I just read the new novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, The Long Earth. I didn't like it and don't recommend it (I read it because I loved other books by Pratchett, but there's no similarity here).

There was one thing in particular that bothered me. I read the first 10 reviews of the book that Google returns, and they were generally negative and complained about many things, but never mentioned this issue. Many described Baxter as a master of hard sci fi, which makes it doubly strange.

Here's the problem: in this near-future story, gurer vf n Sbbzvat NV, nyernql fhcrevagryyvtrag naq nf cbjreshy nf n znwbe angvba, juvpu jvyy cebonoyl orpbzr zber cbjreshy guna gur erfg bs gur jbeyq pbzovarq va nabgure lrne be fb. And nobody in the world cares! It's not a plot point! I kept expecting it to at least be mentioned by one of the characters, but they're all completely 'meh'. Instead they obsess over minor things like arj ubzvavq fcrpvrf fznegre guna puvzcf, ohg abg nf fzneg nf uhznaf.

Have I been spoiled by reading too much LW? Has this happened to others with other fiction?