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The Long War

(Long Earth 2)

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The Long War

By: Stephen Baxter, Terry Pratchett
Narrated by: Michael Fenton Stevens
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Brought to you by Penguin.

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.

©Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter 2013 (P) Penguin Audio 2013

 Dystopian Fantasy Fiction Science Fiction Space Opera War
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After reading the first book, I certainly thought the story concept was interesting and I will read the rest of the series too. My main gripe is that the characters are too shallow, especially Joshua which is disappointing as the main protagonist. He doesn't appear to have any endearing qualities and is always mechanical and bland in his dialogues, I don't feel connected to him at all. Sally and Monica are much better developed characters whereas Joshua appears to have no special abilities or traits which make him worthy of being the main character for the series. The plot is also a bit too meandering at times; I understand the author is exploring this whole concept of parallel worlds but several times I found myself thinking "why am I reading this? It's not really going anywhere", there needs to be more overall drive to the plot than just these random sporadic unconnected events. Even the first person singular plot from the first book is treated as ancient history in this book, so it's not even like the books in the series are connected at all. I will continue to read the other books in the hope that the author finds his footing a bit more and gets on with why we are actually here. "The Long War" was also a very poor choice of title, as the story is a disappointment to this enticing claim, as you spend the entire book waiting for something to kick off.

Good but I was hoping for more

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Would you listen to The Long War again? Why?

Ok story - alittle slow to start with but good universe

Who was your favorite character and why?

Helen

Which character – as performed by Michael Fenton Stevens – was your favourite?

Joseph Valiantly

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No, no emotional reaction to the story

Good

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Well written and read, great start to the series, well worth a listen again and again!!

Brilliant!!!

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I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the first in the series. Good narrator. Will definitely continue listening.

Good 2nd book

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I really wanted to like this more, perhaps it needs a second listen like the first did. I can see the story needed to move on a chunk to show the development of the Long Earth itself after Step Day, but it feels like something significant in the lives of individual characters has been skipped over. The introduction and development of the beings that didn't step out from the Datum was interesting and I want to know where Misters Pratchett and Baxter are going to take them next, but I'm not pushed to do that immediately. The narration is almost excellent - just an idiosyncratic niggle with his American accent and the rolling of non-existant Rs, such as pronouncing Joshua as Joshuarrr.

Hmmmmmm

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