The Long Earth **Spoilers**

[coppertopchopperhopper]

Hi hello.
Haven't been on here in ages and ages but am so enjoying 'The Long Earth' that I had to come over and see what y'all had to say.

Does this book remind any of you of 'Strata'? Perhaps its the searching for answers that alludes to it. It seems to be in a similar vein at least.

I loved the way 'Strata' gave glimpses of ideas that later became The Discworld and here in 'The Long Earth' are Discworld ideas brought into a recognisable reality.

Especially the Elves and the iron, I've been expecting an incarnation of Granny Weatherwax.... Perhaps there's something of her in the Nuns.

[Tonyblack]

Good to see you again!

It's so long since I read Strata that I really can't remember. I must read it again sometime.

[Bouncy Castle]

From Twitter:

Anne Hoppe ‏@AHedit

So pleased to see Pratchett & Baxter's THE LONG EARTH on the NYT Bestseller List! @terryandrob
Retweeted by Terry Pratchett

[Bouncy Castle]

A bit late, but maybe catch it on iPlayer.

‏@LynseyDalladay

@terryandrob and Stephen Baxter talking The Long Earth on @BBCRadio2 Steve Wright at 2pm! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wr4r

Retweeted by Terry Pratchett

[madwippitt]

Why so down on ebooks?
Yes, I prefer paper books to ebooks because I like the whole sensory thing - but at least anyone downloading an ebook is likely to do so because they want to read it as opposed to leaving it lying around to impress visitors. Or - as happened in one bookshop I was in - queuing up to get their pristine first editions signed by the author purely as a financial investment, with no intention of ever reading it, just hoping to make a killing in the future a la Harry Potter. As a writer and a reader, that made my blood boil. And there's a wealth of free reading available on ebooks too. There are plenty of good things to be said for ebooks!

[pip]

No such thing as free reading on e books as there is no such thing as a free e book reader but libraries happen to lend books for free as a lot of people seem to forget when they say the only free books are electronic.
My main issues with e-books tend to be both the limitations and the sensory aspects. I love the feel , look and smell of a book.
If i enjoy a book i recommend it . Some of my favourite books such as Good Omens and Shadow of the Wind have been passed from my shelves to at least twenty other people and back to me again . An e-book version of these can't be passed like this . It limits the sharing of fantastic books in this way .

People who use books as ornaments annoy the hell out of me as well. I have a great collection many signed , many first editions but all read or to be read .

[Who's Wee Dug]

Give a decade or so Pip and you may be able to hold a virtual book, turn the pages read the text and smell the paper.

[=Tamar]

Some of my favourite books such as Good Omens and Shadow of the Wind have been passed from my shelves to at least twenty other people and back to me again . An e-book version of these can't be passed like this . It limits the sharing of fantastic books in this way .

Agree 100%. You also can't buy a used e-book for a lending copy. I have a large box of lending copies that I have bought for the purpose of turning people on to the authors, in the hope that they will go on to buy their own copies.

[The Mad Collector]

Really enjoyed The Long Earth, stylistically it felt more Stephen Baxter than Terry Pratchett but there were definite passages where Terry shone through. Lots of loose ends though, this really does need a sequel to tidy up things however as this was the intention from the beginning that's no bad thing.

Now to read it again to see what I missed the significance of the first time through now that I know where the story is heading.

[pip]

I haven't read stephen Baxter so it felt like a new author altogether to me. I saw very little of Terry in it. But i did enjoy it and look forward to the sequels

[Tonyblack]

Oh, I thought it was very Terryfied.

[pip]

Moments were definitely Terry's . Only he could come up with the Potatoe and i imagine he had the main role in defining Lobsang.

[Tonyblack]

Would you say that this book is more Terry than Good Omens?

[pip]

Would you say that this book is more Terry than Good Omens?

I don't know. While the feamle death is very Gaiman a lot of the wit and humour was Terrys. I thought there was less of that wit in this book. In saying that Terrys early Sci Fi stuff had less of his wit evident as well .

[Tonyblack]

Female Death in Good Omens? Do you mean War?