thelongearth

Yenya1954

The Long Earth | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

so-so

The first novel I‘ve read by Terry Pritchett. It‘s 1916 on the Western Front where Private Percy Blackney awaken on the grass. Where he hears birds singing and the breeze stirring in the leaves. The novel has “steppers” who are able to travel from one world to others. There are lots of humorous little tales and the fiction wound up in the book. The characters are definitely different. It was a fun read. 4/5

BooksNBowls I want to read some Terry but idk where to start!! 3w

BookmarkTavern @BooksNBowls Allow me to share this very helpful flowchart! https://anonthenullifier.tumblr.com/post/172169482383/goddamnshinyrock-every-tim... Also! Hop over to the #OokBOokClub hashtag! We‘re reading through all the Discworld books! 3w

BooksNBowls @BookmarkTavern thank you so much!! 3w

Soubhiville I‘m glad you liked this- it‘s not very much like TP‘s other books, though the humor is definitely his. 7d

6 likes4 comments

julesG

The Long Cosmos: A Novel | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

Hello friends! Open discussion is in the FOLLOWING POST marked as a spoiler. Find the #TheLongCosmos post & tap "show me" on the spoiler tag to join in the discussion. Join in whenever you can! Today. Tomorrow. Next month! The post will always be up so just tag each other & we'll jump in to discuss with you. Feel free to chat about anything!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

julesG @alisiakae @DrexEdit @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Tea_and_Starstuff @dariazeoli @Soubhiville @GingerAntics @rubyslippersreads @Karkar @kwmg40 @Marmie7 @Liatrek @khooliha @Read-y_Picker @TheSpineView @BookmarkTavern @Jennifer3 @Fortifiedbybooks @willaful 1y

36 likes1 comment

julesG

The Long Cosmos: A Novel | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

This post contains spoilers

show me

Welcome to the #OokBOokClub open discussion for #TheLongCosmos feel free to discuss anything! Don't forget to tag each other in the comments so your friends can see your reply. Have fun!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

11 likes1 comment

julesG

The Long Cosmos: A Novel | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

#OokBOokClub-ers, our #EpicBuddyread adventure continues TODAY with #TheLongCosmos!

Looking forward to our discussion next month!

Happy reading!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead

willaful Don't think I'll read this one, since I haven't read any of the previous books. 1y

37 likes2 comments

LitsyEvents

The Long Cosmos: A Novel | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

Repost for @julesG

Just a friendly reminder that next month we'll be reading #TheLongCosmos! Dig out your books, put in your library holds, or place your orders! The next Discworld adventure continues on September 8th! Woohoo!

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

Original post - https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2619812

julesG Thank you! 1y

E.Bolhafner @sbolhafner 1y

38 likes2 comments

julesG

The Long Cosmos: A Novel | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

#OokBOokClub

Just a friendly reminder that next month we'll be reading #TheLongCosmos! Dig out your books, put in your library holds, or place your orders! The next Discworld adventure continues on September 8th! Woohoo!

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

julesG @alisiakae @DrexEdit @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Tea_and_Starstuff @dariazeoli @Soubhiville @GingerAntics @rubyslippersreads @Karkar @kwmg40 @Marmie7 @Liatrek @khooliha @Read-y_Picker @TheSpineView @ozma.of.oz @Jennifer3 @Fortifiedbybooks @willaful 1y

33 likes1 comment

julesG

The Long Utopia | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

Hello friends! Open discussion is in the FOLLOWING POST marked as a spoiler. Find the #TheLongUtopia post & tap "show me" on the spoiler tag to join in the discussion. Join in whenever you can! Today. Tomorrow. Next month! The post will always be up so just tag each other & we'll jump in to discuss with you. Feel free to chat about anything!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

julesG @alisiakae @DrexEdit @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Tea_and_Starstuff @dariazeoli @Soubhiville @GingerAntics @rubyslippersreads @Karkar @kwmg40 @Marmie7 @Liatrek @khooliha @Read-y_Picker @TheSpineView @ozma.of.oz @Jennifer3 @Fortifiedbybooks @willaful 1y

39 likes1 comment

julesG

The Long Utopia | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

This post contains spoilers

show me

Welcome to the #OokBOokClub open discussion for #TheLongUtopia feel free to discuss anything! Don't forget to tag each other in the comments so your friends can see your reply. Have fun!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

julesG @alisiakae @DrexEdit @Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Tea_and_Starstuff @dariazeoli @Soubhiville @GingerAntics @rubyslippersreads @Karkar @kwmg40 @Marmie7 @Liatrek @khooliha @Read-y_Picker @TheSpineView @ozma.of.oz @Jennifer3 @Fortifiedbybooks @willaful 1y

TheSpineView 👍😊 1y

julesG I admit, I didn't read this. I DNF'd on the first book in this series and, obviously, didn't continue. 1y

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BookmarkTavern I‘ve bailed on this particular series too. 😂 1y

julesG @ozma.of.oz It just wasn't Pratchett enough for me to continue. If that makes any sense. 1y

BookmarkTavern That‘s exactly what I felt! 1y

13 likes6 comments

Robotswithpersonality

The Long Earth | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

so-so

So after typing this all out, I realized I have a number of thoughts....if you haven't read the Discworld, or much of Terry Pratchett, this probably won't feel relevant to a critique of this book, it's a subjective review, I realize.
Disclaimer done, onto the ranting! 1/?

