The Long Earth: A Novel

Written by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Narrated by Michael Fenton Stevens

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 in the trees. Where has the mud, blood and blasted landscape of No Man's Land gone?

2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson is exploring the burned-out home of a reclusive — some said mad, others dangerous — scientist when she finds a curious gadget: a box containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a...potato. It is the prototype of an invention that will change the way Mankind views his world for ever.

And that's an understatement if ever there was one...

The Long Earth is the first novel in an exciting new collaboration between the creator of Discworld Terry Pratchett and the acclaimed SF writer Stephen Baxter.

A Random House UK audio production.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Jun 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781446488096

Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was the acclaimed creator of the globally revered Discworld series. In all, he authored more than fifty bestselling books, which have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.

Reviews for The Long Earth

[deeehmm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Loved the premise - that all most humans need to cross into alternate worlds is the equivalent of Dumbo's magic feather, powered by a potato battery. Had enough long before the end, but still found amusement and delight in the imagininings of Pratchett and Baxter.

[judithproctor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rather disappointing. The plot, what there is of it, took an enormously long time to develop. There are some interesting characters, but many of them never meet and it's not clear what all of them contribute to the story. Also, the main plot lines (the troll migration and First Person Singular) are introduced with very little supporting evidence. Given that Lobsang can only be on one Earth at once, how does he know the trolls are migrating, and how does he know which direction they are taking?What is the evidence that First Person Singluar is a threat?I wonder if the two writers developed the plot line in advance and then both assumed that the other was providing the supporting evidence?There's also the age thing - I get pretty much all the cultural references to old movies, poetry and the like, but the protagonists are much younger than I am. Their tastes reflect those of the book's writers, rather than the interests more likely for their deomgraphic.

[jonsweitzerlamme · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'll be honest, this is not the Pratchett I expected. There's an unexpected appearance of a potato, but it's mostly just a really good scifi novel.  

[liscarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Harper, 1st Edition, ISBN 9780062067753, June 2012

This collaboration between Pratchett and Baxter seems more Pratchett than Baxter, though a bit more serious in tone than most of Pratchett's solo work.

We start with two vignettes of people unexpectedly displaced--a young British soldier in France during WWII, and a young, very pregnant woman who lives in a Catholic orphanage in Madison, WI, somewhat closer to the present day. The young soldier finds himself in a place that looks very like France except for the total absence of any evidence of war or, indeed, human habitation. He meets up with some rather odd-looking people whom he concludes must be the Russians he's heard tell of, and finds that they are friendly, helpful, and great singing companions.

The young woman delivers her baby, alone, in a strange, lonely place, briefly pops--or, as we shall later learn, Steps, away from him, and then returns to take him back to the orphanage with her. Her son, Joshua Valiente, grows up in the orphanage, developing strong attachments to the Sisters who raise him.

When Joshua is in his teens, he and everyone else wakes up one day to find that a rather eccentric Madison scientist has posted to the internet detailed plans for what he calls a "stepper," and disappeared. There's an immediate flurry to build these startlingly simple devices, and Joshua discovers that he's the only one around who can Step without a Stepper, and without experiencing nausea on arrival in the neighboring Earths.

That's the setup; the rest of the book follows the unfolding effects of easy migration to alternate, mostly uninhabited, Earths. Some have friendlier climates or more fertile land; there are "belts" of Earths in similar stages of development an ice belt, a water belt; most importantly, a Corn Belt.

There are a few people like Joshua, who need no Stepper; there are also people who can't Step at all, Stepper or no. Governments try to assert control of "their" territory in adjoining Earths; non-Steppers develop a resentment against those who can simply Step away into free land and new lives while all around the economies of the "home" countries are collapsing from the effects of the deserting population.

Looming over all of this is the presence that Joshua senses, which he calls the Silence, and the accumulating evidence of other near-human species who are migrating "eastward" through the worlds, fleeing--something.

Pratchett is always excellent, and Baxter is when he's not being self-indulgent, and this book puts their skills on full display, developing the characters and the cultural and practical effects of the discovery of the Long Earth. It's thoroughly enjoyable, but be warned: it ends with a partial resolution, and clear indications that more should be expected, in the way of future books exploring more of the implications. Well, to be perfectly frank, there's one storyline that ends with a full-blown cliffhanger.

Recommended, with the caution that if you hate reading a first book without the next books being available, you may want to wait.

I bought this book.

[neverstopreading-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Imagine that today children around the world went missing on account of their new toy. They are gradually brought back, but they've discovered that there are a seemingly infinity number of parallel earths ("The Long Earth").The reviews on this book is decidedly mixed. How the world has changed! Thi It is slow paced and exploratory. It's an adventure in curiosity, not action. If this sounds boring to you, you'll probably want to pass on the book. If you're fascinated already, like I was, take it, devour it, love it.

[ma_washigeri · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very traditional - could easily have been written 40-50 years ago. Enjoyed it but not likely to pursue the sequels.

