The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Steven Baxter

You know how there are some taste combinations that go well together? And there are some collaborations that produce synergistic works far better than either author has ever produced alone? Well, this isn't one of those times, I'm afraid. I have, over the years, enjoyed many books by Pratchett, and a good number by Baxter, and so I looked forward to seeing their work together, and was disappointed by what I found.

The premise is that there are literally millions of parallel Earths in existence, and that occasionally odd individuals have either had the natural ability or the ability under great duress to slip from one world to another - in a Fortean manner. When an inventor assembles a simple gadget that can be made from parts to be found at Radio Shack, with a potato for a battery, and distributes the instructions on its construction widely, the world is suddenly graced with thousands, or millions of universe-walking people, or Steppers.

And thus begins the interminable, or shall I say "Long," tale of people's travels in the universes of the Long Earth. I managed to stick it out about halfway through before sheer disinterest in the fates of any of the characters caused me to give up at last.

Flux by Stephen Baxter

I suppose I've lost some of my sense of wonder over the years. There was a time when I believed I might actually get offplanet during my lifetime, but that dream just slides further and further away as NASA underachieves and private industry fails to step up to the plate. That said, you can understand why I find Baxter's account of life on the surface of a neutron star less than thrilling - more of an amusing tale in the tradition of Barsoom or Gor.

Unfortunately, the tale wasn't anywhere near as exciting as Burroughs' or Norman's sagas, so I ended up a couple hundred pages into it, still bored, and had to give up. The story begins with a band of genetically engineered humans who are living under primitive conditions getting devasted by a "glitch" in the star. As they wander in search of food, they encounter more "technologically" advanced groups, and become somewhat involved in their society. There was a bit about surfing on the magnetic currents in the body of the star that could have gone somewhere, but didn't by the time I quit reading.

In that vein, I once read a short story about people kayaking in lava flows on a distant world that was pretty good. Wish I could remember where.

Anti-Ice, by Steven Baxter

This was the first novel by Baxter that I read, and I rather liked it. The blurb on the back cover says it was written in the style of Jules Verne, so I racked my brain to think of another author to compare it to - finally, came up with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He wrote several interesting pseudo sf adventures in the same sort of style that Baxter has produced here.


Anti-Ice is one of those alternate history novels that have been gaining in popularity lately. The novel rests on the idea that the British Empire discovered, in the mid 1800's, an extremely powerful energy source (parallel with nuclear power), which they use to fuel their vast industrial and military power.

The hero of our tale, Ned Vicars, is a newly commissioned diplomat on His Majesty's service. He attends the christening of a land-liner (think Titanic on wheels) powered by anti-ice, a symbol of the power of the Pax Brittanica. However, the peace in Europe is about to be shattered by Prussian militarism and French saboteurs.

There's plenty of action in this amusing tale, but the real meat of the story is the political commentary in the dialog between characters. This story may just stir up some thoughts about why the U.S. is often despised by allies and enemies around the world, and definitely make you wonder what the results of destroying the nuclear balance of power established during the Cold War might be.