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Das Lange Utopia: Lange Erde 4 - Roman
(The Long Earth #4)
by
Die Fortsetzung der SPIEGEL-Bestseller-Reihe
um die »Lange Erde«.
2045–2059: Während sich die Menschheit auf der Datumerde weiterentwickelt, ihrem von Katastrophen heimgesuchten und in die Jahre gekommenen Heimatplaneten, schreitet auch die Besiedelung der unendlich vielen Welten der Langen Erde voran. Lobsang, der als künstliche Intelligenz über Jahrzehnte die Lange Erde er ...more
um die »Lange Erde«.
2045–2059: Während sich die Menschheit auf der Datumerde weiterentwickelt, ihrem von Katastrophen heimgesuchten und in die Jahre gekommenen Heimatplaneten, schreitet auch die Besiedelung der unendlich vielen Welten der Langen Erde voran. Lobsang, der als künstliche Intelligenz über Jahrzehnte die Lange Erde er ...more
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Kindle Edition, 449 pages
Published
November 21st 2016
by Manhattan
(first published June 2015)
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Start your review of Das Lange Utopia: Lange Erde 4 - Roman

I am not sure why I left it so long between book 3 and this one but luckily I still had a good memory of what went before. There is nothing worse when reading a series than forgetting who did what to who in the earlier books!
I really enjoyed The Long Utopia. I think I now have my head around 'stepping' and millions of parallel worlds. I even coped with Lobsang moving from one body to another and working alongside one of his own alternate selves. I was upset with what happened to Sally, Stan and ...more
I really enjoyed The Long Utopia. I think I now have my head around 'stepping' and millions of parallel worlds. I even coped with Lobsang moving from one body to another and working alongside one of his own alternate selves. I was upset with what happened to Sally, Stan and ...more

The Long Utopia by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter is my favorite book of this series, since the first one.
The first book in the Long Earth series captured my imagination to a degree that's rare. The world of the Long Earth is stunning. The characters Mr. Pratchett and Mr. Baxter created are fascinating individuals and it's a rewarding experience to spend time with them.
When I read a book, I want to feel like the story exists for its own sake. I want to feel like the authors are compelled to ...more
The first book in the Long Earth series captured my imagination to a degree that's rare. The world of the Long Earth is stunning. The characters Mr. Pratchett and Mr. Baxter created are fascinating individuals and it's a rewarding experience to spend time with them.
When I read a book, I want to feel like the story exists for its own sake. I want to feel like the authors are compelled to ...more

Dec 20, 2016
B Schrodinger
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
parallel-universes,
science-fiction
I took this volume and the next on holidays with me. Plenty of time on the beach, waiting for flights, on flights etc to read. And these books are the perfect holiday reading material - short chapters, easy prose, great concepts.
The Long Utopia carries on the story of the main characters of Joshua, Lobsang, Sally and a few others, this time concerning the Next, homo superiors, and Lobsang's retirement with Sister Agnes to raise a family. Of course, things go wrong in a plot-movingly way.
This i ...more
The Long Utopia carries on the story of the main characters of Joshua, Lobsang, Sally and a few others, this time concerning the Next, homo superiors, and Lobsang's retirement with Sister Agnes to raise a family. Of course, things go wrong in a plot-movingly way.
This i ...more

There is a certain point in a series where a reviewer has to accept that the series is not going in the direction they expected, and either give up reading, or give up being critical of installments that don't confirm to expectation. You see I loved The Long Earth, and got really excited by the dramatically titled The Long War. Nonetheless I was disappointed by both War and Mars. There just seemed so many cool story lines not fleshed out, the weird giant blob-beetle travelling the earths, the te
...more

The Long Earth series is showing its age in this, the fourth book. The first book, The Long Earth, was entertaining and started out strong with an innovative take on the multiverse concept and introducing a handful of interesting characters. Those qualities were carried over into the first sequel, The Long War. The Long Mars recycled the same characters but did little to add to their growth or to continue world-building and innovation. That unfortunate trend continues in The Long Utopia, which r
...more

This series of books makes me incredibly angry. It is a demonstration of the bizarre reaction that happens when you combine two authors who seemingly balance each other very well. Instead of fascinating science fiction concepts from Baxter with the exceptional character development from Pratchett you get uninspired characters from Baxter (whose work is rife with flat unbelievable people) and boring rehashed SF ideas from Pratchett (who is far better known for his use of wit than his ground break
...more

