The Long Earth - An Upcoming Pratchett Series
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The Long Earth is a collaborative science fiction series between Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett
The series is a collaboration with Stephen Baxter (an acclaimed scifi author), who was brought in to finish off the original version of The Long Earth. Pterry is famous for his humour and versatility, as well as his prolific rate of production! Baxter is more of a hard science type of scifi writer. So with Stephen Baxter handling the science, and Pterry creating the characters, this should be an interesting book.
The premise is based on the 'multiple parallel worlds' theory, each slightly different from the one before - stretched out in a 'long' Earth - in which people end up travelling to the next worlds in the chain. And havoc and science ensues, presumably.
The first book of The Long Earth is out in June!
and 19th June on Amazon.com
Countdown to The Long Earth's publication date
Have You Heard Of Either Author?
Which do you prefer?
"Our Earth is but one of a chain of parallel worlds, each differing from its neighbours by a little (or a lot) in an infinite landscape of infinite possibilities. And you can just step from one world to the next..."
~Pratchett on The Long Earth setting
The Long Earth Blurbs
What is it about?
1916: the Western Front, France. 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 landcape of No man's Land gone?
2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson has returned to the burned-out home of one Willis Linsay, a reclusive and some said mad, others dangerous, scientist. It was arson but, as is often the way, the firemen seem to have caused more damage than the fire itself. Stepping through the wreck of a house, there's no sign of any human remains but on the mantelpiece Monica finds a curious gadget - a box, containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a...potato. It is the prototype of an invention that Linsay called a 'stepper'. An invention he put up on the web for all the world to see, and use, an invention that would to change the way mankind viewed his world Earth for ever. And that's an understatement if ever there was one...
...because the stepper allowed the person using it to step sideways into another America, another Earth, and if you kept on stepping, you kept on entering even more Earths...this is the Long Earth. It's our our Earth but one of chain of parallel worlds, lying side by side each differing from its neighbour by really very little (or actually quite a lot). It's an infinite chain, offering 'steppers' an infinite landscape of infinite possibilities. And the further away you travel, the stranger - and sometimes more dangerous - the Earths get. The sun and moon always shine, the basic laws of physics are the same. However, the chance events which have shaped our particular Earth, such as the dinosaur-killer asteroid impact, might not have happened and things may well have turned out rather differently.
But, until Willis Linsay invented his stepper, only our Earth hosted mankind...or so we thought. Because it turns out there are some people who are natural 'steppers', who don't need his invention and now the great migration has begun...
The Long Earth
Amazon Price: (as of 06/02/2012)
List Price:
The Official Blurb from Amazon.com:
2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Junior cop Sally Jansson is called out to the house of Willis Lynsey, a reclusive scientist, for an animal-cruelty complaint: the man was seen forcing a horse in through the door of his home. Inside there is no horse. But Sally finds a kind of home-made utility belt. She straps this on -- and 'steps' sideways into an America covered with virgin forest. Willis came here with equipment and animals, meaning to explore and colonise. And when Sally gets back, she finds Willis has put the secret of the belt on the internet. The great migration has begun...
The Long Earth: our Earth is but one of a chain of parallel worlds, lying side by side in a higher space of possibilities, each differing from its neighbours by a little (or a lot): an infinite landscape of infinite possibilities. And the further away you travel, the stranger the worlds get. The sun and moon always shine, the basic laws of physics are the same. However, the chance events which have shaped our particular version of Earth, such as the dinosaur-killer asteroid impact, might not have happened and things may well have turned out rather differently. But only our Earth hosts mankind.
Release Date: 06/26/2012
Official 'The Long Earth' Reveals
Snippets and tidbits leading up to the release
21st January: Cover image and description (the long Amazon blurb found above)
Had You Heard About This Already?
Or is this new and exciting news?
Science Fiction From Pratchett
It's not as new as you might think...
How Excited Are You?
Other Collaborations From Terry Pratchett
Parallel Worlds in Fiction
Similar stories to The Long Earth concept
The Long Earth: A Novel is based around a 'long' string of Earths, each slightly different from the former. Similar universes are found in Piers Anthony's Mode series, Dianne Wynne Jones' young adult Chrestomanci series, Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, D. J. MacHale's The Pendragon Adventure series, Stephen King's The Dark Tower series and the classic time travel book, The Man Who Folded Himself from 1973, by David Gerrold.
Can Pterry Do Science Fiction?
Or should he stick to the Discworld? Is there really even a difference?
What did you think? Can Pratchett pull of scifi?
Sure. He can do ANYTHING
ChocBach says:
One of my favorite Pratchett books is The Carpet People, which is more fantasy, but I liked his SciFi stuff too.
Ben says:
Sir Terry is a genious and an amazing writer. Ha can pull anything off, but no matter what he writes, the Pratchett humour will always show through.
