Red Shift vs The long earth: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Space and time, Time Travel, Fiction
Red Shift
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The lives of three young men in three different periods of British history converge and each influences the destiny of the others.
The long earth
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Terry Pratchett, other than lending his name to this book, wasn't a part of it. No humor and dark reading. Mr. Baxter should have published it under his own name, he can write, just not to my liking. gmb 3/15/20
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Red Shift is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 7 for The long earth.
- The long earth has the widest readership — 63255 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Red Shift | The long earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.8 (63255) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (10) | 5.0 (1) |
| Google Books | — | 4.0 (4) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.0 (401) |
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Reception
| Red Shift | The long earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 10 | 63255 |
| Editions | 11 | 14 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 55284 |
| Reading it now | — | 2955 |
| Written reviews | — | 5729 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1483 | 2235 |
| Pages | 181 | 400 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Red Shift or The long earth?
Red Shift has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Red Shift 3.8/5, The long earth 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Red Shift or The long earth?
Red Shift is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Red Shift (181 pages, ≈ 3 h 21 m); The long earth (400 pages, ≈ 7 h 24 m).
Which is harder to read: Red Shift or The long earth?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Red Shift: Moderate; The long earth: Moderate.