The Long Earth (The Long Earth, #1) in Beyond Reality

Feb 19, 2013 Wealhtheow rated it did not like it

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, pocmaincharacters, sci-fi, queer-characters

One day, humanity discovers they can "step" from our world into parallel worlds. Each of these other Earths is slightly different from the next--but humans exist on no other world but our own. Humans immediately start stepping into other worlds to explore and create new homes. Resources and space are no longer scarce; old hierarchies start breaking down.

Joshua Valiente is a natural Stepper, someone who can jump from one world to the next without any ill effects. And so the first AI to be declare One day, humanity discovers they can "step" from our world into parallel worlds. Each of these other Earths is slightly different from the next--but humans exist on no other world but our own. Humans immediately start stepping into other worlds to explore and create new homes. Resources and space are no longer scarce; old hierarchies start breaking down.

Joshua Valiente is a natural Stepper, someone who can jump from one world to the next without any ill effects. And so the first AI to be declared sentient (by dint of claiming to be the reincarnation of a Tibetan motorcycle repairman) hires him to be his companion as they explore farther into the alternate Earths than any humans before. Along the way they discover other sentient beings, who discovered stepping earlier in their evolutionary tracks: the peaceful "trolls" who communicate by song and scent, and the scrawny but aggressive "elves". These creatures are migrating toward the original Earth in what can only be called a very slow stampede. Lobsang, Joshua, and their chance-met companion Sally "step" against the stampede, hoping to find out what danger is approaching. And what they find is beyond their wildest imaginations. (view spoiler)

This was not a good book. The dialog is stilted and made up of info-dumps, the descriptions of alternate Earths repetitive and boring. Various side characters, mostly never heard from again, are given a chapter each to tell the tale of their own exploration. Pratchett's contribution is nearly invisible--there's one section in which a WWI private thinks about his boots and another about a religion that seems Pratchett-esque, but there are few moments of humor and no other moments of whimsy. The characters never seem to really have personalities or connect to each other, and the only character who felt remotely real was Monica Jansson (a lesbian cop who is one of the few people who fully understands what alternate earths means for the original Earth). The pacing is soooo slow, and the plot is basically non-existent. It felt like the authors figured out they needed a plot about four chapters from the end, shoved a couple dangers in, and then went back to what they really wanted to talk about, which was boring characters creating boring homesteads. It's not even fun in a Hatchet kind of way, because there's no struggle to survive--humans settle on worlds so rich in resources that they don't even need to farm; fish practically leap into their baskets. And there's no real world-building; they don't explore how the original Earth changes, or talk further about what it means that Happy Landings has no crime or disabled people, or get in depth about anything at all. It was, in all, very disappointing. ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Sandi rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, audiobooks, fantasy, 2012

This is a really good example of a great idea that's poorly executed. It really needed more of a plot, better continuity, drama, character development, or something. Just choosing one of those elements would have elevated The Long Earth to something special. As it was, it just kept reminding me of Ozzie's journey on the Silfen roads in Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga. At times, it seemed like I was re-reading those books but not enjoying it as much.

I gave this book two stars based on the ...more

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Jun 05, 2012 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Percy Blakeney? Percy Blakeney?! I was intrigued enough to give this a try. All it took was two words. Except that it turned out to have nothing to do with The Scarlet Pimpernel. (Except the name, as far as I could tell. Though I'm not very familiar with that canon.) And that character was actually very peripheral, as was the policewoman who is also mentioned in the jacket copy.

For me this was okay to read to pass the time. It was a mildly interesting look at the many-worlds concept but did not ...more

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Oct 12, 2015 mina rated it it was ok · review of another edition

The reason I bought this book is, obviously, because of the authors. Terry Pratchett is my most favourite author. I have read one of Baxter's book: Proxima, and I totally loved it, and have decided to continue reading his books. Based on the previous successful collaboration between Pratchett and Gaiman, I thought this collaboration will also be awesome.

I was wrong.
I mean, the idea is original and exciting: there are endless versions of the Earth to the East and the West, and you can access them ...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Jo rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

I have to admit that The Long Earth left me puzzled. There is this quote when I was 60% through on my Kindle. ("What is the Long Earth for? I suppose that's what we came out here to find out."). At the end of the book I still was puzzled by what the Long Earth was for.

I loved the premise. All of those Earth's and people could and did step away to a new place and a new life. I loved the fact that there were all of the small stories included in the books and that each of those stories were integra ...more

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Jun 09, 2012 H. R. added it

Great premise and literal world build that from a plot perspective never found the event horizon. Used some of Baxter's favorite eveoluionary themes and some of Pratchett's humor, but never managed to sustain a plot that fully leveraged the idea. Reminded me of 'A For Anything' by Damon Knight, but Knight had a tight and dramatic plotline and character development. ...more

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