Teaser Tuesday: The Long Cosmos

Like your number being called in the local deli, the Wheel of Time has come ’round to Teaser Tuesday.

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

This week I’m reading The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. I found this book on the New Release shelf down at the library. Hooray!

The Goodreads Blurb:

2070-71. Nearly six decades after Step Day and in the Long Earth, the new Next post-human society continues to evolve. For Joshua Valienté, now in his late sixties, it is time to take one last solo journey into the High Meggers: an adventure that turns into a disaster. Alone and facing death, his only hope of salvation lies with a group of trolls. But as Joshua confronts his mortality, the Long Earth receives a signal from the stars. A signal that is picked up by radio astronomers but also in more abstract ways – by the trolls and by the Great Traversers. Its message is simple but ts implications are enormous:

JOIN US.

The super-smart Next realise that the Message contains instructions on how to develop an immense artificial intelligence but to build it they have to seek help from throughout the industrious worlds of mankind. Bit by bit, byte by byte, they assemble a computer the size of a continent – a device that will alter the Long Earth’s place within the cosmos and reveal the ultimate, life-affirming goal of those who sent the Message. Its impact will be felt by and resonate with all – mankind and other species, young and old, communities and individuals – who inhabit the Long Earths…

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The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 311:

On the side of the empty bus, a panel was alight with the image of Douglas Black, his head cradled on what looked like fresh pillows. When he saw Lobsang, he made a gesture from Joshua's distant childhood, forked fingers pointing to his own eyes, then outward. I'm watching you. Black grinned boyishly. 

In Retrospect: The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten

Baggini makes old philosophical riddles, paradoxes, and questions relevant to today. You won’t need a college degree to understand his clear language, but don’t expect him to give you any answers, either. These short exercises are designed to make one think, after all!

If Baggini has any faults they lie in his language as it relates to religion. Whereas he phrases most of his questions so that one can apparently choose between the many solutions without feeling guilty (or equally guilty as the case may be), Baggini’s language in the sections related to God make it clear one isn’t supposed to choose the God option.

In the fairness of full disclosure, I am a religious person; however, I arrived there via existentialism. I’m perfectly fine with questioning/doubting/examining my faith, and I don’t push my views on others unless they ask for them, but Baggini can’t help but pass judgment. If it weren’t for this, I’d have given the book 5 stars.

I’m also looking forward to some of his other works, especially “Should You Judge this Book by Its Cover?”

Four Stars