The Long Earth Series Books in Order By Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
Maybe the only significant difference between a really smart simulation and a human being was the noise they made when you punched them.
― Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth
- The Long Earth (2012)
- The Long War (2013)
- The Long Mars (2014)
- The Long Utopia (2015)
- The Long Cosmos (2016)
What is The Long Earth Series about?
There are worlds waiting. All it takes is one small step…
The original basis for The Long Earth series was from Pratchett’s short story “The High Meggas”, which at the time was not published. He had written it as a starting point for a potential series, while his first Discworld novel was being published, (The Colour of Magic (1983)). (This series was put on hold due to the success of The Colour of Magic, and so Pratchett put it aside and focused on the sequel) The idea came back up in 2010 following a dinner conversation with his assistant and American agent, and a discussion with Stephen Baxter prompted the development of the first book in the series, The Long Earth.
The story is about the possibility of an infinite series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, and can be reached through a device called a “Stepper”. Some of these worlds are almost identical while others are drastically different. But they all have one thing in common. There are, or never have been humans living on them.
About the Authors
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE was born on 28th April 1948, who died at the age of 66 in 2015. In 2007 he announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and later made a substantial donation to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
Terry Pratchett was an English humorist, satirist and author of fantasy novels, especially comic fantasy. His most notable works come under his vast Discworld series, which has 41 novels, with them all coming under their own subseries, with quite a few of them adapted to screen. His other well known novel is a collaboration he did with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, which has been adapted into a series which was picked up by Amazon Prime, starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant.
His books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide in 43 different languages, and in the 1990’s he was the UK’s best selling author which led to him receiving the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998. On 18th February 2009, Pratchett was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, for his services to literature. And in 2010, he received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.
Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter was born on 13th November 1957 in Liverpool, England. He is an author of hard science fiction with degrees in both mathematics and aeroengineering research. He takes great influence from Sci/Fi pioneer, H. G. Wells and Arthur C. Clarke. In 2006 he became the vice-president of the international H. G. Wells Society. In 1995, he won the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his standalone novel The Time Ships (1995).
His most notable works come under his Xeelee Sequence Series, which consists of 17 books, the last one Xeelee: Redemption came out in 2019. And his Manifold Series which consists of three novels and a book collection of short stories, all of which came out around 1999-2001.
He quite liked the English. They tended to say sorry a lot, which was quite understandable given their heritage and the crimes of their ancestors.
― Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth
The Order
The Long Earth (2012) 
The Long Earth Series #1
106,650 words, 336 pages, 52 chapters, 7hrs 10mins to read.
2,050 average words per chapter, 6.5 average pages per chapter
Published by Doubleday
3.78 out of 5 on Goodreads
1916: the Western Front. 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 have the mud, blood and blasted landscape of No Man’s Land gone?
2015: Madison, Wisconsin. Cop Monica Jansson is exploring the burned-out home of a reclusive – some said mad, others dangerous – scientist when she finds a curious gadget – a box containing some wiring, a three-way switch and a… potato. It is the prototype of an invention that will change the way Mankind views his world forever.
And that is an understatement if ever there was one…
The Long War (2013)
The Long Earth Series #2
132,995 words, 419 pages, 69 chapters, 8hrs 50mins to read.
1,927 average words per chapter, 6 average pages per chapter
Published by Doubleday
3.64 out of 5 on Goodreads
A generation after the events of The Long Earth, mankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by Stepping. Where Joshua and Lobsang once pioneered, now fleets of airships link the stepwise Americas with trade and culture. Mankind is shaping the Long Earth – but in turn the Long Earth is shaping mankind… A new ‘America’, called Valhalla, is emerging more than a million steps from Datum Earth, with core American values restated in the plentiful environment of the Long Earth – and Valhalla is growing restless under the control of the Datum government…
Meanwhile the Long Earth is suffused by the song of the trolls, graceful hive-mind humanoids. But the trolls are beginning to react to humanity’s thoughtless exploitation… Joshua, now a married man, is summoned by Lobsang to deal with a gathering multiple crisis that threatens to plunge the Long Earth into a war unlike any mankind has waged before.
The Long Mars (2014)
The Long Earth Series #3
139,025 words, 438 pages, 46 chapters, 9hrs 20mins to read.
3,022 average words per chapter, 9.5 average pages per chapter
Published by Doubleday
3.76 out of 5 on Goodreads
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, Joshua, and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous work when, out of the blue, Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father and inventor of the original Stepper device, Willis Linsay. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But Sally soon learns that Willis has ulterior motives …
Meanwhile U. S. Navy Commander Maggie Kauffman has embarked on an incredible journey of her own, leading an expedition to the outer limits of the far Long Earth.
For Joshua, the crisis he faces is much closer to home. He becomes embroiled in the plight of the Next: the super-bright post-humans who are beginning to emerge from their ‘long childhood’ in the community called Happy Landings, located deep in the Long Earth. Ignorance and fear are causing ‘normal’ human society to turn against the Next – and a dramatic showdown seems inevitable . . .
The Long Utopia (2015)
The Long Earth Series #4
118,390 words, 373 pages, 56 chapters, 7hrs 55mins to read.
2,114 average words per chapter, 6.6 average pages per chapter
Published by Doubleday
3.89 out of 5 on Goodreads
It is the middle of the twenty-first century.
After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption, humanity is spreading farther into the Long Earth. Society, on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve.
And new challenges emerge.
Now an elderly and cantankerous AI, Lobsang is living with Agnes in an exotic, far-distant world. He’s determined to lead a normal life in New Springfield—they even adopt a child. But there are rumors, strange sightings in the sky. On this world, something isn’t right. . . .
Millions of steps away—learning about a hidden family history and the father he never knew—Joshua receives an urgent summons from New Springfield.
Lobsang has come to understand that what has blighted his Earth is also a threat to all the worlds of the Long Earth. Countering this threat will require the combined efforts of humankind, machine, and the super-intelligent Next. And some must make the ultimate sacrifice. . . .
The Long Cosmos (2016)
The Long Earth Series #5
119,660 words, 377 pages, 66 chapters, 8hrs to read.
1,813 average words per chapter, 5.7 average pages per chapter
Published by Doubleday
3.90 out of 5 on Goodreads
2070-71. Nearly six decades after Step Day and in the Long Earth, the new Next post-human society continues to evolve.
For Joshua Valienté, now in his late sixties, it is time to take one last solo journey into the High Meggers: an adventure that turns into a disaster. Alone and facing death, his only hope of salvation lies with a group of trolls. But as Joshua confronts his mortality, the Long Earth receives a signal from the stars. A signal that is picked up by radio astronomers but also in more abstract ways – by the trolls and by the Great Traversers. Its message is simple but ts implications are enormous:
JOIN US.
The super-smart Next realise that the Message contains instructions on how to develop an immense artificial intelligence but to build it they have to seek help from throughout the industrious worlds of mankind. Bit by bit, byte by byte, they assemble a computer the size of a continent – a device that will alter the Long Earth’s place within the cosmos and reveal the ultimate, life-affirming goal of those who sent the Message. Its impact will be felt by and resonate with all – mankind and other species, young and old, communities and individuals – who inhabit the Long Earths…
No matter how far you travelled, you couldn’t leave behind the fears and regrets and grievances that cluttered up the cargo hold of your mind.
― Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter, The Long Cosmos
Overall
The books are brilliant books of recent years in the Sci/fi genre. The books explore the theme of how humanity might develop without the constraints of resources, with one example the Pratchett had cited is that wars result from lack of land, and he was curious to see what would happen if this was not a problem. The technology throughout these books are so vivid and real, it’s hard to remember that they are not real (yet).
If you would like to learn more about Terry Pratchett and about his other works that he completed before he died, then feel free to check out his website.
And if you are interested to learn more of Stephen Baxter and any upcoming (or previously published) projects he has, then feel free to check out his website.
Which one is your favourite or most looking forward to picking up next?
Let us know!
Happy reading!
The nice thing about artificial intelligence is that at least it’s better than artificial stupidity.
― Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter, The Long War
The Long Earth Total Word Count
- Total words: 616,720 words
- Total pages: 1,943 pages
- Total chapters: 289 chapters
- Total reading time: 41hrs 10mins
More of the same, but different:
Things to Note:
- Word count is an approximation.
- Amount of pages may differ due to different publications, font style and/or size etc.
- Time spent reading is generally an approximation based on the word count and the average reading time. The average reader will read 250 WPM (Words Per Minute).
- This is the original publisher of the books.
- The current Goodreads score at the time of writing.
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