The Globe

The Science of Discworld II: A Novel

By: Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen

Narrated by: Steven Briggs, Michael Fenton Stevens

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Roundworld, aka Earth, is under siege. Are three wizards and an orangutan Librarian enough to thwart the Elvish threat?

When the wizards of Unseen University first created Roundworld, they were so concerned with discovering the rules of this new universe that they overlooked its inhabitants entirely. Now, they have noticed humanity. And humanity has company. Arriving in Roundworld, the wizards find the situation is even worse than they'd expected. Under the elves' influence, humans are superstitious, fearful, and fruitlessly trying to work magic in a world ruled by logic. Ridcully, Rincewind, Ponder Stibbons, and the orangutan Librarian must travel through time to get humanity back on track and out of the dark ages.

The Globe goes beyond science to explore the development of the human mind. Terry Pratchett and his acclaimed co-authors Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen combine the tale of the wizards rewriting human history with discussions of the origins and evolution of culture, language, art, and science, offering a fascinating and brilliantly original view of the world we live in.

©2015 Terry Pratchett (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"For Pratchett and Discworld devotees the volume is, of course, compulsory reading, but even science buffs who would normally eschew anything resembling fantasy will find much here to pique their interests.... The book adds another whimsical episode to Discworld lore and contrasts the magical 'rules' of Pratchett’s realm with the human world’s more logic-oriented science." ( Booklist)

"The hard science is as gripping as the fiction." ( The Times (London))

More essays than story

There is a Disc World/Round World story sandwiched in between Patchett’s observations on science, religion, and politics, but really just a short story, not a novel. However, Pratchett fans usually appreciate his well - educated and thoughtful insights . He makes the reader/ listener think about the world we live in in new ways. I will reread The Globe and probably fast forward on the story part this time.

Terry mixes with the best sciences

It is sciences they way you wish they had taught it in the real world!!! mixed with Terry at his best!!

The anthropology in the nonfictions parts are out

The fiction parts of the book were great.

I wonder about the accuracy of the other nonfiction sections, though. Still, if I approach them as stories for children, they were well written and narrated.

An instructive and wonderful story

I thought this was a great continuation of round world through a mixture of scientific explanation and fictional story telling. It brings new perspective to the possible existence of narrativium in all worlds...or at least ours and Discworld.

Lots of good thinking!

I didn't realize I would learn something listening to this book, but I did. Philosophy and Science contrasted with magic...

Funny and interesting

The voice of the narrator was excellent, the story and sound quality was hilarious and amazing😀😎🌎😀😁😊👍👍👍📝📝📝❕❕❕❕❕❕❕❕🔊🔊🌎🌎

The globe

A lot of work and time went into this one and it was great 👍

Another great one

Another hit in the series of discworld/explanation is our own world! wow! that really didn't come out quite right. If you've enjoyed the previous books in this series I suspect you will enjoy this one too. Much like the others it is science heavy, with lots of background and history in The sciences as it relates to the particular title. Lots of additional snippets written by Terry Pratchett are included, and dovetail well with the rest of the story. Highly recommended.

Sneaky Science

If you expected just another Diskworld novel, you've come to the wrong place.
The actual story is slim and the Diskworld bits are short.
If you can see past that, you get treated to simple to understand science facts, read so that you will have no problems following along.

Terry Pratchett fans will love this.

What did you love best about The Globe?

The story line about the wizards.

What other book might you compare The Globe to and why?

It is much like the first book of the series. Chapters are either about the wizards and their globe or science information.

What does Steven Briggs and Michael Fenton Stevens bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I love the accent and timing of the narrators.

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

Just thinking about Terry Pratchett's death makes me want to cry. Who else can write like he did?