Review by Booklist Review
Datum Earth grows old, and so, too, do Joshua Valienté and his companions. As more people forge out into the parallel universe of Long Earth, Joshua finds himself unsuited to family life and begins a search for his father, only to discover a startling piece of history about the evolution of natural Steppers. Wily AI Lobsang fakes his own mechanical death and retreats to a distant life to live as a human, husband, and father. But the days are growing steadily shorter on his new world as an alien life force attempts to xenoform the planet, threatening the existence of all who occupy the Long Earth. It's Sally Linsay, now into her sixties but as crafty and rangy as ever, who may have a single, devastating solution. Their trademark world building and questions of morality remain intact, but in this fourth-in-a-series (and first of Pratchett's remaining books to be published posthumously), the co-authors have created a tighter, more focused narrative that moves faster than its predecessors. The explosive cliff-hanger ending also now something of a trademark promises one final return to the series.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The fourth installment of Baxter and the late Pratchett's ambitious Long Earth saga (after The Long Mars) makes it clear that their imagination and world-building know no limits. In the years since the Yellowstone eruption devastated the original Earth, humans have spread out across the millions of parallel worlds known as the Long Earth, taking advantage of ample resources and near-infinite room. The AI Lobsang has faked his death and now lives a simple life on Earth West 1,217,756 along with his partner, Agnes, and their adopted son. However, that idyllic world hides a bizarre secret: metallic alien bugs have infiltrated from a previously unknown location and are steadily destroying the planet. Lobsang, along with old friends Joshua Valiente and Sally Linsay, must find a way to stop them before the entire Long Earth is imperiled. 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. Even so, the text is infused with an introspective air of loss, undermining the story's ultimate impact. Agents: (for Pratchett) Colin Smythe, Colin Smythe Ltd. (U.K.); (for Baxter) Christpher Schelling, Selectric Artists Literary. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
In this sequel to The Long Mars, Pratchett and Baxter introduce new twists to their already original concept to create an intriguing work of speculative fiction. The premise of their "Long Earth" series is relatively simple to explain-what if there were not a single Earth but an uncounted myriad, each but a "step" from the others to the nominal "East" or "West"? AI Lobsang chooses to fake his own death so that he may live as a human and even raise a child on an Earth distant from the original only to discover that something unknown in all the Long Earths is occurring-beings from an outside universe have arrived on his world and have begun to change it to their benefit. The authors also treat readers to a history of Steppers, those individuals who can move among the Earths without technology. In so doing, Pratchett and Baxter reveal a cabal of Steppers that stretches back to the Victorian Era and forward to include Joshua Valienté, the most famous Stepper of them all. Verdict This is the final novel in the series completed by Pratchett in his lifetime and so will be cherished for that reason alone. Beyond that, the combination of a detailed speculative world and deep contemplation of society evokes the best of Kim Stanley Robinson or Larry Niven. A true gem. [See Prepub Alert, 12/8/14.]-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Lib., Wisconsin Rapids © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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