A brilliant book that I didn’t think I needed to read but so glad I did. It really opened my eyes to the world.

It has taken me some time to get reading this book, I have had a lot of books piling up lately. I was prompted to read it following its arrival on the shelves of the library I work in and after speaking to a regular borrower about how much she enjoyed it.

It was refreshing to read a non-fiction book, my reading habits have changed somewhat with fiction taking precedence. If you are interested in the natural world, this book is a real treasure. I was not surprised to learn that it scooped up a plethora of awards including Foyles Non-Fiction book of the Year and also The Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing.


It is well and truly a book to get lost in, immersive and detailed. It travels through time and covers the seven continents of the globe. Shedding light on what the earth looked like before humanity. I have seen the book be described as a biography of the earth and that is so very fitting.


The author is a young palaeontologists, his immense knowledge, research and passion on his subject shine from the pages. He writes beautifully, his writing lyrical and descriptive so that as a reader you can freely conjure the wonders he is writing about.


I would highly recommend this book. It is one to keep and dip back into. It would make a fantastic gift for anyone who appreciates the natural world.

Otherlands has been described as vivid, evocative, and cinematic, and I can see why thanks to Halliday’s incredible writing style. The prose really made me feel transported to the various places and eras of geological time covered, and immersed in the intricate webs of life in these worlds. That said, I did feel at some points that more illustrations would have been a useful addition; some of the prehistoric organisms, ecosystems, and landscapes are so unlike anything that exists today that it strained my imagination to try and picture them. However, I’ll concede that I’m not a very visual person, so this may be less of an issue for other readers.

I felt the strongest chapters in the book were the middle chapters - far enough back in time that it felt instantly different to our own time, but not so far back that the world and lifeforms in it felt completely unrecognisable. Perhaps I’m just too vertebrate-centric, but once we moved into invertebrates in later chapters (and even more so when were at single-celled organisms) I found it a little harder to be engaged.

Overall though, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Otherlands for its strong writing style and its unqiue combination of ecology and geology, used to explore the diverse lifeforms that have lived on our planet.

In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life on the page as he uses science to decipher the clues. This book is an exploration of the Earth as it used to exist and the changes that have occurred during its history,
The author illustrates how ecosystems are formed; how species die out and are replaced; and how species migrate, adapt, and collaborate. It's a book so rich in research and detail it really makes you stop and think. At times it can be quite hard going with all the facts but it's certainly worth the effort.

Fascinating and meticulously researched exploration of the history of life on our planet, dating back to the earliest fossil records and describing the catastrophic events and mass extinctions which have shaped our species up to the present day.

Very informative section on climate change, which represents the first mass extinction where the perpetrators are aware of the damage they are causing, and explaining the significance of the warming in terms of impacts which are already being witnessed.

Sadly I found this book a little bit too convoluted as a lay reader and most of it went over my head. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing however because the writing was dreamy and fun to get lost in

An epic example of nature writing, I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in Halliday's depiction of our planet.

It took me a while to get through this one. Definitely not one you can read in one go as it gives you so much to digest. Gave huge amounts of detail and information. Also shocking to read how much we have damaged our planet in such a short space of time.

A wonderful read about life on earth. Taking an epic and sweeping journey through the past life of this earth, written with real skill. A tale of fragile ecosystems for 2023.

I probably read one non-fiction book for every 25 novels, but I very rarely regret it when I do.
Otherlands is meticulously detailed in its presentation of worlds we can never otherwise experience. I found it absolutely fascinating, even though I was reading it in small chunks over a period of several months. I felt like I learned so much, and I hope I will retain the information because I have been regaling friends and colleagues with snippets of it since I started the book!

This was an extremely fascinating read, about how life evolved over the millennia. However, the use of the present tense when talking about the distant past, sometimes interspersed with instead using past tenses, made it somewhat confusing at times. I also felt that it wasn't always accessible for lay readers i.e. those without a great deal of scientific / biology background knowledge. It used very detailed and often scientific terminology so it was sometimes hard to understand or involved lots of googling!
That said, it was a worthwhile and interesting read.

What an outstanding book! Very different from the kinds of books I normally read but I learned so much and I have never thought so deeply about the world around me. Incredible.

Fascinating book. Took me a long time to read because I felt my focus waver at times, because the concepts of time so long ago and with lifeforms long gone... well it made my head swim a little. Still. I did love it and there is nothing wrong with a book taking longer to read if the content is worth it.

I received a Review Copy of this book through Net Galley.

This is a fascinating dive for anyone with an interest in Natural History and who is looking for a touch more detail about different eco-systems.

Thomas Halliday takes us on a stroll back in time, 550 million years to be exact, leading us through the incredible landscapes of the Earth’s different epochs. Halliday’s beautifully immersive writing made it so easy to visualise the fauna and flora of each epoch, learning how different species would have interacted, what they would’ve eaten and where they would’ve lived.

In the introduction Halliday says he wanted the book to be read as a ‘naturalists travel book’ & he definitely achieved that much. It was as if he was writing as a time traveller, describing what he saw on his field trips to the Creataceous or the Silurian.

It was wonderful to feel totally immersed in a world that has always felt so alien to me. I usually struggle reading books of this genre as they usually start at the beginning of life as we know it, the Ediacaran, working their way forwards to the present day. Otherlands however, goes in the opposite direction and I found that much easier to follow & visualise.

I think the magic of this book is how much detail is described about each species Halliday talks about, and the variety of species too. He talks of all forms of life, in all types of habitats. Mammals, insects, fish & marine mammals, birds, fungi, plants - even ferns, mosses, liverworts & lichens!

I must say it took me quite a long time to get through this book. I found it very slow to read, purely because of how much detail there was in each chapter. I wanted to take everything in and get the full experience, and it was definitely worth it - even though I had to speed read the last 90 pages before it was due back to the library…

Big thank you to @netgalley @allenlanepr @particularbooks @penguinpress & @penguinclassics for the review copy!

This is a really interesting non-fic book about the world and time itself. `About the evolution of life and creatures from the very beginning. About our earth and its eras. Truly fascinating dive for those who have time, patience, and interest in these fields! A magnificent piece for all loving paleontologists, biologists, and palaeobiologists alike!

Oh my god! This book! I loved it. It’s not something I would usually pick up but I’m so glad I did! The writing makes you visualise the scenes of the earth’s history perfectly! It feels like you’re there, watching the creatures go about their day.
Even though there was a lot of information included it wasn’t overwhelming, the writing was clear and interesting and not too bogged down in scientific wording.

The last few chapters mention global warming and the damage humans are doing to the planet, but it ends in a positive note, pointing out how well humans adapt to emergencies and how we can prevent and adapt to global changes.

A great book. Highly recommend!

This is a nature book like no other. I kept looking at the book in awe and wonder; questioning how paleobiologist, Thomas Halliday, has pulled off this magical illusion of transporting the reader through time to experience and feel the flora and fauna of a world millions of years old.

Each chapter delves into a different period of time stretching further and further back in millions of years. The prose is so detailed in its description of place. The plants, animals, weather, atmosphere and topography are all brought into full evocative technicolour that you’ll wonder if Halliday took David Attenborough on a jaunt in a time machine.

It’s both incredibly accessible to read and deeply thought provoking. Human existence is just a blink of an eye in the history of life on our planet. In the final chapter Halliday acknowledges the destruction that we have caused, yet brings hope for our future. It is inevitable that human life on this planet will end, although how we take care of our world and our future is still to be written. There is hope for us if we act on what we know.

I wonder what the earth will look like in the future, millions of years from now. Undoubtedly there will be life but who knows what form it will take.

I’m afraid I couldn’t get past a few pages of this book. I wanted a novel with facts not a factual book which unfortunately couldn’t hold my attention

This isn't something I would usually have chosen . However the concept of being a "tourist" inserted into various times from pre history etc was intriguing. With the details lovingly and lyrically described of what you might find in each "world" in terms of flora, fauna, weather, scenery etc , I felt like I was there.

Halliday also makes us aware of the impact we are currently making upon out planet and how fragile it is. He doesn't preach, but makes a reader aware of the climate emergency. Going back in time can inform our present choices.

Very impressed by the concept and how it was realised by this skilful author. The first Science book I have read and enjoyed in years.