The Long Earth
Books | Fiction / Science Fiction / Space Exploration
3.9
(297)
Terry Pratchett
Stephen Baxter
The first novel in a brilliant collaboration between the visionary Discworld® creator Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science fiction novelist Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth transports readers to an infinity of new worlds—a series of parallel “earths" with doorways leading to adventure, intrigue, excitement, and an escape into the furthest reaches of the imagination. All it takes is a single step. . . .The possibilities are endless. (Just be careful what you wish for. . . .)1916: The Western Front. 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?2015: Madison, Wisconsin. 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 finds 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 Long Earth is an adventure of the highest order and will captivate science fiction fans of all stripes, readers of Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen, and anyone who enjoyed the Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman collaboration Good Omens.Other books in the Long Earth series include:The Long WarThe Long MarsThe Long UtopiaThe Long Cosmos
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More Details:
Author
Terry Pratchett
Pages
432
Publisher
Harper Collins
Published Date
2012-06-19
ISBN
0062067761 9780062067760
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"Honestly, I can't really make a nice eloquent review beyond "this book is fascinating!" Anyone with an interest in archeology, anthropology, the fossil record and/or the geologic record will probably like this book simply because it gives you snap shots of What Was/What Could Have Been/Holy Shitballs That's Cool! told in an interesting and engrossing story telling kind of way.
Is there a lot of action? No, definitely not, but the possibilities are, to put not so fine a point on it, endless, and the endlessness itself makes for a... Let's call it superimposed kind of quasi-plot. Think of a double exposure in a photograph - it adds a certain interest and depth that a single exposure lacks. Instead of just a double exposure, though, The Long Earth has literally millions, billions, infinite exposures, and you can't help but keep reading just to see what is going to show up next."
Maren L
"I could barely get through it. The concept is so interesting, but the plot is so flat. So much of the book is just spending time with two characters that I cannot convince myself to like or care about. I could see someone enjoying this book, but I'm not that person."
Amber McCullers
"I like the general ideas behind this book, the world that the book is building. Unfortunately, I don't think the book really gives a good story to go with the world its creating, or at least, it doesn't do it until too late in the game. Easily the first half of this book consists of fragmented tales that build this world, and while that's fine, there's nothing and no one for the reader to latch onto. Once the various threads begin to coalesce, one can find characters and an interesting plot, but it took so long to get to that point, that I no longer really cared."
John Detrick