Pettsson says:
He already done so with Strata and Dark side of the sun
MSchindel says:
Of course! He's a natural. There's so much crossover between the fantasy and sci-fi genres anyway that it's just a small step to that parallel universe. ;)
Terry Pratchett Fan says:
To say Terry Pratchett is a genius would be a vast understatement. He is on a parr with Charles Dickens and (dare I say it) Shakespeare. He can turn his hand to anything. He is.... (starts dribbling over the Discworld Customised Keyboard).
Giraldus Hibericus says:
Read Dark Side Of The Sun & Strata before I started reading the Discworld series so was aware of Mr Pratchett as a sci-fi author already. I wonder did this earlier and abandoned concept feed into the earliest Discworld books where Rincewind & Twoflower fell into our reality for a short time?
Mrs. Peak says:
Pratchett and Baxter will be great together. I have loved his collaborations with Gaiman and the "Wizards of Warwick," and am looking forward to The Long Earth.
Kim says:
Ofc he can!! something new from terry to collect =P
Geir Valle says:
Tell me that DW isn't partly SF? What about Hex, UU, Leonard de Quirm(?)... I'll give long odds it's going to be a great SciFi-book!
moogleymog says:
I've read all of Terry's books and loved all of them so I know that he can. The Dark Side of the Sun was briliant.
isalay says:
Mr. Pratchett is a genius. Every word he's written is divine. This will be a nice twist on the journey. Can't wait!
Austin says:
"Terry Pratchett is to Fantasy what Douglas Adams is to Science Fiction."
I would love to read any fantasy book Douglas Adams wrote, so I guess I'd better extend Pratchett the same courtesy.
=Tamar says:
He's written SF before, also poetry, a cat book, a paranormal short story, a string of children's stories, and his Discworld books include several sub-genres.
Boulter's Canary says:
Read his short story # ifdef DEBUG + "world/enough" + "time" - It's a love/ghost/SF story and quite brilliant. He can do it.
Flynn_the_Cat says:
I personally think Pterry can do anything, but I'm a little biased.
...He'll always be a fantasy author to me.
Some Baxter Books
Have a bit of science fiction to temper the whimsy?
Some Pratchett Books
...if you haven't read these, you really should start
More News? : Long Earth Linkage
Other reports about the upcoming project: "more worlds to conquer than there are numbers"
Most of this is repetition of the same small press release, but this links are mostly somewhat official and can lead to more information.
Terry Pratchett - 'I will always be the fellow who writes funny books' | Bookwitch
Now, as you know, I will be working with Steve Bax more...1 point
Stephen Baxter: News
news and upcoming events of the science fiction au more...0 points
Has Anything Been Leaked About The Long Earth Yet?
A quick scan of the internets for more news
- Doctor Whooligan: Season Seen News, Wheel Of Ice,The Ice Warriors On DVD, More ...
- Stephen Baxter , who has written with Arthur C. Clarke and co-authored The Long Earth, with Terry Pratchett, has written a Second Doctor story called The Wheel of Ice for BBC Books. Doctor Who: Wheel of Ice by Stephen Baxter is due for release from BBC ...
- Hay Festival 2012: day one as it happened
- He would turn up at the theatre in a very long coat and take out two 17th century pistols. I'd say, 'You can't walk down the street with guns in your pocket, you madman!' David Walliams has been talking about his next children's book.
- Review: Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies
- By Massey University Drama Society If there are two words designed to get a lover of fantasy's juices running there's a good chance they would be "Terry Pratchett". Take his flat-earth-style creation, Discworld, for example. It barrels through space ...
- Ten Science Fiction and Fantasy Books That Deserve the Video Game Treatment
- You like choosing your sex and body shape in a game? Well then this would be the game for you! Gotta love a book where the invasion and expulsion of humans from the planet earth is secondary to the plot. 5) Discworld series by Terry Pratchett.
Who And What Is Terry Pratchett?
A quick guide on his books, and where to get started
Are You Looking Forward To The Long Earth?
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RoadMonkey
Jun 1, 2012 @ 7:34 am | delete
- Brilliant, didn't know there was something new on the way.
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MSchindel Apr 5, 2012 @ 1:52 pm | delete
- Thanks so much about the heads-up for The Long Earth. I can't believe I didn't know anything about this until now!
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Chadrew
Oct 10, 2010 @ 9:09 am | delete
- I've read Discworld, it was hilarious. I haven't heard about Long Earth though.
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Bus_Stop_Toy_Shop Oct 7, 2010 @ 11:28 am | delete
- First I'd heard about The Long Earth, but I'm always excited by news of new Pratchett.
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More of My Pratchett Book Reviews
I've read them all half a dozen times - but I promise, I've only written about each book once!
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