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Book Review : The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

 The Long Earth 

(The Long Earth #1)

By Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter 


Published Year : 2012 

Page Count: 421 pages  

Medium Used: Paperback 

Genre : Science Fiction, Fantasy, Sociology, Multiverse, 2024-read. 

Rating : 5/5 👍👍👍👍👍



Disclaimer: Some Spoilers ahead!! 

Parallel worlds .. uninhabited, endless Earths that are for the taking by any asker .. more Earths than there are people on Datum Earth .. a heavenly Paradise!! 


I thoroughly enjoyed this amazing product from the minds of two brilliant authors - Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. I just wrapped it up and am yearning for more of Long Earth. Luckily, I have the next book from the series sitting on my table, right next to me. 


The Long Earth is a term used to refer to all the numerous parallel world Earths that could be reached by stepping either to the left or right. Some people are gifted with natural stepping ability while others need a special mechanical device. There are a few who cannot step despite everything. Joshua Valiente is a natural stepper who was born on one of these parallel worlds when his mother gave birth to him and that sort of makes him unique. He experienced silence and absolute unity with a remote world that no one had or has ever since. To all those, to whom the doors to this multiverse are open, navigate and try to establish new homes. Some establish utopia like settlements and townships filtering, sifting out people who want to come, join them. This is reflective of a selective community that aids in evolution. Some become hobos who relentlessly wander and never design to settle anywhere permanently. 


One notable feature of this Long Earth is that there is no evolution of any species into Human/Homo Sapiens anywhere else except on Datum Earth. Either they are long to play catch up or humanity is a mistake on this datum earth, we don't know. Lobsong is an Artificial Agent from the Dark Corporation that makes a deal with Joshua to explore this multiverse. They step through the worlds in a giant air balloon like airship and see/experience many new things on these distant worlds. They cross paths with trolls - ape like bipedal creatures that have shared collective memory using which they can chatter among their species. They are the most innocuous of the alien species encountered. Then there are Elves which are tall, giant headed and remarkably fast at stepping. They almost kill Joshua in an encounter and are hence avoided further on. There are also many versions of animal hybrids which have evolved on these other worlds. Then there are those where dinosaurs haven't gone extinct, some where there is no moon formed, some with total water and killer whale species, one earth which is wiped out of existence, creating a Gap .. and so on. Its really wild and exhilarating! On their journey, after about a million worlds stepped, they come across a natural stepper Sally who has a secret. She tells them how she was able to travel so far out of Datum Earth without an airship.


They soon find out something has been bothering these hordes of trolls and elves - making them skittish and distraught. The trio of AI and humans figure out what it is but can't do more than parley. So what happens next ? How do they prevent the plague from spreading? Back one Datum Earth, whats happening? Can some humans who are left behind remain thus for long? 


Amazing minds, thoughts and conjectures  .. remarkable creative geniuses behind the making of this novel. Learned a lot! 



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