THE LONG UTOPIA. [4th title in THE LONG EARTH series.]

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE/FINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,wrap-around colour photographic illustrated dw/dj with glossy white+red lettering and other flat printed white letters to front+spine /backstrip,rear panel of dw/dj with critics' white lettered reviews; with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Book has a slight lean.Top+fore-edges bright and clean without foxing/spotting or other blemish; contents bright,tight, clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners – virtually pristine,appears unread,apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,original,paper-covered,colour illustrated boards with bright,crisp,red+white lettered spine/backstrip,a blue-green headband,and immaculate/clean plain green sets of endpapers.UK, 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,7-360pp [paginated] includes 56 chapters; plus [unpaginated] half-title with b/w diagrammatic sketch to its reverse,title page,joint-authors' dedications with blank reverse,and to the rear;joint authors' acknwledgements,and publisher's adverts - 4pp each of both Pratchett's and Baxter's titles including their other collaborations. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional,and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/ state of preservation and presentation. See my book ID rja992522 for the first 3 volumes in tis series,offered as the trilogy thus.The dazzling new sci-fi adventure from the extraordinary imaginations of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - the 4th novel in the collaborative series that has been hailed as 'sense-of-wonder SF at its best.' (Independent on Sunday.) 2045-2059. In spite of the world-changing upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption - humanity is spreading further into the Long Earth,and society,both on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve. Lobsang,now an elderly and somewhat over-complex AI, seems to have suffered a breakdown of sorts.With Agnes, he now lives,in disguise,in an exotic High-Meggers world - 'New Springfield' - determined to lead a 'normal' life as a human colonist.They even adopt a child,a son.But it seems that Sally Linsay guided them there for a reason. For it's at New Springfield that the Long Earth chain of worlds has become 'entangled' with another Long world - an alien planet.Strange haunted-house sightings in a cellar reveal this alien world to be inhabited by voracious colonising cyborgs - 'silver beetles' - who seem to be modifying this world for their own terrifying purposes. Elsewhere Joshua, now in his fifties,tries to track down the father he's never known.In so doing,he unravels a deeper history - of natural steppers who banded together in Victorian London.At first they offered their services to the crown,but were eventually hunted down and their secret covered up.But their story didn't end there,and it would seem that an ancestor of Joshua's became embroiled in a clandestine 'Darwinian' programme involving these 19th century steppers. Free from human control,the super-intelligent Next are growing up. As they debate how to 'manage' the vast herd of humans they live amongst,one of the brightest of them all begins to preach about the unity of all human kinds and in so doing stirs up both human and Next communities - but then,still only young,he faces a new duty. Meanwhile,on New Springfield,Lobsang has been joined by Joshua and they've discovered the ominous ultimate goal of the cyborg silver beetles and the vast machines they have created.The threat they pose to the Long Earth - and other Long worlds - convinces Lobsang and the others that the beetles' world has to be 'cauterised',taken out of the Long Earth chain,to prevent the spread of their kind.To achieve this will require super-stepping abilities - and for some it will mean making the ultimate sacrifice. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **