"Their trademark world building and questions of morality remain intact . . . The explosive cliffhanger ending--also now something of a trademark--promises one final return to the series." -- Booklist
The fourth novel in Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's bestselling series, which io9 calls "a brilliant science fiction collaboration."
2045-2059. Human society continues to evolve on Datum Earth, its battered and weary origin planet, as the spread of humanity progresses throughout the many Earths beyond.
Lobsang, now an elderly and complex AI, suffers a breakdown, and disguised as a human attempts to live a "normal" life on one of the millions of Long Earth worlds. His old friend, Joshua, now in his fifties, searches for his father and discovers a heretofore unknown family history. And the super-intelligent post-humans known as "the Next" continue to adapt to life among "lesser" humans.
But an alarming new challenge looms. An alien planet has somehow become "entangled" with one of the Long Earth worlds and, as Lobsang and Joshua learn, its voracious denizens intend to capture, conquer, and colonize the new universe--the Long Earth--they have inadvertently discovered.
World-building, the intersection of universes, the coexistence of diverse species, and the cosmic meaning of the Long Earth itself are among the mind-expanding themes explored in this exciting new installment of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's extraordinary Long Earth series.
The complete list of books in the Long Earth series include:
The Long EarthThe Long WarThe Long MarsThe Long UtopiaThe Long Cosmos
About the Author :
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) is the acclaimed creator of the globally revered Discworld series. In all, he authored more than fifty bestselling books, which have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.
Stephen Baxter is an acclaimed, multiple-award-winning author whose many books include the Xeelee Sequence series, the Time Odyssey trilogy (written with Arthur C. Clarke), and The Time Ships, a sequel to H. G. Wells's classic The Time Machine. He lives in England.
Michael Fenton Stevens is an actor and comedian, as well as a founding member of The Hee Bee Gee Bees, a pop music group. He is known for his work in television and for his voice work on BBC Radio 4.
Review :
"Michael Fenton Stevens gives a spirited narration of the fourth title in the Long Earth series...Stevens has an opportunity to present the many major characters of the 'homo-superior' race, along with a few aliens and terrorists as well. In addition to his seemingly never-ending store of accents, he relies on tone to give dimension and attitude to the characters. Stevens' well-paced narration stays fresh throughout exposition and dialogue."
-- "AudioFile"
"The co-authors have created a tighter, more focused narrative that moves faster than its predecessors...[with an] explosive cliff-hanger ending--also now something of a trademark."
-- "Booklist"
"The fourth installment of Baxter and the late Pratchett's ambitious Long Earth saga makes it clear that their imagination and world-building know no limits...Despite the epic scope and attention to scientific detail, the authors never lose sight of the human touch--even if that human is an AI."
-- "Publishers Weekly"
