Book review - 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘍𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘩𝘢, or possibly the most plausible astrobiology SpecEvo project ever created

Cover of the book, copyright Gert van Dijk.

As I've written in my Blogger profile, I love reading, but this usually concerns scientific articles, books, blogs, and anything in between, while I have very little time to devote to narrative works. The closest thing are works of Speculative Evolution, that subgenre of science fiction (usually, but not always, hard science fiction) devoted to the exploration of hypothetical evolutionary scenarios, which can take place in any time or place, but classically involve the future of planet Earth, alternative timelines, or other planets.

The banner of the Furaha site, as of Thursday, March 5, 2026, featuring a brontorusp (Brontocrambis brucus). Snaiad, another SpecEvo project with a similar premise, and relevant to Furaha, also features. Copyright Gert van Dijk.

Among the most relevant SpecEvo projects of the last kind, Furaha deserves special mention: the project, created by Gert van Dijk, is not exactly new to the scene, starting its life from a series of paintings produced from 1979. It then spawned a website and an accompanying blog, where the project has gradually taken shape, becoming ever more detailed and grounded in science. Gert van Dijk, who also goes by the pseudonym Sigmund Nastrazzurro on the blogsphere, is a neurologist (you can find his technical publications here) and is well versed in physics, so his alien designs give special attention to biomechanics and overall physical, other than biological, plausibility, with the aid of 3D models and animations. This appreciation of and attention to biomechanical plausibility is something that I think sets Furaha apart from other similar projects (one comparable in this sense would be Epona, of which van Dijk, quite fittingly, is a contributor). Not only that, the blog has also served throughout the years as a place of discussion and testing of other speculative evolution works and concepts, classics including the series on ballonts, the plausibility of Avatar, the superiority of vision over echolocation  and many others.

 

An early painting of Furaha showing a zeppeloon, one of the ballonts (=lighter-than-air organisms) that were supposed to inhabit the skies of Furaha in its early conception. Unfortunately, a long series of articles on the Furaha blog has determined that, no matter how much you try, such organisms can't work on Earth-like planets like Furaha, so ballonts of this kind are not in the Furahan canon anymore (but read on). Copyright Gert van Dijk.

I can't pretend to have followed the project since its beginning (also because, well, I wasn't even born at the time), instead I came across it a few years ago during my first year of university: I immediately enamored myself with its rigour and strive for plausibility, I read the whole website and all the blog articles then existing, and it has accompanied me ever since. I even gave my two cents by commenting from time to time.

The final goal was always to make a book out of all this, and after a long wait...the book was finally announced and then published! 

My copy of the book proudly standing next to some other SpecEvo works in my possession, the one on far left is the Italian edition of Dougal Dixon's If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today, which was a present from when I was a kid.

Having this sort of emotional connection with the whole project, I couldn't help myself from buying it of course (as a Christmas present nonetheless, though it arrived with some delay), and already thought it would be nice to make a review out of it, a first on my blog. Then I read the whole thing and found out that my name actually appears in the acknowledgements, something that was unexpected for me...guess my two cents were at least somewhat interesting after all. With my (very small) part in the Furahan saga solidified, a review is definitely due, so without further ado, here it is.

It's not just the organisms that receive attention, but also the planet itself and its solar system, which was designed in detail in collaboration with Mark Fogg. On the Furaha site you can even see a simulation of the planet right now! Copyright Gert van Dijk.

The book is lavishly illustrated and elegant in format: first, the solar system and the planet's geography are introduced, followed by a chapter on humans on Furaha, later followed by chapters on plants, mixotrophs and animals (note that such terms are purely used by functional analogy, as Furahan organisms have a completely independent origin from Terran ones). I don't want to reveal too much, but even for someone who has read the blog articles surprises abound, like the confirmation that Furaha is part of a larger shared universe, or revelations regarding certain lighter-than-air organisms...

Callbacks to other SpecEvo projects (remember to check the toponyms on the map), as well as to more popular Sci-Fi works, are also commonplace throughout the book, and together with the frequent puns and light tone, they make for a very pleasant and light read, which is in itself a remarkable achievement in a work that also discusses in depth the anatomy and biomechanics of hypothetical organisms.

The sort of diagrams you'll find in the book, this one pertaining to the scalate skeleton's range of motion (scalates being the approximate Furahan analogues to Terran vertebrates). Copyright Gert van Dijk.