Something of a return to form for this series that by the end of the third instalment had threatened to become a colossal waste of time and effort. Gone is the multiple vignette style of book three, added is a fair dose of Baxter's scientific imagination and explanation, replaced is the inevitable conclusion in favour of an unexpected denouement that whilst still squeezed in to the same number of words as a description of a forest (I exaggerate) is at least moving the story in a new direction, e
...more

2 Stars
The Long Utopia (The Long Earth #4) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter is a long...slow and mostly boring read. I have enjoyed the previous books quite a bit even though I had problems with both books two and three. I guess my feelings on this one were pretty inevitable.
The first 25 percent of this book involves pretty much nothing...sure there is a birthday and some stepping but very little happened. As a result I found myself bored and couldn't keep a focus on what was actually happ ...more
The Long Utopia (The Long Earth #4) by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter is a long...slow and mostly boring read. I have enjoyed the previous books quite a bit even though I had problems with both books two and three. I guess my feelings on this one were pretty inevitable.
The first 25 percent of this book involves pretty much nothing...sure there is a birthday and some stepping but very little happened. As a result I found myself bored and couldn't keep a focus on what was actually happ ...more

Humanity has reached the middle of the twenty first century. Datum Earth is never really recovered from the battering of the Yellowstone caldera and has slowly moved further into the Long Earths, and started to settle. Lobsang is now an elderly and tetchy AI, living on Springfield, an exotic earth deep in the Long Earth. Settled with Agnes, they have even adopted a child, but as he embraces normal life, there are strange sightings and unusual happenings in his new home.
These strange and unusual ...more
These strange and unusual ...more

This is such an odd series, it's slow and rather uneventful, but ultimately very enjoyable. Of all the thought provoking series I've read in the last decade this one has kept me up at night thinking the most. The idea of stepping, of a endless necklace of interconnected worlds is just so satisfying. And TP and SB have really spent their time talking this one through, and thinking it all out.
I miss Pratchett... ...more
I miss Pratchett... ...more

In my opinion this is the second best book of the series, behind the first. It's the first book in the series that really tries to reach for its full potential, exploring new ways of utilizing the setting and characters, rather than recycling the same old exploration plot like books 2 and 3 did. I found this to be quite enjoyable, and it shows what might have been expected from the series if not for Sir Terry Pratchett's death earlier this year. Stephen Baxter has reportedly said that, out of re
...more

Better than I feared ... that's the best I can say about it.
Before I forget, I must credit the sly inclusion of having Lobsang say that one thing he knows about is sweeping. Those who have read Pratchett's Thief of Time will have appreciated that. Now let's see, which Lobsang said that?
So. Long Utopia? The Utopia concept is mentioned only slightly more than Mars, which is to say in about eight words. And buh-bye beanstalks, because we spent a lot of time writing them in only to realize that ...more
Before I forget, I must credit the sly inclusion of having Lobsang say that one thing he knows about is sweeping. Those who have read Pratchett's Thief of Time will have appreciated that. Now let's see, which Lobsang said that?
So. Long Utopia? The Utopia concept is mentioned only slightly more than Mars, which is to say in about eight words. And buh-bye beanstalks, because we spent a lot of time writing them in only to realize that ...more

The Long Earth series of books presented an intriguing idea, that of being able to 'step' into parallel Earths, each an untouched wilderness and each one slightly different until they became very different planets. How would this affect people on a personal level and how would it affect the social and political stability of the original 'Datum Earth'?
The second book, The Long War explored the political theme further with the superpowers attempting to control the equivalent populations on the oth ...more
The second book, The Long War explored the political theme further with the superpowers attempting to control the equivalent populations on the oth ...more

Kinda wimped out giving it a three, lol.. so went with a diplomatic four! What? Why did I want to give it a three, I hear you ask! Well, I'll tell you for why!
Although I have enjoyed all four of these books, I can't help feeling that it's kinda indecisive. It just can't seem to decide whether it's going to be one long interconnected story that's going to build up to one final and brilliant climax or individual stories that only have a few interconnected bits.
Personally, I think what this series ...more
Although I have enjoyed all four of these books, I can't help feeling that it's kinda indecisive. It just can't seem to decide whether it's going to be one long interconnected story that's going to build up to one final and brilliant climax or individual stories that only have a few interconnected bits.
Personally, I think what this series ...more

Jun 11, 2015
Kate
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favourites-read-in-2015,
out-in-2015-and-read
I love The Long Earth series very much indeed and this, the fourth, is, I think, my favourite. Mixing sadness with light, it delves deeper into the hearts and souls of a very special group of people (not all of whom are entirely human) to investigate the nature of the Long Earths as well as the greatest threats challenging its survival.