[gwendydd · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meh. I adore Terry Pratchett, and this book definitely has his signature humor, but I really couldn't get into it. This book imagines a world where it is suddenly possible to "step" between multiverses. None of the other multiverses are inhabited by humans, so suddenly there are vast frontiers available to anyone who wants to explore and exploit them. There are lots of interesting ideas in here, which is part of the problem: there are too many ideas and implications to explore thoroughly, which leads to too many ideas and not enough plot to sustain them.Pratchett's characters are normally really likeable, but all the characters in this book felt really flat to me and I just didn't care about any of them. The one character I might have cared about - Sally - suffers from the "Trinity problem": like Trinity in The Matrix, she stands by and watches some mediocre dude save the universe because the circumstances of his birth made him the savior of the universe. To add insult to injury, the ending is not an ending at all, but a cliffhanger that won't get resolved until the next book, which I have no intention of reading.

[pierthinker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In my youth I was a big scifi fan, but I have not been a big follower of the genre for the last 30 years or so. Recently, I have become more interested in returning to the 'roots' of my reading and the Long Earth series is one place I intent to visit. I did not know much about Stephen Baxter's writing when I started this book, and I have never been a big fan of 'humour' in scifi, especially the eccentric English sort associated with Terry Pratchett (Alan Dean Foster knows how to do it, but not many others).A set of seemingly infinite parallel worlds are discovered, each just a 'step' way if you have the natural talent or the simple-to-home-build technology. Each parallel Earth is in the same physical location and time (so 'stepping' from a particular place on a summer's day takes you to the same place on the same summer's day), but each has a different evolutionary and geological history to our world. The one common factor to all these parallel Earths is that humankind, or anything approaching it, has only appeared once, on our Earth. The impact on humanity is profound with many people moving to start new lives in new worlds and reflects the opening of the American West in the 18th and 19th centuries. We follow a motley crew of explorers, scientists and settlers across these worlds.This is a magnificent book. The science is strong; that is, the similarities and differences between our Earth and the parallel worlds are imaginative, sometimes wild, but always within the bounds of believability. The human response to these discoveries is real and never sugar-coated or exaggerated for effect; we understand why people do what they do and wonder if we would act any different. The main characters are drawn well enough that we want to follow them and are concerned with what happens to them.The Long Earth series was planned as a 5-book marathon, so this does have the feel of scene-setting and exposition over action, but I liked that expansive approach to the story-telling. The characters and action are firmly based in the trope of the American West, the opening up of frontier lands and the resistance to centralised government. Perhaps the response from other cultures may have been different?

[csdaley-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was enjoyable but I will admit it was slow to develop. I was left feeling like the first book was one long setup for the series. Thus isn't a terrible thing but it did leave me wishing the story was a little stronger. Reads a lot like a Jules Verne adventure novel ( Around the World in 80 Days for instance). Nothing that would stop me from reading the next one.

[cjrecordvt-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Something about the narrative pacing of this reminded of Heinlein.

[chrisriesbeck · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A somewhat unusual take on the popular parallel timelines theme. First, the number of timelines is, if not infinite, at least very large. Second, the book spends very little time in most of them, except for Datum Earth (our timeline, maybe) and a chapter or so at some stops along the way that covers 100s of 1000s of Earths. Third, whereas as most parallel timeline stories use the trope to set up alternate human histories, human civilization only seems to exist on Datum Earth. Our travelers find only one other trace of humanity on the many Earths they visit, though they do find a few other timeline-hopping species. Fourth, the mechanism for travel, at least initially, for most people, involves an odd box that a traveler has to build for herself, powered by a potato. But this is the sole silly bit, presumably contributed by Pratchett. As with most travelogue novels, this is a readable journey, with one (of many) mysteries to be solved, but low-key and more for sightseeing than anything else.Recommended for a pleasant time, but not a must-read.

[annasazi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reminded me, in an odd way, of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Felt incomplete (probably because it's the first in the series).

[wolfy0118 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was wonderful. the characters are built beautifully and you really start to know them. when i reached the end i simply stared at the page for a few minutes with my mouth open. i can't wait for the next in the series.

[seanvk · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Disappointed in what would have made a unique combination of Baxter and Pratchett. However, the story lacked the humor and fun of Pratchett and the hard science fiction of Baxter. What remained was a story without focus, humor, or character depth.

[kristelh_15 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A blend of science fiction, humor and fantasy, this is a story of parallel earths. It is a collaborative effort with Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter and is the first book in a series of five books. People travel between the earths by "steppers" or stepping. Over all it was okay, it just didn't feel like much was accomplished. I expected humor and there was some in a Pratchett or Douglas Adams sort. The characters seems a little "coined" and Hollywood and politically correct. Wisconsin was the setting for Datum earth and that was kind of cool. The rest was parallel earths going west or east. In this book they went west. The book had some parts that dragged, even one of the characters mentions that it is too much information. The author's premise was that if man had a enough land (in stepping, there is no limit to land) then there would be no war. Rating: 2.75.

