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Otherlands

A World in the Making

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Otherlands

By: Thomas Halliday
Narrated by: Adetomiwa Edun
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

A dazzlingly original, lyrical and epic encounter with the Earth as it used to be.

What would it be like to visit the ancient landscapes of the past? To experience the Jurassic or Cambrian worlds, to wander among these other lands, as creatures extinct for millions of years roam? In this mesmerizing debut, award-winning palaeontologist Thomas Halliday gives us a breath-taking up-close encounter with worlds that are normally unimaginably distant.

Journeying backwards in time from the most recent Ice Age to the dawn of complex life itself, and across all seven continents, Halliday immerses us in a series of extinct ecosystems, each one rendered with a novelist's eye for detail and drama. Yet every description - whether the colour of a beetle's shell, the rhythm of pterosaurs in flight or the lingering smell of sulphur in the air - is grounded in fact. We visit the birthplace of humanity in Pliocene-era Kenya; in the Jurassic, we wander among dinosaur-inhabited islands in the Mediterranean; and we gaze at the light of an enormous moon in the Ediacaran sky, when life hasn't yet reached land.

Otherlands is a naturalist's travel guide, albeit one of lands distant in time rather than space, showing us the last 500 million years not as an endless expanse of unfathomable time, but as a series of worlds, simultaneously fantastical and familiar.

©2022 Thomas Halliday (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Animals Earth Sciences Evolution Palaeontology Genetics

What listeners say about Otherlands

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Astoundingly Detailed Journey into Deep History

I am amazed by how much detail and colour Thomas Halliday can bring to these past epochs. This book was engaging and very enlightening. The material is sometime a little challenging and knowledge of biology will help the reader to fully understand, but I think the author was right not to oversimplify the content. The book also serves as a warning about climate change as it details how and why climate swings have occurred in the past, with great impact on all life on earth.

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Informative and immersive

I didn’t have an active interest in paleobiology prior to reading this, but I do now. There is so much interesting stuff here, and most of it I knew nothing about. It’s very beautifully written, beyond what I expect from pop science. The narration is excellent.

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Beautiful narration of brilliant book.

Beautifully told story of our ancient past.
The only issue I have is the structure - wish it had been told in chronological order instead of going backwards. I understand the author has tried to tell a story of the journey back through time, but would still have been a better listen if started at our "origins".
Having said that, he's a wonderful story teller and this book is a must listen.

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wonderfully interesting and relaxing at the same time

Wonderfully poetic and lyrical while also being informative and educational. Great for when you need to relax and just enjoy the journey. Narrator has a calming voice and lovely cadence.

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Astounding and Unique

This book is one-of-a-kind. I'm a career scientist and have been fascinated by fossils, dinosaurs and evolutionary history since I was a kid, but I learned so much from listening to this audiobook. The author has done an amazing job of describing the intricate and complex interactions between climate, geology and biology, and really has brought those 'otherworlds' to life.

There's not many examples of books that are equal parts artistic and accurate Halliday really blends the two well. His language is never too flowery but just gives enough detail and poetic flourish to transport you there. Adetomiwa Edun's voice and performance are excellent too. The overall impression of deep geological time and the sheer complexity of life's history outlined in this book is so overwhelming that it made my head spin - and I think everyone should read it.

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Time travel

A really thought provoking book with a mix of scientific explanation and literary storytelling. Helped me understand how the geology eras where different and the role of evolution in life’s journey to now. Last chapter is a gentle warning about the future, life will be ok however humans may not if we don’t change and adapt.
I could imagine myself as a visiting observer in each chapter and working out whether I needed a space suit to stay alive or at least a protective ship! Worth listening to.

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Beautiful storytelling

Thank you for taking me to all the other worlds. A very special book on science and hope.

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Love this book. I go to it regularly when feeling despair.

Really well read- a pleasure to listen to. The length and depth of time are comforting especially in times of upheaval. Theres a lot to take in, so can be re-listened to and re-read.

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It was the least entertaining book ive ever downloaded

Very dry content badly linked. As an avid natural and social history listener i was very disappointed with this book. Cant be bothered listening further. Thank goodness for Sir David

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