The Long Earth

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

A scratching Post for Schrödinger's cat

I love Terry Pratchett, I have read everything by him I could find….I would read his grocery list or the label in the back of his underwear. So when I discovered that this wasn’t a Disc World novel was momentarily disappointed….but that didn’t last. This is a terrific read, it’s closer to straight science fiction than the Disc World books…it feels a little like Strata (one of my favorite Pratchett books which is only tangentially Disc World based). Once it gets going (which it does pretty quickly it’s a brilliant ‘what if’ book which imagines a world where almost anyone can step between alternate universes each of which contains a variant on the earth we currently inhabit.
I found the plot a little untidy in places. It develops then somewhat abandons multiple sub themes all of which I enjoyed and most of which would have deserved their own book. Nevertheless I found myself enjoying the book and its impeccable reading like you might enjoy a fine wine or a sunset.
The story weaves quantum physics and universal branching theory with Cyberpunk, The Lost Gate by Scott Card and even a smattering of Little House on the Prairie. Although frequently amusing, its tongue is nowhere near buried as deep in cheek as with the Disc World books, but the story entertains mightily none the less. If you are already a Pratchett fan you can buy this book in the confident knowledge that whilst lacking Vimes or Vetenari you will enjoy a diverting diversion from the typical Pratchett cannon. If you have kids or young adults you might also want to point them in the direction of this book. The style is engaging, fun and easy to follow, whist still posing some intriguing scientific questions.

66 of 77 people found this review helpful

The Long (and Boring) Earth

I am not sure exactly what I expected from this book. I suppose I expected the dry British humor of Terry Pratchett and the hard science of Stephen Baxter, but what I got was more like the humor of Stephen Baxter and the hard science of Terry Pratchett. While not a total loss this book was a great disappointment.

The story, of course, concerns the sudden appearance of multiple copies of Earth easily accessible through the process of "stepping" across the boundary, either with our without a mechanical aid. This concept provided an extraordinary basis for stories - the "first contact" of people from our Earth with those of alternate Earths - and seemed to allow for a series of future books, each based on the same concept but each very different in nature from the others. The book does have the feel of the first book in a series, but none of these other Earths have any human populations so there is nowhere to go with that general concept. Instead the alternate Earths are full of wildlife but no humans. There goes a whole series of "first contacts" and "clash of technologies" stories as concerns other humans. There still is, of course, the possibility of future stories involving contact between human and non-human intelligences, but there is precious little of that in this book and, I suspect, in future books. Instead we have the main characters "stepping" through the alternatives with little purpose other than to see what is there.

Of course the writing is quite good but I could not but hope for more interesting characters and events. Instead of Stanley searching for Dr Livingston through a dangerous African jungle I have more of the feeling of Stanley searching for the exit from a tame arboretum. Even the "danger" that they find does not seem terribly dangerous and I have no particular interest in reading the second book in the series in spite of the excellent narration by Michael Fenton-Stevens. I should have saved my credit for something more interesting. You might want to also.

26 of 30 people found this review helpful

And The Story Line Is????????

What disappointed you about The Long Earth?

No plot, no story line.

What could Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Plot would be nice.

Any additional comments?

I am trying different genres since I joined Audible and have had success with some books and others are a total waste of time. This would be one of those times. I really do try. I listen well into the book - hoping for it to get better. Never happened with this one. Try as I might, I could not figure out the story line or plot. You are introduced to different sets of characters and they may intersect along the way, but unless they all pile up in the last chapter with a conclusion, the characters were never given enough effort. If you like rambling characters, you will like this book. If you prefer a plot, buy a different book.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

A Different Pratchett

I am an uber Discworld fan so I'll listen to anything from Terry Pratchett. The Long Earth was good. Discworld it was not. I enjoyed it non the less. More in the style of classic science fiction, the only thing it was missing was Pratchett's trademark sense of humor.

