Book Review: The Long Earth, Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

I recently picked up The Long Earth, by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter from my library and wanted to take the time to write a quick review on the book. Amazon I don't really have any major spoilers here but you do learn a little bit about character names and basic rules in this world.

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The book begins with an account of Private Percy that sets up the rest of the book, revolving around "stepping" and the "Long Earth." (it even has a fanciful diagram of a stepping device before the 1st chapter) It quickly introduces us to the supporting characters, the basics of how stepping works and introduces the main character, Joshua. Other characters give us a little bit of understanding of the history of stepping encounters. There is a small bit of religion peppered into this story, with the main character being raised by nuns and a chapter with a debate on the long earth between Reverends at a small parsonage in England, one of which is connected the the Black Corporation. All the secondary characters each have a connection to Step Day that later on becomes more important than it seems when you first read it.

The main story revolves around a worldwide event, from that day on called Step Day, in which people can travel to alternate iterations of the Earth - a seemingly endless number of them. This day sets off a variety of events, including people leaving the original earth to pursue their own bits of space, and introduces us to "the Black Corporation." I enjoyed the first-hand personal accounts from a variety of characters as they encounter stepping or travel the Long Earth - its nice to see different perspectives on a global event. We follow the accounts of Monica Jansson, a cop who shows a knack for figuring out ways to deal with stepping crimes and has a connection with Joshua on Step Day. We get snippets about the journey of a family that travels the long earth through the diary entries of their daughter. 

As the story builds, Joshua, sets off on a journey with Lobsang, a sorta human robot (though he claims he was a Tibetan mechanic originally). Joshua, a natural stepper, journeys with Lobsang in a flying dirigible to study the Long Earth, learning a bit about his history as he goes along on the journey. As they travel, we learn there is more to why they're traveling across the Long Earth. Late in the book we are introduced to another character, who very much like Joshua, has been stepping from the beginning before going on the journey with Joshua and Lobsang on their ship, the Mark Twain. As their journey comes to a close and an encounter, they find themselves racing to save humanity. 

It was a decent read though I felt the very last few chapters came to a close a bit too quickly and wrapped up a bit too easily. I was hoping for a better ending I guess. With so many worlds open to the human race I felt that the story didn't utilize them in the plot enough. I had a few questions at the end of the book. Overall, I think its a good read, something to get your imagination going.

KT