Aug 03, 2015
Marie
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
parallel-universe
The Long Earth universe has unlimited potential, literature-wise. So, imagine my disappointment when books 2 and 3 in the series were no more than rehashes of the first novel, in which we are introduced to an endless string of Earths that people can travel, or "step" to, with the help of a potato.
The Long Earth is a novel of discovery. We follow the characters as they travel from Earth to Earth and witness the staggering array of worlds and lifeforms, intelligent and not, that make up the Long ...more
The Long Earth is a novel of discovery. We follow the characters as they travel from Earth to Earth and witness the staggering array of worlds and lifeforms, intelligent and not, that make up the Long ...more

The series starts to remind me of Flatland, where the authors made a theoretical exercise with multiple dimensions. The long read expand on our characters' lives who even when trying to live a normal quiet existence, get pulled back into the thick of things to try and make sense of the latest step option into another axis of possibilities.
I have to note that some of the few amusing moments throughout the series is whenever they reference some "arcane" piece of cultural heritage such as Star Trek ...more
I have to note that some of the few amusing moments throughout the series is whenever they reference some "arcane" piece of cultural heritage such as Star Trek ...more

The first Pratchett book to come out since the chap who talks in capitals came for him, and as such sure to be a melancholy read whatever its content. Though obviously this series was always a collaborative effort, and in some ways this one feels tilted more Baxter's way than its predecessors. There are occasional bursts of stilted dialogue, undigested exposition and repetition more familiar from his work than Pratchett's – though as with such an assessment of any collaboration, this is pure inf
...more

Sigh.
I have yet to read a good Long Earth book.
Which is a pity, because Pratchett was always one of my favourite authors, even if his later works started becoming too serious (perhaps understandably, giving what he went through).
However, having made (slogged) it through the previous three Long Earth books ( The Long Earth, The Long War and The Long Mars) I thought I would still give this one a chance: we live in hope, after all!
Unfortunately, and despite occasional flashes of some interesting ...more
I have yet to read a good Long Earth book.
Which is a pity, because Pratchett was always one of my favourite authors, even if his later works started becoming too serious (perhaps understandably, giving what he went through).
However, having made (slogged) it through the previous three Long Earth books ( The Long Earth, The Long War and The Long Mars) I thought I would still give this one a chance: we live in hope, after all!
Unfortunately, and despite occasional flashes of some interesting ...more

So this as much a commentary on the last book as it is the series itself. I read in another review that one of the great strengths of this series is the unique and creative world that they creative. I have to agree that the concepts are very cool. Where I think it falls short is on the actual execution of those ideas. This trend has only seemed to get worse as the series has progressed. In this last book it feels that the ending has almost nothing to do with what they were building towards for t
...more

2 stars from Kate, read the full review at FANTASY LITERATURE
I read this book thinking it was, finally, the end of Terry Pratchett and Steven Baxter’s LONG EARTH series. Unfortunately, I have since read that one more is going to come out. In some ways, this is fine. The Long Utopia (2015) in no way provides a conclusion to many of the plotlines that Pratchett and Baxter have set in motion in previous installments and about which I am still, despite my better instincts, curious. In other ways, th ...more
I read this book thinking it was, finally, the end of Terry Pratchett and Steven Baxter’s LONG EARTH series. Unfortunately, I have since read that one more is going to come out. In some ways, this is fine. The Long Utopia (2015) in no way provides a conclusion to many of the plotlines that Pratchett and Baxter have set in motion in previous installments and about which I am still, despite my better instincts, curious. In other ways, th ...more

