The Crossroads of Time vs The long earth: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Space and time, Time Travel, Fiction
The Crossroads of Time
First published in 1958, Andre Norton's The Time Traders fuses Cold War espionage with archaeological romance and speculative adventure. Its protagonist, Ross Murdock, a delinquent recruited into a covert government…
vs
The long earth
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
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Crossroads of Time 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.
- The Crossroads of Time runs the darker storyline; The long earth stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Crossroads of Time | The long earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (841) | 3.8 (63255) |
| Hardcover | 4.5 (2) | 5.0 (1) |
| Google Books | — | 4.0 (4) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.0 (401) |
Reception
| The Crossroads of Time | The long earth | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 841 | 63255 |
| Editions | 13 | 14 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 408 | 55284 |
| Reading it now | 6 | 2955 |
| Written reviews | 38 | 5729 |
| Wikipedia attention | 93 | 2235 |
| Pages | 176 | 400 |