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The Long Utopia

The Long Utopia

Science FictionAdventure
Pages
448
Published
2015
Language
English

Synopsis

The Long Earth is being colonised at speed. Joshua Valienté has settled with his family in a remote world far from Datum. But a strange discovery on one world — a silicon intelligence buried in the deep past — points to an existential threat that will take everything Joshua and Lobsang have to address. The fourth novel in the Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, and the first written after Pratchett's Alzheimer's diagnosis became advanced.

Prose complexity
5/10

Vibe

AdventurousThought-ProvokingTenseAtmospheric
SurvivalFirst ContactSacrifice

Genres

Science Fiction Adventure Humor Alternate History

Authors

S
Stephen Baxter

Stephen Baxter (born 13 November 1957 in Liverpool, England) is an English hard science fiction author. He holds a degree in mathematics from Cambridge and a PhD in engineering from Southampton, and taught mathematics, physics and information technology before becoming a full-time writer in 1995. His work includes the Xeelee Sequence, the Manifold trilogy, The Time Ships (a sequel to H. G. Wells's The Time Machine), the Time Odyssey trilogy co-written with Arthur C. Clarke, and the Long Earth se...

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Joshua ValientéProtagonist

Now settled and aging, pulled back into crisis when the scale of what threatens the Long Earth becomes clear.

LobsangSupporting

Approaching the threat from a different direction — and, characteristically, having thought about it longer than anyone else.

All characters in The Long Utopia

Frequently asked questions

  • Do I need to read the previous books in The Long Earth series before starting The Long Utopia?

    While The Long Utopia continues the overarching narrative of humanity's expansion across parallel worlds, it can be enjoyed as a standalone adventure. The authors provide enough context for new readers to understand the premise and character motivations without having read the earlier installments.

  • How does The Long Utopia compare to Terry Pratchett's solo works?

    The Long Utopia, co-authored with Stephen Baxter, features a more traditional science fiction narrative with a focus on exploration and grand concepts, differing from the satirical fantasy and philosophical humor often found in Pratchett's Discworld novels. While Pratchett's wit is present, it is integrated into a distinct hard science fiction framework.

  • Is The Long Utopia different in tone from the earlier books?

    Many readers find it slightly more sober — both characters and the world have aged, and the threat in this book is larger and stranger than the political conflicts of the earlier volumes.

  • Do I need to read the first three books before this?

    Yes. The Long Utopia is book four in a continuous series.

  • How does Pratchett's illness affect this novel?

    By the time The Long Utopia was written (published 2015), Pratchett's posterior cortical atrophy had advanced significantly. Stephen Baxter has noted that the collaboration became more one-sided in the later books, with Baxter doing more of the drafting work.

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