The Long Earth series, 4 books.
I ran across the first book the other day and am about two thirds through it.
It's fiction. And popcorn fiction at that...
The idea is that there are infinite Earths, and people can step between them. It's hardly a new idea, but the implementation is not something I've seen before.
The premise is that one day, somebody uploads to the internet a design for a "Stepper". A little box with a switch on it, allowing one to "step" either East or West of the present Earth. The box uses simple electronics anybody can assemble in an afternoon. People do, and start vanishing.
This book series explores the many implications of an entire present day populace of the world suddenly having easy, personal access to multiple dimensions.
The book has been criticized for its lack of plot and character development. While it does have a few central characters, it is mostly a compilation of short stories told from a variety of perspectives over about a 10 year period, which taken all together does a fairly good job of illustrating a brave new world.
How do you keep an economy running when the population can just step out of the traditional slave paradigm?
As well, the idea of indigenous beings which naturally "step" as a part of their biology is introduced, offered as the rational explanation behind a variety of old Fortean mysteries. (Charles Forte is explicitly mentioned by the characters, in fact.)
This book isn't hard sci-fi, or even very adult; it could pass for young adult fiction in terms of tone and feel, if not subject matter. It feels even a bit silly at points, though thankfully not in the traditional Terry Pratchett mode of farce; collaboration with Stephen Baxter has apparently reigned in that quality; The Long Earth series and the ideas it explores are intended, I think, to be considered and taken more seriously than Pratchett's Disk World comedy books.
My impression is that this series might be an example of "Project Awaken" media; getting people comfortable with the idea of 4D reality and what can be done with it. It sets the mind to thinking on possible problems and their solutions were you to be suddenly provided with a massively expanded reality-interface. Average people dropped without warning into a 4D world might be somewhat less apt to melt down in pure, heart-stopping panic if a few of these seeds were already sprouted somewhere in their minds, providing a rough map as it were.
Anyway...
I thought it might be worth mentioning it here in the books section. I wouldn't prioritize it on anybody's reading list, but it did stand out as a possible marker of sorts. (And it is also quite fun, I found. :))
I ran across the first book the other day and am about two thirds through it.
It's fiction. And popcorn fiction at that...
The idea is that there are infinite Earths, and people can step between them. It's hardly a new idea, but the implementation is not something I've seen before.
The premise is that one day, somebody uploads to the internet a design for a "Stepper". A little box with a switch on it, allowing one to "step" either East or West of the present Earth. The box uses simple electronics anybody can assemble in an afternoon. People do, and start vanishing.
This book series explores the many implications of an entire present day populace of the world suddenly having easy, personal access to multiple dimensions.
The book has been criticized for its lack of plot and character development. While it does have a few central characters, it is mostly a compilation of short stories told from a variety of perspectives over about a 10 year period, which taken all together does a fairly good job of illustrating a brave new world.
How do you keep an economy running when the population can just step out of the traditional slave paradigm?
As well, the idea of indigenous beings which naturally "step" as a part of their biology is introduced, offered as the rational explanation behind a variety of old Fortean mysteries. (Charles Forte is explicitly mentioned by the characters, in fact.)
This book isn't hard sci-fi, or even very adult; it could pass for young adult fiction in terms of tone and feel, if not subject matter. It feels even a bit silly at points, though thankfully not in the traditional Terry Pratchett mode of farce; collaboration with Stephen Baxter has apparently reigned in that quality; The Long Earth series and the ideas it explores are intended, I think, to be considered and taken more seriously than Pratchett's Disk World comedy books.
My impression is that this series might be an example of "Project Awaken" media; getting people comfortable with the idea of 4D reality and what can be done with it. It sets the mind to thinking on possible problems and their solutions were you to be suddenly provided with a massively expanded reality-interface. Average people dropped without warning into a 4D world might be somewhat less apt to melt down in pure, heart-stopping panic if a few of these seeds were already sprouted somewhere in their minds, providing a rough map as it were.
Anyway...
I thought it might be worth mentioning it here in the books section. I wouldn't prioritize it on anybody's reading list, but it did stand out as a possible marker of sorts. (And it is also quite fun, I found. :))
