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

Another great Pratchett book!

Terry Pratchett does it again. An amazing story with charachters that you grow to care about. I highly recommend this book to any science fiction fan.

Naive

My apocalypse brain kept screaming that this story is naïve and idealistic. Despite this, the story was interesting and well told. It's an interesting "what would happen if" scenario story. I've read similar stories that imagined what would happen if the population of earth found something else, something better and left except those that can't leave. Most imagine anarchy with the worst of human nature taking over, but this one had a more positive idea that people without the over crowding and other societal stresses would be better people. I don't think this is realistic, but a good though experiment. I enjoyed the story and am glad I listened.

Good universe, good characters, bad ending

A story without an ending is an elaborate typing exercise. That's what my creative writing teachers always told me anyway. Pratchett and Baxter could have done with a refresher in that area. This book is probably setting up for a sequel, but it just... stops. I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that it's very unsatisfactory in terms of all the set up that goes on early in the book which gets left unresolved. Read at your own risk. If that kind of thing pisses you off, it might not be for you.

Definitely Not Discworld...rather ordinary...

I knew this wasn’t a Discworld novel when I bought it, but I’ve enjoyed other non-Disc novels by Pratchett because they had his same creative wit and colorful imagination. The Long Earth was flat by comparison (no pun intended!) The story was ok but the telling just didn’t rise to the delight of a Terry Pratchett narrative. It was missing his distinctive voice and could have been written by anyone. I found it boring at times and it was very easy to put down. The ending was abrupt and I didn’t realize until that point that the book is the first in a series. Blah. I’m not going to get any of the others because it’s just not that interesting.

A long journey through the long earth

When a scientist discovers how people can "step" into parallel worlds, he puts the schematic diagram on the internet to prevent any government from monopolizing the technology. Soon, a slew of new problems arise that governments around the world must deal with. Some people, like Joshua Valiente, find they can step without the stepper box. Joshua and Lobsang, a Buddhist computer program that was ruled by a court of law to be human, set out on a journey to see just how many iterations there are on the long earth. The story was humorous in places, but at times I found I had to force myself to continue reading. I read other books by Terry Pratchett that I thought were very good, but I would have to rate 'The Long Earth' as just average.

interesting concept, somewhat dull exploration

This book was less funny than it could've been with a name like Terry Pratchett attached to it. It was more a walk though the statistical possibilities of what the earth could look like, rather than a compelling narrative. The book ends without much tied up and just felt a little slow to me. I liked the idea, I just wish it had been about twice as long and have more action. The occasional humor just didn't really fit well with the story. The best thing I have to say about this book is: the concept had potential.

great story, well told

What made the experience of listening to The Long Earth the most enjoyable?

its a well written story by 2 amazing writers. terry pratchett's humor combined with stephen baxter's technical imagination make for a great listen.

What other book might you compare The Long Earth to and why?

similar to ringworld, by larry niven.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

i chuckled out loud once, maybe twice.

My first foray into the worlds of Pratchett and Baxter.

Very good story. It held the interest of myself and my wife, whom normally are attracted to significantly different genres and styles, on a long driving trip. I intend to check out the next few books, at least, and possibly finish the series if the quality holds.

good stuff

kinda drags, sometimes, but super cool take on ... well ... humanity and evolution and how one tiny step can change it all.

Interesting series

This one came up on the sale and sounded good from the sample so I got it. Started a little slowly for me but got very involved in the story as it went on. The premise of parallel worlds is handled very well, will probably go on now and read the next ones in the series.