Long Earth

The Long Earth is a phenomenon explored in (unsurprisingly) The Long Earth. Imagine a pack of cards. Our world- Roundworld, Datum Earth, it goes by many names- is in the middle, and one can travel, using the Stepper, through the cards, although one often experiences nausea. Hardly any of the worlds are occupied, so it seems the evolution of mankind is a unique thing. It is unknown whether the card pack circles round to meet itself, or whether there is something more mysterious at the end. However, as one travels further from Datum Earth the differences become more pronounced, with worlds in the ten-millions having a much greater chance of being uninhabitable than the closer ones, and one starts to find large sections of "purple scum" worlds where no complex life exists. By the two hundred millions one finds Earths which have different levels of gravity, and it has been speculated that there may be a world where Earth never existed at all.

Datum Earth is one of many 'interglacial' worlds; that is, worlds that are covered in trees and rich forms of life. Animals thrive there, with unusual species of armadillos and horses being in profusion. Who knows, there might be a Hermit Elephant in there. The interglacial worlds are surrounded by a set of worlds experiencing ice ages- this is called the Ice Belt, and it starts at West 11. As a result the previous world, West 10, has become a sort of 'mustering' world, where supplies and suchlike can be purchased.

Similarly there is the Mine Belt, a set of worlds filled with desolate deserts and rich minerals, and the Corn Belt, which is good farming country and is ideal for setting up colonies. It starts at West 100,000 and extends to around West 460,000 or so.

There are some worlds that are mere dust-bowls, like the worst class of planets, or are covered in ice, where nothing can grow. These are called Joker Worlds, and are not to be confused with the other Jokers. Diamond Worlds also exist: these are places of truly outstanding potential, for one reason or another, and create excitement for what they represent. Rectangles is one, as it carries evidence that there was once a technological civilisation here way in advance of Datum Earth. But the fact its people all died out might just conceivably be related to an awful lot of smouldering radiation...

Notable Earths

• Datum Earth
• Earth East 1-6 prove people just can't be trusted with brand spanking new planets to colonise.
• East 3
• West 5
• West 10
• West 100,000, also known as Good Old Hundred K.
• West 101,754: the world on which Reboot was founded.
• West 191,248 - a slightly shop-soiled Long Earth.
• West 485,671: a Joker World.
• West 831,264: a Joker.
• West 1,176,865
• West 1,349,877
• West 1,397,426: location of Hell-Knows-Where.
• West 1,400,013: the location of the settlement of Valhalla.
• West 1,617,848
• West 1,617,524 The home Long Earth of the Beagles.
• West 2,217,643: the nearest Long Earth to the Gap.
• West 2,217,644: the first Western Gap.
• East 2,201,749: contained a complex ecosystem that was wiped out by a hypercane between visits (probably).
• East 2,217,643: the first Eastern Gap, discovered by the Chinese expedition of 2040. The fact that Datum Earth lies as close to halfway between both Gaps as is possible probably says a lot.
• East 8,616,289: home to what appears to be a society of tortoises.
• East 20,000,000: the furthest Eastern world visited by the Chinese expedition. Contains a commemorative cairn and not much else.
• Cueball: a perfectly smooth copy of Earth, hence the name.
• West 182,674,101: the location where the Neil Armstrong I crashed.
• West 239,741,211 a.k.a Karakal.
• West 247,830,855: where Earth is merely a moon of a larger planet.
• West 250,000,000: the furthest Western world visited by the expedition of 2045. The commemorative cairn here is bigger than the Chinese one on East 20,000,000.