Long Earth
4 books in this series
Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter join forces in this seminal sci-fi series.
Long Earth is series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, which can be reached by using an inexpensive device called a "Stepper". The closer worlds are almost identical to our Earth but the further you get the more they differ. They all share one similarity: humans have never existed there, at least not as we know them . . .
Long Earth is series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, which can be reached by using an inexpensive device called a "Stepper". The closer worlds are almost identical to our Earth but the further you get the more they differ. They all share one similarity: humans have never existed there, at least not as we know them . . .
The Long Utopia
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER
'Rich in an awe-inspiring sense of wonder' Independent
'A hymn to the joys of unfettered world-building' Guardian
2045-2059. After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption humanity is spreading further into the Long Earth, and society, on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve.
Now an elderly and cantankerous A.I., Lobsang lives in disguise with Agnes in an exotic, far-distant world. He’s convinced they’re leading a normal life in New Springfield – they even adopt a child – but it seems they have been guided there for a reason. As rumours of strange sightings and hauntings proliferate, it becomes clear that something is very awry with this particular world.
Millions of steps away, Joshua is on a personal journey of discovery: learning about the father he never knew and a secret family history. But then he receives a summons from New Springfield. Lobsang now understands the enormity of what’s taking place beneath the surface of his earth – a threat to all the worlds of the Long Earth.
To counter this threat will require the combined efforts of humankind, machine and the super-intelligent Next. And some must make the ultimate sacrifice . . .
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The Long Utopia is the fourth in the Long Earth series.
'The Long Earth series deserves a place on the bookshelves of hardcore SF fans and general readers alike' Independent on Sunday
'Rich in an awe-inspiring sense of wonder' Independent
'A hymn to the joys of unfettered world-building' Guardian
2045-2059. After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption humanity is spreading further into the Long Earth, and society, on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve.
Now an elderly and cantankerous A.I., Lobsang lives in disguise with Agnes in an exotic, far-distant world. He’s convinced they’re leading a normal life in New Springfield – they even adopt a child – but it seems they have been guided there for a reason. As rumours of strange sightings and hauntings proliferate, it becomes clear that something is very awry with this particular world.
Millions of steps away, Joshua is on a personal journey of discovery: learning about the father he never knew and a secret family history. But then he receives a summons from New Springfield. Lobsang now understands the enormity of what’s taking place beneath the surface of his earth – a threat to all the worlds of the Long Earth.
To counter this threat will require the combined efforts of humankind, machine and the super-intelligent Next. And some must make the ultimate sacrifice . . .
_____
The Long Utopia is the fourth in the Long Earth series.
'The Long Earth series deserves a place on the bookshelves of hardcore SF fans and general readers alike' Independent on Sunday
The Long Mars
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER
'Imaginative, sense-of-wonder at its best . . . thrilling stuff from the masters' Independent on Sunday
'A thrilling and ceaselessly entertaining ride' SFX
2040-2045: In the years after a cataclysmic eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee to myriad Long Earth worlds.
Sally, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But he is not what he seems.
For Joshua, the crisis he faces is much closer to home. He becomes embroiled in the plight of the Next: the super-bright post-humans who are beginning to emerge from their 'long childhood' in a hidden community located deep in the Long Earth. Ignorance and fear are causing 'normal' human society to turn against the Next - and a dramatic showdown seems inevitable . . .
_____
The Long Mars is the third in the Long Earth series.
'Imaginative, sense-of-wonder at its best . . . thrilling stuff from the masters' Independent on Sunday
'A thrilling and ceaselessly entertaining ride' SFX
2040-2045: In the years after a cataclysmic eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee to myriad Long Earth worlds.
Sally, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But he is not what he seems.
For Joshua, the crisis he faces is much closer to home. He becomes embroiled in the plight of the Next: the super-bright post-humans who are beginning to emerge from their 'long childhood' in a hidden community located deep in the Long Earth. Ignorance and fear are causing 'normal' human society to turn against the Next - and a dramatic showdown seems inevitable . . .
_____
The Long Mars is the third in the Long Earth series.
The Long War
THE BESTSELLING SEQUEL TO THE PHENOMENAL THE LONG EARTH
'An absorbing collaborative effort from the two giants of SF' Guardian
A generation after the events of The Long Earth, mankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by Stepping. Where Joshua and Lobsang once pioneered, now fleets of airships link the stepwise Americas with trade and culture.
Mankind is shaping the Long Earth – but in turn the Long Earth is shaping mankind ... A new ‘America’, called Valhalla, is emerging more than a million steps from Datum Earth, and it is growing restless . . .
Meanwhile the Long Earth is suffused by the song of the trolls, graceful hive-mind humanoids. But the trolls are beginning to react to humanity’s thoughtless exploitation . . .
And a gathering multiple crisis that threatens to plunge the Long Earth into a war unlike any mankind has waged before.
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The Long War is the second in the Long Earth series.
'An absorbing collaborative effort from the two giants of SF' Guardian
A generation after the events of The Long Earth, mankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by Stepping. Where Joshua and Lobsang once pioneered, now fleets of airships link the stepwise Americas with trade and culture.
Mankind is shaping the Long Earth – but in turn the Long Earth is shaping mankind ... A new ‘America’, called Valhalla, is emerging more than a million steps from Datum Earth, and it is growing restless . . .
Meanwhile the Long Earth is suffused by the song of the trolls, graceful hive-mind humanoids. But the trolls are beginning to react to humanity’s thoughtless exploitation . . .
And a gathering multiple crisis that threatens to plunge the Long Earth into a war unlike any mankind has waged before.
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The Long War is the second in the Long Earth series.
The Long Earth
THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'A triumph' Independent
'Literary alchemy' SFX
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 is an understatement if ever there was one...
_____
This is the first novel in the Long Earth series.
'The Long Earth series deserves a place on the bookshelves of hardcore SF fans and general readers alike' Independent on Sunday
'A triumph' Independent
'Literary alchemy' SFX
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 is an understatement if ever there was one...
_____
This is the first novel in the Long Earth series.
'The Long Earth series deserves a place on the bookshelves of hardcore SF fans and general readers alike' Independent on Sunday