≡ Read The Long Mars Long Earth 3 Terry Pratchett Stephen Baxter 9780857521743 Books

The Long Mars Long Earth 3 Terry Pratchett Stephen Baxter 9780857521743 Books

Download As PDF : The Long Mars Long Earth 3 Terry Pratchett Stephen Baxter 9780857521743 Books

The Long Mars Long Earth 3 Terry Pratchett Stephen Baxter 9780857521743 Books

One more part in the imaginative saga of the Long Earth, this one is (somewhat unfortunately) following the same path as the prior books.

We get ideas and imaginative leaps that are truly magnificent, but that are left by the side without much explanation. Tidbits of mysteries are thrown in, only to be left unresolved. And to top it all off, the ending is, well, bereft of emotional impact (and surprise). The book seems static, which is accentuated by the characters which didn't change any since we last saw them (and this book picks up 4 years after the last one). There is some development (or rather exposition of her past) with Sally, but that's about it.

Once again the book seems like it's setting up something, but what, and how and when we will get to it... A good guess. It was an enjoyable read, but a somewhat frustrating experience.

If you liked the first two books, this one will appeal to you, but do not read this one first. It is very much a Volume 3.


Tags : The Long Mars: Long Earth 3 [Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>From the combined talents of the UK's bestselling novelist and a giant of British science fiction comes the dazzling new chapter in the extraordinary and bestselling The Long Earth</i> sequence.</b>      2040-2045: In the years after the cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee Datum Earth to myriad Long Earth worlds. Sally,Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter,The Long Mars: Long Earth 3,Doubleday UK,0857521748,Fiction Science Fiction General

The Long Mars Long Earth 3 Terry Pratchett Stephen Baxter 9780857521743 Books Reviews

The Long Mars is the third book in the 5-book science fiction series. The series was authored by Sir Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.

Things have settled into a new sort of calm across the Long Earth and it seems the worst of the tensions featured in the last book have dissipated. And we have Sally Linsay being summoned to by her father for reasons unknown. He had last been involved with the efforts to create a new space program that took advantage of the Gap, or the particular iteration of the Long Earth where the planet had been destroyed and thus stepping there mean stepping into vacuum. But direct access to a vacuum in that manner also meant no more need to break free of Earth's atmosphere and thus opened the doors for a different sort of space exploration.

But at the same time, Lobsang reaches out to Joshua once more because he feels there's something going on in the Long Earth again. He theorizes that the Long Earth will lead the way to the creation of the next version of humanity that is better adapted to the Long Earth somehow and the investigation leads them to the remote community of Happy Landings. This is the same town that feels like a virtual magnet for natural steppings accidentally stepping across the planet for the very first time.

I was kind of excited about the whole Mars exploration since it involved an interesting alternative method for visiting another planet versus our conventional methods that didn't seem too implausible. And the very first few learnings about the Mars and it being a Long Mars as well was equally interesting and did provide a fun plot point. But the fun of this part of the story stretched a little thing given how things were expanded and eventually resolved.

The plot about new humans and how they were a potential force to be reckoned in the Long Earth added an almost superhero-like element to the story that didn't quite feel at home with everything else. And I will add that even after reading the book after this one, I still didn't quite feel satisfied with the end result and the role these individuals played in the future. I know that sounds like a bit of a spoiler, but at the same time I can't quite shake off how annoying the whole thing felt like while I was reading the book. It's not exactly a deal-breaker, but it does feel like a pebble in your shoe.

You'd think that by this third book they're try to shake off the whole Lobsang seeks out Joshua because of a greater threat to the Long Earth and he eventually comes along for the ride routine. but here it was again.. I was really hopeful with learning more about Sally and following her little adventure, but again all roads led back to Lobsang. This sort of makes sense, but it has also gotten a little old by now. At least there were still some interesting bits in their journey and the ultimate still generally made sense for this quirky little universe.

The Long Mars is pretty good when it breaks new ground by annoying with it falls to old patterns or shallow reasons for one character's action or another. But the journey is far from over, it seems, and we can only see where the next twain will take us.
When I saw the next 'Long' series was titled The Long Mars, I immediately credited Baxter and Pratchett for at the very least taking the series places unexpected. Since the mildly disappointing Long War, I was somewhat geared for not so much low expectations, but an assumption that Long Mars would follow a similar pattern of the majority of the book being a sort of sociological exploration with a very intense world(s) changing event at the end.

Even with differing expectations this book unfortunately still did not stir much for me. While intriguing the Mars plot simply served as a watered down repeat of the first book (i.e. a lengthy exploration of the many Long Mars) The simultaneous plot-line on the long Earth(s) seemed in fact a direct replica of Long Earth and until the character Paul appeared I was actually struggling to understand what the book was actually about this time.

SPOILERS AHEAD (hard to review without them)

The major plot-line of 'the next' a super-intelligent variation on humans, was quite intriguing. However, there was relatively little page-time devoted to these guys, and most of the time we just heard repeats of their origins explained to different characters in different situations. I got pretty sick of hearing explanations for 'low' and 'high' bulbs

The ultimate climax - a nuclear warhead threatening 'Happy Landings' was almost tense. Once again (you'll notice a theme here) the beat fell flat, when the situation was bizarrely resolved by the main characters having a debate about whether to set it off (I don't think many personalities are such that they would advocate for a nuclear bomb being used to wipe out an entire subspecies, even in fiction)

Which brings me to my ultimate complaint - the characters. Only the barest development of interest occurred briefly for Lobsang, our other well-known folk, Joshua and Agnes (who surely should have had something to think about undergoing the whole transition thing) seemed to just bungle along the storyline with barely a reaction to the plot let-alone experiencing anything too compelling. Some stuff happening for Sally, but honestly who cares about her?

Long Earth rates as one of my most frustrating to read series - I so desperately want there to be a continuation of the themes explored in book one - such as the giant transparent thing - or at least more exploration of Joshua V or even Lobsang. I suspect that I am going to be unhappy though, its hard to see what the authors are hoping to achieve with the series, but it doesn't seem to be working.
One more part in the imaginative saga of the Long Earth, this one is (somewhat unfortunately) following the same path as the prior books.

We get ideas and imaginative leaps that are truly magnificent, but that are left by the side without much explanation. Tidbits of mysteries are thrown in, only to be left unresolved. And to top it all off, the ending is, well, bereft of emotional impact (and surprise). The book seems static, which is accentuated by the characters which didn't change any since we last saw them (and this book picks up 4 years after the last one). There is some development (or rather exposition of her past) with Sally, but that's about it.

Once again the book seems like it's setting up something, but what, and how and when we will get to it... A good guess. It was an enjoyable read, but a somewhat frustrating experience.

If you liked the first two books, this one will appeal to you, but do not read this one first. It is very much a Volume 3.