[themulhern · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Heavy with Terry Pratchett sentimentality, but interesting nonetheless. Includes some Douglas Adams-like touches, but is generally a straight-up, big ideas, work of serious science fiction. It seems implausible, as if a more imaginative author would have managed to come up with something darker yet more realistic.Large parts are set in Madison, WI, where I spent a good deal of my adult life. The Arboretum, Clean Sweep, Mifflin St., Allied Drive, Badger Road, Picnic Point, the Capitol, all figured in the narrative and I waxed nostalgic.

[woakden · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is full of brilliant ideas. The world is amazing, and it is full of interesting people...but I just didn't fall in love with any of them. I really really wanted to, and I read all 5 books in the series which were full of amazing worlds and wonderful ideas...but in the end I still really didn't care about any of the characters which made reading this a bit of a slog. There were lots of parts that should have been big reveals, which fell flat. Super cool stuff that could have been explored further and then just wasn't. Really, I think there were just too many cool things going on for any of them to actually be explored in the kind of depth they needed to be.

[zdarlight-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Excellent concept; dreary execution.

[bradgers-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mind = blown.

[jaelle_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyable, but not compelling.

[galadan-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting concept, that I will be looking forward to reading more about. Unfortunately the description of the Long Earth sometimes seems a little inconsistent, and now and then I found myself wishing it was a bit more "hard" sf. I'm especially surprised that "one of the UK's most acclaimed writers of science fiction" didn't realize that, while not losing the material that eventually made up the Moon would have made the Earth more massive, it would also have made it *less dense* (because the heavy elements in the Earth's core weren't lost, only the lighter ones in the crust and mantle), and thus the gravitational pull on the surface would have been *weaker*, not stronger (if the difference was big enough to be noted at all). Not to mention how the difference in radius would have affected stepping, but such things seems to be handwaved whenever they aren't needed to make a point...

[brakketh-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An enjoyable read, reminds me how much I am going to miss the writing of Terry Pratchett. I am very interested to see where they go with this premise.

[eclecticdodo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The world as we know it is just one of a (possibly infinite) number of parallel worlds that can be "stepped" between. Joshua, a natural stepper, sets out to explore further than anyone has ever gone before, with an artificial intelligence named Lobsang and a giant hi-tech airship. It's a very entertaining book as one would expect from the authors, it is hard to say where each had their input as the whole works together very well. Then end sets up nicely for the next in the series and I've started reading already.

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A well written terrible book. I know this is a long series but I don't appreciate reading a paperback worth of prologue. This book is made of filler, even if well written filler. Don't think I'll be continuing with the series.

[3j0hn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I started this one a couple years ago and it didn't hook me right away. This time I pushed through the slow start, and really enjoyed it a lot. Lots of dry Pratchetty observations about modern life, and a pretty good exploration of the multi-world premise (which, ends up being a lot like the Merchant Princes setting by Charles Stross, but more expansive and more empty).

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is not the diskworld. It is, however, a marvelous though experiment on alternate earths, how to travel in them, and what mankind might do with infinite space and resources. Fascinating, if lacking in Pratchett’s trademark hilarity.

[kapheine-780159 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I definitely enjoyed reading the book, especially the parts that explored differing evolutionary paths. But if you're like me and get annoyed with every book being part of a 50 book series, you may not want to pick this one up, as very little is wrapped up at the end. If you're ok with that then go for it, though, because it was still worth the read.

[sarcher-3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Great concept, great characters. A little thin, an echo of HGTTG. As the wikipedia article quotes Adam Roberts, "much more like a Baxter novel than a Pratchett one." Unfortunate, I had hoped for the opposite.

[pdcread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had been anticipating this book for a while as Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors, and I have enjoyed most, but not all, of Stephen Baxter's books.

They have taken the concept of parallel earths and devised a nifty device called a stepper, incorporating a potato (the Pratchett influence) to enable people to step between them. Most people when stepping suffer nausea shortly after stepping, by Joshua, the main character, is a natural stepper who can move swiftly without these effects, or as he discovers without using the stepper. His talents are noticed by a computer entity called Lobsang, who helps him out with a little problem that he had with the authorities.

Lobsang proposes to travel to ends of the Long Earth with Joshua in a dirigible. Along the way they discover all types of alternative humanities, and humans who have settled far from earth, and discover things about themselves before reaching the very end an something that they were not expecting.

I kind of enjoyed reading it, but I didn't think that the plot was that strong, and the ending was fairly weak. The writing is fairly seamless given that they write in such different ways normally.

[skybalon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting take on the multiple world/universes idea. The humorous parts clearly reflected Mr. Pratchett's excellent sense of humor. Will be interested in seeing where the rest of the series goes.