The Long Utopia benefits from being forth in a series of imaginative books to allow the authors to push more quickly into new ground without having to explain the whole premise of this universe. Like all "The Long ___" books, I found it to be both fascinating and infuriating in similar measure. Read this book if you've read the others, but make sure you've read at least the first one already. There are a lot of back references to the other books, but if you don't mind being spoiled about some of
...more

At this point, I’m pretty much just continuing to read these books to see what happens next. It’s not as though there’s anything specifically wrong with it, it’s just that I think the series was best right at the start when all of the ideas were still fresh. The idea of people being able to step from one world to another is a solid one, but there’s only so much that you can do with it. By this point, the concept no longer feels freeing, because a lot of the possibilities have been explored by no
...more

So, I read The Long Earth in hardback as soon as it came out (2012), and I didn't read The Long War or The Long Mars, so I spent a lot of time in The Long Utopia just trying to figure out who these people were and what was going on. The basic premise of the series is brilliant, and had stuck with me in the years since I read the first one.
There's a really interesting plot element involving aliens who are so completely alien that trying to communicate would be like trying to communicate with the ...more
There's a really interesting plot element involving aliens who are so completely alien that trying to communicate would be like trying to communicate with the ...more

I have adored every moment of The Long Earth series, a brilliant collaboration by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. I like the story of parallel Earths and humans exploring them, although this fourth book has a slightly different feel- there's no epic journey here. It's still superb though.
The main plot sees sort-of-AI Lobsang fake his own death and go and live an ordinary life with Agnes. But something on the world they end up living on is not right and it becomes apparent that a great threa ...more
The main plot sees sort-of-AI Lobsang fake his own death and go and live an ordinary life with Agnes. But something on the world they end up living on is not right and it becomes apparent that a great threa ...more

If you've gotten this far in the series, you might have some questions and a desire to see some of the stranger threads come together, like the parentage of our MC's, some of the hints of the stranger alien/Earthlings, the oddest Earths, and, of course, Lobsang.
I can characterize all of these novels as Pioneer Fiction, easily, but they're also heavy SF written in a very engaging and easy way, full of wonderful characters and simple, interesting plots.
Now, I must admit that the last one and this ...more
I can characterize all of these novels as Pioneer Fiction, easily, but they're also heavy SF written in a very engaging and easy way, full of wonderful characters and simple, interesting plots.
Now, I must admit that the last one and this ...more

I'm torn between three and four stars for this book. So, 3,5 stars. On the one hand this book lacks in the area of character and story. Some threads in here (like the story about 19th century London) don't really impact the plot, however entertaining they are), and there's a lot of exposition that's clunkily delivered ('Don't you remember when we ...'). The seams in writing style and themes between the two authors start to show and become a bit jarring. So, taken as a novel, this falls short. Bu
...more

Well if this is how the series finishes, it's not a bad way to go. If you've read the previous three books, and if not, why not, then you'll have a fairly good idea where this one is going to end up.
The Travelling aspect of the previous books has been turned down a bit, and a lot of the book takes place on one particular world. Lobsang and Agnes have retired to one of the frontier worlds, one recommended by Sally, but things there aren't quite as settled as they would like it to be.
The issues ...more
The Travelling aspect of the previous books has been turned down a bit, and a lot of the book takes place on one particular world. Lobsang and Agnes have retired to one of the frontier worlds, one recommended by Sally, but things there aren't quite as settled as they would like it to be.
The issues ...more

These books are different, fascinatingly so. With the setting and characters now well established, a more traditional science-fiction plot than those of the first three books emerges—contact with inscrutable aliens. But this story is equally thought provoking...and seems to leave the door open for further exploration.
As an aside, Terry Pratchett has long been my favorite author. The Long Earth series that he created in collaboration with Stephen Baxter only goes to exemplify how much potential h ...more
As an aside, Terry Pratchett has long been my favorite author. The Long Earth series that he created in collaboration with Stephen Baxter only goes to exemplify how much potential h ...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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Goodreads Librari...: Please correct the page count | 2 | 13 | Feb 20, 2020 01:05AM | |
How will Terry Pratchett's death change the series? | 4 | 104 | Jan 12, 2017 02:45AM |
Born Terence David John Pratchett, Sir Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was thirteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe.
Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, i ...more
Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, i ...more
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The Long Earth
(5 books)
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