Cover Unveiled for The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter

It was announced in the summer of 2010 that Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter would be teaming up to write at least two novels in a series with the first being titled The Long Earth, which uses the trope of parallel earths. Divergent Earths is a trope I never seem to tire of given we generally get to see so many visions of a slightly altered Earth and how they came to be that way. And you just know Pratchett will bring the humor. One of Pratchett's longtime weaknesses has always been his the Science part of Science Fiction, as is very evident in his first novel Strata so bringing Baxter in to better handle that should certainly make this a smoother ride. From the info that has been released so far the idea for the story is very much Pratchett's and has been in gestation for decades now. The above is the UK cover, which is pretty but doesn't seem like a Pratchett novel.  Both a UK and a US blurb have been released and they are quite different so both are included below.  The Long Earth will be released June19th in the US and the 21st in the UK.

US description:

Larry Lynsey is a recluse. Aggressively protective of his singular solitude, he has searched long, far, and wide to find the perfect isolation. Deep in one of the farthest regions in Long Earth—a series of parallel worlds that become increasingly un-Earthlike with distance—in the region known as the High Meggas, the curmudgeon has found his Eden. He isn’t just the only living person on the planet; he is, in fact, the only person on the closest ten planets. It would take a ridiculously long time to reach him even if anyone tried.

Life for Larry is exactly how he likes it.

Unfortunately, Larry only thinks he’s alone . . .

Hapless travellers Anna Shea and Seven Valiente must have taken a wrong turn at a wrong star somewhere in the back of beyond deep space and have now gotten themselves stranded in the High Meggas. Larry’s High Meggas.

For the likes of the hermetic Larry, three is way too big a crowd, accidental tourists or not. Which means, he’s got to do something about them.

Which means, this being a Terry Pratchett story, hijinks, mishaps, and hilarity will ensue.

Infused with Pratchett’s subtle satire and vibrant, believable world-building and with award-winning author Stephen Baxter’s bold speculative insight, The Long Earth is dazzling feat of skill and imagination sure to enthrall fans old and new.

UK description:

The possibilities are endless (just be careful what you wish for...)

1916: the Western Front, France. Private Percy Blakeney wakes up. He is lying on fresh spring grass. He can hear birdsong, and the wind in the leaves in the trees. Where has the mud, blood and blasted landscape of No man's Land gone?

2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson has returned to the burned-out home of one Willis Linsay, a reclusive and some said mad, others dangerous, scientist. It was arson but, as is often the way, the firemen seem to have caused more damage than the fire itself. Stepping through the wreck of a house, there's no sign of any human remains but on the mantelpiece Monica finds a curious gadget - a box, containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a...potato. It is the prototype of an invention that Linsay called a 'stepper'. An invention he put up on the web for all the world to see, and use, an invention that would to change the way mankind viewed his world Earth for ever. And that's an understatement if ever there was one...

...because the stepper allowed the person using it to step sideways into another America, another Earth, and if you kept on stepping, you kept on entering even more Earths...this is the Long Earth. It's our our Earth but one of chain of parallel worlds, lying side by side each differing from its neighbour by really very little (or actually quite a lot). It's an infinite chain, offering 'steppers' an infinite landscape of infinite possibilities. And the further away you travel, the stranger - and sometimes more dangerous - the Earths get. The sun and moon always shine, the basic laws of physics are the same. However, the chance events which have shaped our particular Earth, such as the dinosaur-killer asteroid impact, might not have happened and things may well have turned out rather differently.

But, until Willis Linsay invented his stepper, only our Earth hosted mankind...or so we thought. Because it turns out there are some people who are natural 'steppers', who don't need his invention and now the great migration has begun...

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REVIEW | Anti-Ice by Stephen Baxter (Eos)

It is the 1800s during Queen Victoria's time and a substance is found called anti-ice, which expels a huge amount of energy when heated akin to a nuclear bomb. This substance changes the world and ushers in a new age of wonders. Britain is still the world dominating power, but more so since the discovery of anti-ice. France and Prussia are still Britain's rivals and the Earth has two moons.

Anti-Ice adheres to the name Steampunk in the strictest sense possible.  This is a Victorian affair with all the comedy of manners that goes along with it and the cast is right out of Verne and Dickens.  The story begins in the past with a letter describing just what a terrible force anti-ice can be and than moves on to triumphs humanity can achieve with the substance. From there we follow the adventures of Ned Vicars, mild mannered junior diplomat who gets flung right into the middle of everything including an anarchist plot. The man responsible for many of the wonders of anti-ice is the stovepipe hat wearing Josiah Traveller aka the Mad Scientist who eventually comes to center stage in his own detached and incredulous way.

Anti-Ice is very much an adventure tale crossing Europe and far beyond. One thing I said to myself not long ago was that I hadn't seen a modern Steampunk book go to space. I have read one short story though, but a novel length work was in order. I don't know how I missed Anti-Ice for so many years as it does that very thing and it does it with style and a sense of wonder. Anti-Ice is Baxter light for those who find some of his newer work overwrought as much British humor is strewn throughout, which was surprising coming from Baxter given his more recent work. At no point does it feel heavy or drag.  Much of the ending was predictable, but seeing it all happen was no less enjoyable.

In many ways Anti-Ice is Baxter's homage to Verne and Wells evoking the same kind of sense of wonder that they pioneered, especially with regard to Wells' The First Men on the Moon. Anti-Ice twists history in interesting ways to give us an alternative past that is well worth exploring.  I give Anti-Ice 8 out of 10 hats. Baxter just may have won me back to his side after finding some of his newer period books less than astounding.  Anti-Ice is currently out of print, but well worth tracking down as it zips by before you know it.

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