Robotswithpersonality Solidifies my preference for Terry Pratchett's fantasy over his sci-fi. I was unwilling previously to come to any solid conclusion as to the strength of his sci-fi as his previous SF books are among his earliest works, but given the publishing date on the start of this series, I feel safe in saying it just doesn't have the same life as his fantasy.
I acknowledge that the Discworld books, especially the earlier volumes are usually more about the adventure than the people involved. While wonderful exceptions in the persons of Moist Von Lipwig, Tiffany Aching and my fave, Samuel Vimes exist, personal development always felt secondary to larger social commentary, which, don't get me wrong, worked very well. 2/? 1y

Robotswithpersonality But in this sci-fi series, about 50% of the social commentary space is now speculative science, and that combined with the very shallow reaches at interpersonal storytelling leaves it feeling a bit empty.
I don't know the level of Stephen Baxter's influence on this overall vibe, I've never read from him solo and I could not detect a unique voice.
Even more distressing, there's almost no evidence of the quirky, cheeky, even hilarious warmth I so love about Pratchett's writing in the Discworld series. 3/? 1y

Robotswithpersonality This book was published between Snuff and Raising Steam so I KNOW it can't be down just to the tragedy of Pratchett's final years managing the effects of his Alzheimer's.
As a series starter, it ends disatisfactorily, not quite on a cliffhanger, presumably to get you to read on, and because so much was covered there was no way it would all be tied up in one book. But even being desperate for those remaining works written by an author now passed, I'm not sure there's enough of his voice evident here to make me want to continue. 4/? 1y

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Robotswithpersonality This also makes me lean further towards my developing hypothesis that rather than having a preference for either sci fi or fantasy, I need works in either genre to not go so high concept that they lose moments of human warmth and humour.
If you have an interest in archaeology/the evolution of early man, the potential of AI/reincarnation, whatever branch of physics multiverse is covered under, or politics/manifest destiny BS there's a number of interesting threads explored here. 5/? 1y

Robotswithpersonality Do not get me started on why the two British authors decided to set not only the bulk of the action, but the bulk of the characters as American (without being able to leave some of their palpably English idioms behind)?!
Perhaps as a result of my difficulty in staying invested in the story, it struck me that the premise could make a good video game (don't trust my assessment, I never got the hang of that form of entertainment): traveling between parallel worlds, not always very different from modern earth, so not too much a strain on the design department, with an option to either explore further, encounter species, OR set up a new civilization/pioneering on a certain world. 6/? 1y

Robotswithpersonality Perks: badass Harley riding, fed clobbering nun; robot cat that acts as a humane live trap for rodents; the times I could count on one hand that AI/reincarnated Lobsang was amusing in his incongruity i.e. sampling experiences/interacting with humans

Definite NOs: the 'for the plot' basically unexamined abandoning of one kid to go off and explore the universe, a family we barely hear from in relation to this kid after the abandoning, a kid we don't hear from until the resentment has reached catastrophic proportions;
I don't need the guy in his twenties appraising the attractiveness of the girl who 'looked in her late teens' 😑 ; Sinister 'paradise filter' on one world apparently ableist as well. 7/? 1y

Robotswithpersonality Even in Ankh-Morpork, the famously corrupt city of the Discworld, I felt like the best bits of humanity were shining among the worst, and even the worst had the option for redemption. Maybe it's a function of speculative sci fi that the worst case scenario is examined a little more often, but I felt like there were a lot less moments to remember humanity's positive as well as negative traits in this book.

Will I eventually cave and sample the next book in the series? Probably. Although the fact that it's called The Long War is not making me more enthusiastic. 🤷🏼‍♂️ 8/8 1y

julesG 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Wow! You've put all of my jumbled thoughts about this book into words! 1y

Robotswithpersonality @julesG ☺️ Always nice to hear my full brain dump is appreciated! 1y

5 likes9 comments

Robotswithpersonality

The Long Earth | Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter

🥹 More of this AI please, the sentient kind that makes a friend, not the algorithms stealing images to make bad art and eliminate jobs.

4 likes

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