The Long Earth

A Novel

By: Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

Narrated by: Michael Fenton-Stevens

Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

The possibilities are endless. Just be careful what you wish for....

The Western Front, 1916. Private Percy Blakeney wakes up. He is lying on fresh spring grass. He can hear birdsong and the wind in the leaves. Where have the mud, blood, and blasted landscape of no-man's-land gone? For that matter, where has Percy gone?

Madison, Wisconsin, 2015. Police officer Monica Jansson is exploring the burned-out home of a reclusive - some say mad, others allege dangerous - scientist who seems to have vanished. Sifting through the wreckage, Jansson find a curious gadget: a box containing some rudimentary wiring, a three-way switch, and . . . a potato. It is the prototype of an invention that will change the way humankind views the world forever.

The first novel in an exciting new collaboration between Discworld creator Terry Pratchett and the acclaimed SF writer Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth transports readers to the ends of the earth - and far beyond. All it takes is a single step. . . .

©2012 Terry Pratchett, Lyn Pratchett, and Stephen Baxter (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Cool idea, but some time annoying story

Rather stiff story, lacks humor enough to be funny, lacks character development, and ends with a bang that seemed self inflicted by the authors. However there is that big, beautiful idea, that the story presents in multi facets, I liked it well enough!

Great premise, but ends too soon.

What did you love best about The Long Earth?

I really enjoyed the speculation about how humanity would react to suddenly having hundreds of thousands (millions?) of easily accessible copies of the Earth available to anyone able to assemble an inexpensive, Radio-Shack style gadget. Other alternate earth stories usually presume special mutant powers or multi-billion dollar technology being required for "shifting", but not this one. What if I could just get up and...leave? My only regret was that the story ends on a massive cliffhanger, with major plot points left unresolved. Mr Pratchett, Mr. Baxter, please write a sequel!

A good start

It was a good plot to start the series off on. The series is something I plan to read on the future.

Excellent

Great story, great writing, great literature.
Also the best reader/narrator I've ever listened too! I will be looking for more books ready by him.

Good read interesting concept.

This was the best of the three, really enjoyed the story, found the concept fresh and interesting. The character were wonderful and I really found myself rooting for them.

Stop here though, the next books read as if another author wrote them and completely change the characters motivations and actions from this book.

please, no Brits doing American accents

The story is interesting enough, something new, which is what I was looking for. however, the narration didn't work for me. putting on an American accent, and doing it poorly, really took me out of the story, again and again.

I won't do the follow on books because it is the same narrator.

A long start

As a avid fan of pratchetts other works I saw this and thought can't be that bad if he helped. I was right tho slow and a lot of questions left unanswered it is but the first book. Only wish payday was closer so I could get the next book

A nice book - great narration

I liked the authors’ politics, and I liked being fully immersed in a benevolent science fiction world. It’s true the narrator isn’t great at female voices (as I read in a review). But he’s a great narrator. He really made me feel present in that world. This probably isn’t for you if you like ur sci fi to be tense and filled with action. It’s perfect for when you are trying to sleep or drive and not fully focused on every word. I probably slept through a few hours of it, but I loved being in that world (those worlds). I’m not sure if it’s a YA book? It’s good for all ages and makes a reference to Narnia.

I FEEL CHEATED

Any additional comments?

I can not believe that Mr. Pratchett has stooped to the level of ending a book in the middle of a conversation. This was once used by authors to get people to but thier books. Is Terry Pratchett going the way of Ms JK Do Any Thing For Money???

Warning This IS the start of a series and the publisher, and author did a bad job of it.

Forgettable

It's a descent hard-working horse of a science fiction book. I've read and heard far worse. It doesn't feel like Pratchett. It has no humor, no story, and it's annoyingly preachy. Good for a 6 hours drive - it will keep your awake but you will never get too excited or too carried away.