“The Long Earth is a wonderful tale of exploration and discovery by two authors that blend their styles so seamlessly that it becomes something unexpected.”
The release week for June 19 brings even more summer big-idea science fiction, led by two much-anticipated novels. The first (though how do you pick between them?) is Existence by Narrated by Kevin T. Collins, Robin Miles, and L. J. Ganser for Audible Frontiers, concurrent with its hardcover and e-book release from Tor Books. At 32 and a half hours, it’s no lightweight, combining several point of view characters along with multiple “non-fiction” tracks as Brin follows the story of an alien artifact and the future of humanity and Earth. In early reviews, there’s an in-depth and balanced review at Far Beyond Reality, and an overwhelmingly positive review at io9.
Second (or 1-B, or 1-A, or whatever) is The Long Earth: A Novel By Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, Narrated by Michael Fenton-Stevens for Harper Audio, concurrent with its hardcover and e-book release from Harper. A much smaller bite than Existence at 11.5 hours, it concerns the idea that many alternate worlds and Earths exist, and that people can learn to fairly easily step between them; the principle storyline follows an expedition into The Long Earth. “The first novel in an exciting new collaboration between Discworld creator Terry Pratchett and the acclaimed SF writer Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth transports readers to the ends of the earth - and far beyond. All it takes is a single step… .”
The first of two more novels I’ll note above the “read more” link is The Reckoning By Alma Katsu, Narrated by Laurel Lefkow for Simon & Schuster audio: “Alma Katsu delivers the highly anticipated follow-up to her haunting novel (The Taker) about an immortal woman learning firsthand that the heart wants what the heart wants … no matter how high the stakes.”
The second is The Mists of Avalon (1982) By Marion Zimmer Bradley, Narrated by Davina Porter for Recorded Books — collecting the previously released 4-part 1993 recordings into one nearly 51-hour audiobook, currently available for one credit. “In this epic work, Bradley follows the arc of the timeless tale from the perspective of its previously marginalized female characters: Celtic priestess Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar, and High Priestess Viviane.”
ALSO OUT TUESDAY:
