Friday, June 21, 2013

The Long War-Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

The Long War


Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Harper, Jun 18 2013, $25.99

ISBN: 9780062067777



The Stepping process enabled mankind to cross into a seemingly infinite number of parallel Earths. None of these alternate earths contain human life while the farther you journey from the earth the weirder the planets become. Very few people have the ability to Step out without assistance; those like Joshua Valiente and Lobsang who can are in demand as they create the Long Earth.



Over a million steps from the origin Datum, the colony Valhalla has thrived in spite of the demanding control policies of the mother planet. Rage and frustration spread thought this colony as the Valhallans demand freedom. Lobsang pleads with Joshua to prevent the hostilities from going hot as war seems imminent across the Long Earth. Married to Helen for nine years with a son, Joshua prefers to remain home in Hell-Knows-Where, America, but duty calls especially with the trolls turning mute.



The sequel to the Long Earth is a fascinating science fiction tale that uses the dispute between Colonial America and Mother England in the eighteenth century as the basis for a parallel revolution. The parallel conflict to the American Revolution is clever and as with the first thriller the stepping premise is intriguing. However the anecdotal asides like taking a wrong step are more interesting than the main hostilities storyline.



Harriet Klausner

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