User:RLKnights/The Long Earth

The Long Earth is a collaborative science fiction work by British authors Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Both authors have signed contracts for a total of 5 books in the series.

At the time of Pratchett's death, three novels had been released, with a fourth published 23 June 2015.

Development
The original basis for the novel was Pratchett's unpublished short story "The High Meggas", which he wrote as a starting point for a potential series while his first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was undergoing publication. The success of The Colour of Magic prompted Pratchett to put the story aside in favour of working on The Light Fantastic. The idea resurfaced in the late 2000s following a dinner conversation with his assistant and American agent, and discussion with Stephen Baxter prompted the development of The Long Earth, and the collaboration between the two authors.

Pratchett and Baxter primarily write in different fields of literature. Baxter has written in fields of 'hard science', evolutionary speculation and alternative history. Although Pratchett has written some science fiction, he is primarily known for his fantasy series of Discworld novels. Although both authors spoke publicly about the outline for the novel, no public readings of any material were given (something which Pratchett frequently did at Discworld conventions).

Pratchett announced on Twitter the completion of the first draft of The Long Earth. The book was released in the United States on 19 June 2012.

Series Summary
The 'Long Earth' is a (possibly infinite) series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, which can be reached by using an inexpensive device called a "Stepper". The "close" worlds are almost identical to 'our' Earth (referred to as "Datum Earth"), others differ in greater and greater details, but all share one similarity: on none are there, or have there ever been, Homo sapiens - although the same cannot be said for earlier hominid species, especially Homo habilis. The books explore the theme of how humanity might develop when freed from resource constraints: one example Pratchett has cited is that wars result from lack of land – what would happen if no shortage of land (or gold or oil or food) existed?

Books

 * 1) The Long Earth (June 2012)
 * 2) The Long War (June 2013)
 * 3) The Long Mars (June 2014)
 * 4) The Long Utopia (June 2015)
 * 5) Not yet titled (June 2016?)

Sequels
A sequel titled "The Long War" was released on 20 June 2013. A second sequel titled "The Long Mars" was published on 17 June 2014.

During an interview on BBC Radio 2 on 12 July 2013 the authors announced they had signed a contract to write 2 further books in the series.

The third sequel "The Long Utopia" was released on 18 June 2015.