If Earth’s history were squeezed into a single day, written human history would make up the last 2 thousandths of a second, Halliday points out. And yet “our species has an influence unlike almost any other biological force”. It is also far more destructive than the prominent natural disasters of the past.

That Africa spent time at the South Pole, the Sahara was covered by a glacier, that the northern hemisphere was almost entirely landless, that Siberia was an island, that the moon was much closer to the earth and the day significantly shorter than it is now, and that North America was mostly divided by a warm, shallow sea Stirring, surprising and beautifully written, Otherlands offers glimpses of times so different to our own they feel like parallel worlds. In its lyricism and the intimate attention it pays to nonhuman life, Thomas Halliday's book recalls Rachel Carson's Under the Sea Wind, and marks the arrival of an exciting new voice Cal Flynn, author of Islands of Abandonment Prereqs to read it: he intends none other than a basic science education -- but I think you will get more from the book if you had a class in Historical Geology in college, or are well-read.

Otherlands is a Benjamin Button tale, which begins in the present day and runs in reverse, the evolution of life in rewind. He structures the narrative through an ecological lens: Each major division of geologic time is given a single chapter, which is focused on a single lost ecosystem. As you read along, Earth gets weirder and weirder, the creatures more alien, more removed from the norms and comforts of today. Soon enough, you find yourself underwater 550 million years ago, in what is now Australia, where fish and whales and corals are nothing but a future fantasy, as blobs of primitive cells leave ghostly impressions on the seafloor." It is refreshing to come across a book on palaeontology and geology that doesn’t just state what we know and why. Instead, Halliday uses scientific information to provide insights into worlds long gone. He is appropriately lavish in his depiction of the variety and resilience of life, without compromising on scientific accuracy. This is a piece of nature writing that covers millions of years, from the very start of evolution, while capturing the almost unthinkable ways geography has shifted and changed over time. Epic in scope and executed with charming enthusiasm, Otherlands looks set to be a big talking point for fans of non-fiction in 2022 ‘The 15 New Novels And Non-Fiction Books To Read In 2022’, Mr Porter This is an utterly serious piece of work, meticulously evidence-based and epically cinematic. Or rather, beyond cinematic. The writing is so palpably alive... A book of almost unimaginable riches James McConnachie Sunday Times To read Otherlands is to marvel not only at these unfamiliar lands and creatures, but also that we have the science to bring them to life in such vivid detail.

Our planet has been many different worlds over its 4.5-billion-year history. Imagining what they were like is hard—with our limited lifespan, deep time eludes us by its very nature. Otherlands, the debut of Scottish palaeontologist Thomas Halliday, presents you with a series of past worlds. Though this is a non-fiction book thoroughly grounded in fact, it is the quality of the narrative that stands out. Beyond imaginative metaphors to describe extinct lifeforms, some of his reflections on deep time, taxonomy, and evolution are simply spine-tingling." [6] inquisitivebiologist (2022-03-15). "Book review – Otherlands: A World in the Making". The Inquisitive Biologist . Retrieved 2022-08-28. That Africa spent time at the South Pole, the Sahara was covered by a glacier, that the northern hemisphere was almost entirely landless, that Siberia was an island, that the moon was much closer to the earth and the day significantly shorter than it is now, and that North America was mostly divided by a warm, shallow sea.This is the past as we've never seen it before. Otherlands is an epic, exhilarating journey into deep time, showing us the Earth as it used to exist, and the worlds that were here before ours. Freilich kann man gerade das auch als Vorteil ansehen. Während frühere "Realienbücher" in Großvaters Schrank auf bunten Tafeln präsentierten, was es alles so gab und wer oder was wann lebte, strebt Halliday danach, die Beziehungen der Lebewesen untereinander und innerhalb ihrer Mitwelt darzustellen, also im modernen Verständnis das Ökosystem einer bestimmten Region in einer der Erdepochen plastisch werden zu lassen. Gegen Ende erweist sich die Stärke dieses Verfahrens in den Ausführungen zum heutigen Klimawandel, der in Beziehung zu den vergangenen Warmzeiten gesetzt wird. Unaufgeregt kann der Autor in wenigen Worten klar machen, dass wir sehr wohl wissen können, was auf uns zukommt, da wir die Erdgeschichte kennen. Wir können, meint er, das alles auch in den Griff bekommen, denn wir wären die ersten "Tiere", die sich dem Wandel nicht nur anpassen müssten, sondern die ihn verstehen und gestalten können. Dabei sei klar, dass die menschengemachte Klimakatastrophe sich für viele Arten schneller vollziehen wird, als dass die sich anpassen könnten. Das Artensterben wird also zum Problem. Das ist überzeugend herausgestellt. This study of our prehistoric earth is "beyond cinematic", James McConnachie says. "It could well be the best book I read in 2022"

Remarkable [...] Ingenious [...] A work of immense imagination [...] rooted firmly in the actual science"This book takes us through the natural history of previous forms of life in the most beguiling way. It makes you think about the past differently and it certainly makes you think about the future differently. This is a monumental work and I suspect it will be a very important book for future generations Ray Mears, Chair of the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature Writing Otherlands review: A fascinating journey through Earth's history". New Scientist. January 19, 2022.