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

Excellent World Exploration

Baxter's The Long Earth is more of a concept-driven book than a plot-driven book. It explores the idea of multiple realities, treating them not simply as the backdrop for a sci-fi romp, but almost as a character within themselves. It also considers the idea of AI from a unique angle. All of this is done with Prachett's characteristic humor.

Thought provoking

Very interesting, whether you listen to this as a story or as “this could happen & man will . . .”

Just ok

I had previously read the book and enjoyed that more than listening but will try the next as I already have it downloaded

A fun book

A good story with a good narration. In particular I didn't find the narration distracting and the accents put on by the narrator were consistent and helpful in differentiating the characters. The story, as I would expect from Pratchett and Baxter is imaginative and well developed.

A "Quantum Leap" married with "Hitchhiker's Guide.

I liked the way this book hopped around a bit, but was always in a specific direction. It put me in mind of "The Hitchhiker's Trilogy" but had the odd bouncing feel like the old Quantum Leap TV show. I enjoyed it overall.

I think Fenton-Stevens did a good job and most people will probably like his style. I personally tend to enjoy a lot more animation in narrators like a lot of inflections and voices for the characters. I didn't feel like his narration moved a lot. My favorite narrator so far I think is Stephen Briggs, so if you have listened to other Pratchett audio books, then you may understand my personal preference.

I think the people that complain about discworld being stagnant but like the Pratchett style, will find this book significantly different. It is not full of that "matter-of-fact" style humor but has a few humorous moments that are mostly toned down.

The story is nice, and bounces around nicely, but still has a direction.

Excellent first book in the series

Any additional comments?

A wonderful book exploring what would happen if humanity not only found out that there were multiple earths in the multiverse, but someone invented a device that would let most humans "step" to adjacent worlds. This plays with the idea that there are countless hypothetical universes and that perhaps in each of them a different set of events took place; some where humanity never developed or a pivotal historical event happened differently; others where we have no moon or dinosaurs weren't entirely wiped out so evolution includes their descendants. This idea is grand enough that the book, which has a plot but also acts as a travelogue, is interesting when it is just cataloging the differing earths. We see these worlds largely through the eyes of Joshua Valiente, a natural stepper who does not need a device to step (a talent that is rare, but not unique). He joins a supposedly reincarnated Tibetan (reincarnated as a sort of AI) named Lopsang (whether he is really reincarnated or simply AI is never resolved by Joshua). Lopsang (and the company he is associated with) contract with Joshua and undertake a tour of the earths, during which they ascertain a threat moving toward our original Earth (the Datum) from the far earths. The book is clearly the first in a series and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Great story

Great to listen to and lose track of time with. Performance is great. Will recommend

This collaboration works well!

Inventive ideas which were well fleshed out...I enjoyed the story, and although I can't give it 5 stars on a category, compared to the trash out there this is well worth it. Spend the $, you won't be disappointed.

Lots of words for not much action.

What did you like best about The Long Earth? What did you like least?

It is an interestng concept, but it is never fully developed to any real degree. It is almost as if the author had an idea an then just started writing with no real outline for the story.

Did Michael Fenton-Stevens do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

The reader was ok but the story pivots around Madison Wisconsin. I am from Wisconsin and none of the characters sounded like they were from Wisconsin. The reader had a British accent for starters.

Did The Long Earth inspire you to do anything?

Not really, it was an interesting concept but it didn't really get going in this book.

Plodding and Pedantic

On a second listen, I found this to be very disappointing. It is a plodding and pedantic listen, with very little of Pratchett's sparkle and humor. Narrator does a fine job with so-so material. That's all too bad, because the underlying story idea is at least interesting.