The long earth
by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter · first published 2012
42% recommend50% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Multiverse science fiction set on an infinite set of parallel Earths, with a strong premise and an adventurous plot. Its ideas and sense of wonder stand out, and it suits science fiction readers.
Common criticism: Several find the characters and dialogue weak or the execution mediocre.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Terry Pratchett, other than lending his name to this book, wasn't a part of it. No humor and dark reading. Mr. Baxter should have published it under his own name, he can write, just not to my liking. gmb 3/15/20
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I have not seen anyone mention the long earth series, a collaboration between Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. It is based on a very interesting concept. Very different in its style to the discworld books, but shows off how good a writer Pratchett…
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗Lexicon - Max Barry. The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman. Channel Skin - Jeff Noon. The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. The Difference Engine - William Gibson.
on “Ask HN: Sci-Fi novels?” ↗…enemies, and more. Probably not the "greatest" writing or editing going on (I spotted a few spelling errors), but it's a great plot and his character development is pretty good. Not Kindle Unlimited: The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - Multiple worlds, epic storyline, and getting better with each new book. Can't wait for the next one (The Long Mars). The Taken Trilogy by Allen Dean Foster…
on “Entitlement issues (2009)” ↗…to see the past. With a broad interpretation of 'hard' I can highly recommend Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, which have soft science but hard humanity. Similarly The Long Earth series, a collaboration between Pratchett and Baxter, where it seems Baxter handles the sociological and technological consequences of the science while Pratchett handles the characters and philosophy.…
on “The Realism of Our Times: Kim Stanley Robinson on how science fiction works” ↗…physics. The Planiverse: Computer Contact with a Two-Dimensional World by A.K. Dewdney is sort of a modern take on the classic Flatland by Edwin Abbot, and manages to improve upon it considerably. The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter posits an infinite set of parallel Earths that can be reached with a trivial but unorthodox electronic device. You have to travel to them incrementally, one…
on “Ask HN: Is there any fiction that's based on a world with different physics?” ↗…Baxter. Stephen's writing always gives me the same feeling as when I look at the stars at night and am reminded that where I am is just a small part of everything. The manifold trilogy as well as the long earth series he did with Terry Pratchett are very good. The first is not anthropocentric, which I found was a refreshing change.
on “Interviewing Tim Sweeney and Neal Stephenson” ↗Saying what book you're talking about is kind of a spoiler now for anyone that happens to be reading its series. Are there spoiler tags on HN? <SPOILER> The Long Utopia, book 4/5 of the Long Earth series by Pratchett and Baxter. </SPOILER> The series has very meh characters/dialogue, excellent ideas and sense of nearly possibility-unlimited discovery that's executed very well, highly recommend…
on “Can Earth's rotation generate power? Physicists divided over controversial claim” ↗"The Long Earth" - Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗I really enjoyed the first few books of The Long Earth[0] series in which characters heavily utilize air ships similar to zeppelins. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Earth
on “The U.S.S. Akron and U.S.S. Macon, America's “flying aircraft carriers”” ↗The Long Earth series is fantastic. I'm not a huge fan of Baxter's work but these books are among my fave scifi reads.
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗I never heard about such a phenomenon before. But yesterday I read about it in The Long Earth by Terry Pratchet and Stephen Baxter. Life is weird sometimes...
on “Natural nuclear fission reactor” ↗Sounds a little bit like the Long Earth series by Pratchett and Baxter. Though there it was an infinite number rather than just two, they were initially unpopulated, and there were sharp limits on moving material between worlds. (Cool premise…
on “Silicon Valley Is Not Driving Jobs Growth” ↗…series is interesting. Each Manifold book stands in its own universe, but uses the same cast of characters with a different set of answers to Fermi. I got on a Baxter kick after powering through his Long Earth books (ostensibly coauthored with Terry Pratchett, though Pratchett's fingerprints are rather non-existent after first book). As long as you're ok with Baxter's strong dislike of organized religion, he…
on “On the role of GRBs on life extinction in the Universe” ↗I'm saddened greatly by this - for many reasons, not the least of which is that we will likely not see any more Long Earth novels in concert with Stephen Baxter.
on “Sir Terry Pratchett has died” ↗"The Long Earth" - Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - First in trilogy about parallel worlds; the combination of those two authors makes it both fanciful and grounded, which is a bit odd. "Clockwork Rocket" - Greg…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