THE LONG EARTH - Terry Pratchett / Stephen Baxter

Very much enjoyed this first book in the series. The premise... there are millions of outher universes almost identical to ours (except only ours contains human life with all of it's trappings like buildings and technology), and if you know how, all you have to do is just "step" sideways to enter them. It also means, however, that people could step sideways near (for instance) parliament house, or ANYONE'S house, walk a few meters and "step" back into a private or secure area.

It contains enough clever sillyness to remind you that Terry Pratchett is involved and enough mind-opening, jaw-dropping concepts to remind you that Stephen Baxter was in the mix too. I haven't read any of Pratchett's stuff before - not to self, must fix that - but have read Baxter's Manifold series and loved it so this sounded worth the try. And it was.

The pairing of Pratchett (known predominantly for quirky fantasy) and Baxter (hard science fiction) might sound a bit odd but it works. I can't guarantee who wrote which bits but when you find a piece of implausiably logic or a dad joke passed off as a credible idea, I'm blaming Pratchett.

The thing that kept me readiung was finding out just what they'd find out in the most distant Earths and I liked it the idea that some species were running away from what was down towards the end of the line although I'm still a bit iffy about what they actually find. I assume the sequels will follow through with more info and I'm keen to see where it finishes up.

Anyway, great ideas and a good story well told.

DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS - John Wyndham

I enjoyed looking back at this book after many years. The device of having the initial cause of blindness (the comet, or whatever it was) and the subsequent danger of Triffids still seems clever, but despite the scifi danger of "the other" the book is more about exploring what we would do and how we'd survive if the fabric of civilisation breaks down. It's still a good examination of the sociological impact of these changes and adjusting to a world where much expertise, resource abilability and technology has been lost.

I found the dialog, especially between Bill and Josella, to fall somewhere between stilted and unlikely and I can't remember a book that inlcuded so many cigarette breaks. Sure, it was dialog of its time, but other works of the time have much more believable portrayals of relationships and crisper dialog. Also, Bill's single-minded determination to find Josella didn't gel with the short period of time they were initially together and his avowed status as an independent man without ties, but then it's not a book to read for it's relationships.

It was a very fresh take on response to a post-apocalyptic life. The ideas are clever and it does examine a number of different variants of how communities / groups / societies could reorient themselves. It probably deserves more than 3 stars, but the dialog and jerky movement from plotpoint to plotpoint pull it up. I did enjoy it though - 3.5 stars for mine (rounded up because goodreads doesn't do half stars).

THE PENULTIMATE TRUTH - Philip K Dick

After reading a bunch of PKD short stories before, it was enlightening to finally read one of his novels. There are few better "Ideas men" than PKD... A term he coined in this book by the way. His stories pose some of science fictions best "what if" scenarios, and that's probably why Hollywood is currently in love with him (Blade Runner, Adjustment Bureau, Next, Screamers, A Scanner Darkly, Paycheck, Minority Report And Total Recall are only half the movies made from his stories). Having said that, while he gets 10 out of 10 for concepts and plots, he doesn't always deserve top marks for story telling, dialogue and character development.

The Penultimate Truth is another dystopian yarn and is typically chock full of ideas and a clever plot. What if humanity was forced below ground to survive a nuclear war on the Earth's surface, but the whole thing ended many years ago and was being kept up as a sham with those below none the wiser? How was the lie perpetuated? And why, and who gains? Plot twists abound, and it's an engaging read. Without offering too many spoilers, he predicts voice recognition computers, CGI, and even The Transformers even though this was written 51 years ago.

One major flaw in this novel is PKD's penchant for drip feeding details about the technology and terminology he is describing. Normally that slow reveal exposition might be subtle storytelling but when understanding what the objects and processes he is talking about is crucial to understanding the novel, it just stalls comprehension and slows the reading.

Since some of his tech predictions have been superseded you can get bogged down in his prediction skills, but his themes ... Of trusting bureaucracy, the abuse of power, believing everything we are told and the heavy use of spin by governments in assembling a narrative... Are compelling and have echoes of 1984.

The ending is frustrating and the last chapter seemed as if the author wasn't entirely sure how to wrap it up (or Stephen King Syndrome as I prefer to call it). The time shift elements seemed unnecessary and I sufficiently explained and the conclusion left a lot of questions that weren't simply clever points to ponder. I'd prefer to give it a 3.5 star rating due to some of those flaws but if I have to choose between 3 and 4, I'll go with 4 for sheer invention and story cleverness.