The Thousand Earths

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I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Stephen Baxter’s work sprawls, narratively, spatially, temporally, conceptually, and cosmologically. He also has a fondness for extravagantly displacing his protagonists and for setting his stories in strange and mysterious environments. And he does love a comprehensive, apocalyptic disaster – see his recent World En­gines: Destroyer or Galaxias. What I find espe­cially interesting is how many ways he manages to reconfigure these motifs, tropes, and options in his latest, The Thousand Earths.

One of SF’s main tasks, often surreptitiously, is to get readers to examine current issues through a science-fictional lens. It will therefore be no great surprise that Baxter manages to explore, with a little remote distance, the issue of refugees and asylum seekers that is one of our own world’s major crises today. As the issues become more acute on Mela’s Earth, I found that it was not too much of a leap to compare this with those crossing the Mediterranean or the English Channel today. She and her people have always known that this long-predicted end to their home, one of the Thousand Earths, is coming - but that makes their fight to survive, to protect each other, no less desperate . . . and no less doomed. The descriptive and dialogue writing style was somewhat simplistic, particularly in Mela's storyline. The dialogue was oddly banal, with every character speaking the same way, no individual tone or personality. There were a few big "this is a REVEAL" plot twist moments, but they were delivered in such a flat way that nothing ever felt climactic or gasp-worthy. This novel has taught me a valuable lesson, which is always have the "time left in book" Kindle view turned on. I hit a point where I thought, surely this is near the end? And then felt my heart sink when I discovered I was only 40% into it. Too far to DNF and well into "see it through" territory. The pace was painfully slow and meandering, it quite literally sent me to sleep several nights running. Never let it be said that Stephen Baxter does stories on a minor scale. His last novel Galaxias (reviewed HERE) dealt with the dimming of the Sun. This time the scope is epic, both in space and time.The Thousand Earths" by Stephen Baxter is a remarkable work of science fiction that spans vast cosmic landscapes, intricate timelines, and parallel worlds. Baxter's unparalleled imagination and meticulous attention to scientific detail create a rich and immersive narra Never let it be said that Stephen Baxter does stories on a minor scale. His last novel Galaxias dealt with the dimming of the Sun. This time the scope is epic, both in space and time. While the scale and complexity of the narrative may be challenging at times, it is this very scope that makes "The Thousand Earths" a rewarding read. The intricate plot threads and the interplay between different timelines create a sense of mystery and anticipation that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. I like Stephen Baxter. He does proper SF. I don't necessarily enjoy everything he does, but he has a massive catalog and there are many books of his I do like. I particularly enjoy the Xeelee series as well as the Long Earth books with Terry Pratchett (although that series got a bit tedious in the later books). So John zooms from one spectacular disaster to another, over vast periods, while in a smart move, the years and days and square kilometres count down for a trapped young woman he hasn't even met. Maybe he will. If he does, we know it'll be right at the end of the world.

In the second storyline we have a young person named Mela who lives with millions of other humans on a far-future engineered planetoid modeled after Earth. From her vantage point she can see thousands of such “earths” in the night sky, each with their own mini sun. Unfortunately for Mela and the rest of the inhabitants living on this planetoid, it is gradually disintegrating and the scientists determine that the entire world will succumb to this process in 30 years or so. Despite living in the far-future on a seemingly advanced and highly engineered planet, Mela’s society has devolved in to a sort of medieval hierarchy, ruled by the powerful and violent. Mela and her family are aware of their ultimate fate, and Mela goes through life knowing that her lifespan is limited. Her storyline basically covers her life from a child to the end of the 30 year period.As Mela and Ish grow and develop, they become more socially aware, and things within the narrative become more thought-provoking and definitely more emotional. I will leave it there for Mela and her family. The main focus here is the eventual collision between the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. Although predicted to occur 4.5 billion years in the future, Baxter likens it to the current climate change crisis in that urgent action is better sooner rather than later, when we finally run out of options and there are no more roads left to be taken.