59 of 71 people found this review helpful

The Long Earth Falls Short

Co-authored with Stephen Baxter this Terry Pratchett book is humorous at times but lacks the normal wit usually associated with his work. At eleven hours and thirty minutes the story jumps around at first with many different characters being intoduced then moving on quickly from one to the next; and at times the whole story drags. Kudos to those who could read the entire book in a day.
It???s a story about parallel worlds where people learn to ???step??? from one world to another by a simple devise that can be made from parts found at Radio Shack and a potato. The main character Joshua discovers that he can ???step??? without using the devise and meets up with a former Tibetan motorcycle repairman now reincarnated as a super-computer that sometimes resides in a coke machine, and has been legally declared a human due to Tibetan religious beliefs. These two soon set off on a journey of exploration of the millions of parallel worlds ???to see what???s out there.???
The story has some other interesting characters including, some really tough nuns, a robotic cat, the strange inhabitants on the other worlds, one very annoying character named Sally, some strange troll creatures, and elves that kill for sport, but I never felt really engaged in the story. The narrator, Michael Fenton Stevens is okay but at times drawls on and is just plain boring. A very strange ending which makes it seem this probably is book one in a series.

49 of 59 people found this review helpful

ONE Complaint

This was a fantastic story. Not typical Pratchett whimsy, but highly imaginative. My only gripe is with the narrator. He's really not too bad, but this is a story full of American characters and he's British. As I got deeper into the book, the bad dialects started to wear on me and I became painfully aware of the miscues. I wouldn't do well voicing 15 different British characters either. The main character is named Joshua and somewhere around the 50th time you hear it pronounced "Joshu-er" it's irritating.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

The Long Book

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

So glad to finally be finished with this book

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Thoughtout the book I found the technical aspects of jumping from world to world confusing.

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

The characters were all wooden. The one thing I hated about the book is that no characters grew closer as the story evolved, The story moved at a snails pace and you could pick it up any point and really not miss anything. Aside from the story idea, I don't know how it was rated so high by the sci-fy community.

Do you think The Long Earth needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It shouldn't, but it probably will. This is a lifeless story.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

An unlikely pair of authors

I love Terry Pratchett almost better than life itself. I've read a little Stephen Baxter, but nothing recently. I was a little apprehensive when I read that they were collaborating. I was afraid I'd be disappointed.

I wasn't.

The book is science fiction. It's obviously the beginning of a series, and there are lots of threads left dangling. But I really liked the idea of the multiple Earths that people suddenly learned how to "step" into. I'd've loved to have a little more actual STORY rather than just foundation-laying, but I still enjoyed the book.

The narrator does an EXCELLENT job. Again, I'm used to Nigel Planer or Stephen Briggs with Pratchett, and I was worried that I wouldn't like this narrator. But his use of voices and accents was exceptionally good, and really helped to make the characters stand out one from another. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. Well done all around.

23 of 28 people found this review helpful

What an Incredible Movie this will Make!!

I've never read any of Pratchett's other books, so I'm coming at this with a clean slate. I say this because other reviewers (maybe fairly) point out how lacking this book is to Pratchett's other works. I'll be concise, as I don't want to waste your time, when you should be reading this AMAZING book.

This book melds multi-verse theory with adult sci-fi PERFECTLY. There are few, if any, holes in its logic. It's clear that it's setting up for the series, but the story comes together in a way that is both fulfilling and intellectually challenging. I've been waiting a long time for someone to actually get the parallel worlds theory into sci-fi in a unique, entertaining way, and THIS BOOK DOES JUST THAT. Due in large part to the spectacular narrator, the characters all have their own voices, and come alive within the story. Yes, there are a lot of characters, but it's easy to keep track.

The science of the book is sound, which is refreshing, with all the garbage science that most sci-fi books throw at the reader-- almost assuming that we all have a combined IQ of around 20.

I'm a huge sci-fi geek, and this book is top 5 for me, ALL TIME. As far as journey stories that take place over fascinating parallel worlds is concerned, I can't imagine finding a better book.

47 of 58 people found this review helpful

Fun listen unique premise

If you could sum up The Long Earth in three words, what would they be?

Fun and well performed

What did you like best about this story?

Unique premise

What about Michael Fenton-Stevens’s performance did you like?

Consistent voices with distinct enunciation and great pacing

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No I enjoyed listening in the car or train over several days as I commuted to and from NYC

Any additional comments?

I listen to sci-fi for enjoyment not critical competence- I read many less then enthusiastic reviews and found them missing this point- it was a fun listen not great literature- which was exactly what I was looking for. The idea of stepping was somewhat unique and I enjoyed it.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful