I checked this ebook out from the library since Terry Pratchett has a pretty good reputation and I was interested in starting a new series. The book, "The Long Earth", is about parallel Earths and what happens when the world learns how to "step" from one copy to the next.
Unlike most parallel world stories that often involve meeting alternate versions of ourselves and strange variations of our society where the Nazis won World War II or something like that, the alternate earths in this book are all uninhabited by advanced life. All these empty worlds offer humanity an unending frontier to explore and colonize.
We follow a natural stepper, someone who doesn't need the stepper box to move from Earth to Earth. Joining with a sentient machine they travel along the Long Earth exploring the multiple variations. They eventually find hints of a potential threat to humanity coming and they go to find out what it is.
It is the conclusion of the book that was disappointing to me. They find the threat and, frankly, it's quite ho hum. It is a relatively interesting and unique threat but it is also hard to call it a threat too.
There are currently four books in the series and I hope things will develop in a more interesting direction. The first book of a series can sometimes feel incomplete and that might be the case for this series.
I gave this book three stars on Goodreads. Hopefully the starts will increase with the next book.
No comments:
Post a Comment