Terry Pratchett's book I read.Sure I given 2 stars to some Discworld books but that is because they where relatively weak compared to other Discworld books, I still had some fun with them.Story is uninteresting and most of the characters are just totally dull.Only reason I didn't give it 1 star because Joshua's PoV parts are not that bad and there are occasionally flashes of Pratchett's witty writing but that's just not enough.
August 16, 2012
The idea and main concept of this book is immensly intriguing, and while certainly not a unique concept in the sci fi genre, the potential for a 'Terry Pratchett' take on it, appealed to me.
As I read this book, an overwhelming surge of familiarity swept over me. It felt like I was treading very similiar waters, dealing with characters, ideas, motifs, themes that I knew, but couldn't quite put my finger on 'why'? it felt so familiar. Exploring the vastness of uncharted worlds, finding almost humanoid, maybe sinister, maybe just different species, an corporation with a long reach, an overly clever AI... it felt so much 'I've read this before, I've seen this before,'. And alas, did not present an interesting enough 'spin' on those familiar ideas. There are no 'original' stories, certainly. There are however original and engaging versions/interpretations. Alas, in my opinion, The Long Earth is not such an interpretation.
Leaving the familiarity aside for a moment, by the time I reached a substantial mid point in the book, I still did not feel connected to the main characters. I was reading still for curiousity's sake, just to see how it all turned out, rather than due to a vested interest in the characters' development and motives. The narrative informed me that the characters were 'changing, learning' just in case I had missed it - and I fear that I had.
I enjoyed and appreciated the split story telling, the slow reveal of how the various secondary plots intersected with the main story, but the pace felt ponderous, the reveals almost 'by the way' rather than dramatic. The ending felt unfinished and rushed, and obviously tapering off for a sequel (as hinted at on the cover). Nonetheless, it still felt - unrealised.
Here however, is my main disappointment with the book. The initial idea of a 'Long Earth' excited me. It is something (from a sci fi perspective) I would love to explore. Multiple Earths (with or without humanity) to explore, to see my own country as it would be without humanity's marks. The story touched on the excitement and peace, the escape offered to humanity but this sense of joy, of exploration was undermined by the certainity that humanity would screw it up. Not the fear that we would, just the certainity that we would. However realistic or just pessismistic that view is, I felt that even the brief spots of potenital hope were undermined as well - Happy Landings, Reboot - all tainted by an underlying worry or fear. I did not walk away from this book with a glimmer of hope for humanity. For me, this so often is what sci fi embodies - the vision, the dream of transcending our current issues, of taking the opportunity to learn, to leave our childish ways behind - to succeed. The Long Earth gives humanity endless options, yet the narrative undermined that very hope. And I feel missed the joy, the excitement of exploration. (Or the mindless terror)
On the whole, I wanted to enjoy this book. I cannot say that I did. I finished it and felt depressed rather than hopeful. Books can make you think, challenge our views and expectations. Sci Fi especially can do - pose a challenge to look beyond the humdrum of our existence to the potential, the hope for our future. I was not expecting the usual Pratchett humour, although it would have been nice. It could only have improved a story that otherwise struggled to engage me, and left me not only wanting more - but wishing it had been better.
I realise this review is somewhat morose and depressed, but that is, alas, how I feel about this book - or rather how it left me feeling. Perhaps that was the intention, to end on a moment of despair, fear - and future books will resolve that - offer the hope I missed. One can hope :)
As I read this book, an overwhelming surge of familiarity swept over me. It felt like I was treading very similiar waters, dealing with characters, ideas, motifs, themes that I knew, but couldn't quite put my finger on 'why'? it felt so familiar. Exploring the vastness of uncharted worlds, finding almost humanoid, maybe sinister, maybe just different species, an corporation with a long reach, an overly clever AI... it felt so much 'I've read this before, I've seen this before,'. And alas, did not present an interesting enough 'spin' on those familiar ideas. There are no 'original' stories, certainly. There are however original and engaging versions/interpretations. Alas, in my opinion, The Long Earth is not such an interpretation.
Leaving the familiarity aside for a moment, by the time I reached a substantial mid point in the book, I still did not feel connected to the main characters. I was reading still for curiousity's sake, just to see how it all turned out, rather than due to a vested interest in the characters' development and motives. The narrative informed me that the characters were 'changing, learning' just in case I had missed it - and I fear that I had.
I enjoyed and appreciated the split story telling, the slow reveal of how the various secondary plots intersected with the main story, but the pace felt ponderous, the reveals almost 'by the way' rather than dramatic. The ending felt unfinished and rushed, and obviously tapering off for a sequel (as hinted at on the cover). Nonetheless, it still felt - unrealised.
Here however, is my main disappointment with the book. The initial idea of a 'Long Earth' excited me. It is something (from a sci fi perspective) I would love to explore. Multiple Earths (with or without humanity) to explore, to see my own country as it would be without humanity's marks. The story touched on the excitement and peace, the escape offered to humanity but this sense of joy, of exploration was undermined by the certainity that humanity would screw it up. Not the fear that we would, just the certainity that we would. However realistic or just pessismistic that view is, I felt that even the brief spots of potenital hope were undermined as well - Happy Landings, Reboot - all tainted by an underlying worry or fear. I did not walk away from this book with a glimmer of hope for humanity. For me, this so often is what sci fi embodies - the vision, the dream of transcending our current issues, of taking the opportunity to learn, to leave our childish ways behind - to succeed. The Long Earth gives humanity endless options, yet the narrative undermined that very hope. And I feel missed the joy, the excitement of exploration. (Or the mindless terror)
On the whole, I wanted to enjoy this book. I cannot say that I did. I finished it and felt depressed rather than hopeful. Books can make you think, challenge our views and expectations. Sci Fi especially can do - pose a challenge to look beyond the humdrum of our existence to the potential, the hope for our future. I was not expecting the usual Pratchett humour, although it would have been nice. It could only have improved a story that otherwise struggled to engage me, and left me not only wanting more - but wishing it had been better.
I realise this review is somewhat morose and depressed, but that is, alas, how I feel about this book - or rather how it left me feeling. Perhaps that was the intention, to end on a moment of despair, fear - and future books will resolve that - offer the hope I missed. One can hope :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2013
My favorite part of the book is that I finished it. There were a couple of times I almost decided to quit. Not because I did not like it, but it is so slow. I felt that the story just plodded along. It is not uninteresting. There is just no feeling. I could not develop any feeling for any of the characters. They were okay. The story was okay. The concept is a little more than okay.
There were a few amusing references to movies and characters from them that almost all readers will get and laugh about. Not rolling on he floor funny, but amusing. I felt that they were teasers, just to keep me reading. I admit that I had to look up a few words during the course of the book. I like that.
For a new book to be the 1st of a new series, Mr. Pratchett definately did not go out of his way to make me want to come back. He dragged me into it, and dragged me along, but I am not sure I want to be dragged back for the next one. For now.
There were a few amusing references to movies and characters from them that almost all readers will get and laugh about. Not rolling on he floor funny, but amusing. I felt that they were teasers, just to keep me reading. I admit that I had to look up a few words during the course of the book. I like that.
For a new book to be the 1st of a new series, Mr. Pratchett definately did not go out of his way to make me want to come back. He dragged me into it, and dragged me along, but I am not sure I want to be dragged back for the next one. For now.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,398 reviews