Terry Pratchett, The Long Earth
Cross-posted to Goodreads.
The Long Earth is a fascinating and original concept. It's a twist on the old parallel-worlds story, with a simple invention suddenly allowing the vast majority of people on Earth to "step" into parallel versions of our planet - which appear, at least at first to be 1) infinite and 2) completely devoid of human life. The novel explores the implications of this for humanity - how the sudden appearance of infinite uninhabited worlds, accessible to all, affects the social order, the ecomonomy, religion, relationships... How, in short, it changes humanity.
The other aspect of the story is the Long Earth itself, which quickly turns out to be far more interesting and mysterious than just an infinite series of uninhabited Earths. I feel that this book, which is apparently the first part of a projected series, barely scratches the surface of this topic, and raises far more questions than it answers.
Where this book falls down is its plot and characterisation, both of which take a back seat to the grand overall concept. The characters, for the most part, are little more than observers, and are generally not well-developed enough to be interesting. Their journey allows the authors to explore and play with the concept of the Long Earth, but there is little actual drama or serious tension, at least until the final few chapters.
So, my final verdict: kudos for a grand vision, but it would be nice to see a little more of Tarry Pratchett's wit and warmth shining through in the writing. I have never read anything by Stephen Baxter before, so I wonder if this book is more representative of his writing style - because it certainly isn't Terry Pratchett's.
The Long Earth is a fascinating and original concept. It's a twist on the old parallel-worlds story, with a simple invention suddenly allowing the vast majority of people on Earth to "step" into parallel versions of our planet - which appear, at least at first to be 1) infinite and 2) completely devoid of human life. The novel explores the implications of this for humanity - how the sudden appearance of infinite uninhabited worlds, accessible to all, affects the social order, the ecomonomy, religion, relationships... How, in short, it changes humanity.
The other aspect of the story is the Long Earth itself, which quickly turns out to be far more interesting and mysterious than just an infinite series of uninhabited Earths. I feel that this book, which is apparently the first part of a projected series, barely scratches the surface of this topic, and raises far more questions than it answers.
Where this book falls down is its plot and characterisation, both of which take a back seat to the grand overall concept. The characters, for the most part, are little more than observers, and are generally not well-developed enough to be interesting. Their journey allows the authors to explore and play with the concept of the Long Earth, but there is little actual drama or serious tension, at least until the final few chapters.
So, my final verdict: kudos for a grand vision, but it would be nice to see a little more of Tarry Pratchett's wit and warmth shining through in the writing. I have never read anything by Stephen Baxter before, so I wonder if this book is more representative of his writing style - because it certainly isn't Terry Pratchett's.