An important thing to remember about the book is that (despite the title) it's not and should not be taken as a "definitive work" to the planet's wildlife, rather, it exists within the context of an in-universe previously existing body of literature (many other books on Furaha are mentioned throughout the text, most prominently Worlds Apart: Natural Histories of Furaha and Earth by Souren Nyoroge, of which I wait publication of course), and is mainly a human story. The author is not an omniscient narrator, nor is the book a personal account of a single explorer's journey (like in the case of Wayne Barlowe's Expedition for example). It is instead a non-technical synthesis of the body of knowledge gathered by humans on the planet from its colonisation, complete with the many uncertainties that come with it, the academic quarrelling and other forms of human antics. The universe is so fleshed out that jargon exists, so be sure not to skip the glossary. The chapter about humans on Furaha is actually among the most interesting, covering topics like history, politics, society and culture. Humans on Furaha have adopted, sometimes successfully, sometimes less so, an essentially zero-impact approach on the planet's colonisation, something in stark contrast to the premise of comparable works like Dougal Dixon's Greenworld for example: while I'm personally an eternal pessimistic on such subject matters, I think it's very interesting, and perhaps even instructive, to explore both hypothetical scenarios.

One thing that I found particularly intriguing was the geography: Furaha doesn't really have a clear distinction between continents and islands as defined on Earth, and two particular landmasses, Meralgia and Palaeogaea, have remained isolated for an unimaginable amount of time, 160 million years for the former, and even longer for the latter (it's not precisely known, but it was already isolated 200 million years ago). This is longer isolation than anything comparable on Earth, and given how unique island communities on Earth already are or were (think of Australia, New Zealand, South America before it connected to North America, and Madagascar for example), one can only imagine what sort of completely alien communities would develop in such isolation (within an already alien planet in this case). For this reason, while reading the entries on organisms, I was particularly interested in those coming from these two landmasses, and indeed we do meet some, like the superficially trilobite-like polypods from South Palaeogaea (like the lorica Lorica segmentata on the book's cover), and a distinct group of hexapods native to Meralgia (hexapods being here the more or less equivalent of Terran tetrapods, see below), different from those in the rest of Furaha in the presence of a tail and in the manner their legs move. 

A pair of grouillards (Eructator olidus), another kind of polypod from South Palaeogaea, alongside other denizens of its environment, like the Bomba tree (Pogocycus glaucus) in the background, and the Barber tree (Mansus pomovirgatus), eggscum (Nemamucidus oioxanthides), and puckernet zwam on the foreground. Note that this is the older version of this painting as found on the website, while the final, updated version is found in the book. This is indeed the case of many illustrations, and for someone who has become familiar with them for some years, seeing their finalized version is always quiet satisfying and sometimes a little striking. Copyright Gert van Dijk.

This is already quite interesting on its own, but to be honest I think it just scratches the surface, and I really want to see more of these super-isolated native communities, maybe an idea for a follow-up book?

Incidentally, one of these Meralgian hexapods, the snafe (Factotum sequax) is one of many species suspected but ultimately unconfirmed to be "intelligent". Indeed, the search for and eventual failed recognition of "intelligence" (whatever one means by this word) is a recurring theme throughout the book, which I think speaks more of the humans on Furaha than their study subjects themselves. Given recent discussion on the topic of intelligence and its current lack of proper definition, I think this is a very realistic take on the subject.

An early painting of the phleph (originally named Vanitas sursumvergenspropterpenuriaponderis, later changed into Pigritia sursumvergenspropterpenuriaponderis), part of a group of superficially-but-not-quite cephalopod-like marine organisms called wardens, for which "intelligence" is also suspected by some, but ultimately remains unproven. Again, you'll only find the final version of the painting in the book. Copyright Gert van Dijk.

Another highlight of the book for me are the anatomical and biomechanical diagrams, which, as already mentioned, were already a staple of the blog and are now finalized in all their glory in the book: anything from range of motion of skeletons to gait and flight mechanics is explored, especially for those organism with a bauplan that is particularly divergent from Terran ones (Furaha is inhabited by radial walkers, swimmers and flyers, six-legged "vertebrates", and multi-legged, multi-tonned behemoths, among others). The solutions found by van Dijk to make them work within the realm of both physics and biology, taking inspiration from both nature and robotics, are ingenious and nothing short of fascinating, and I'll say it again that this level of rigour and research sets Furaha apart from the majority of similar projects, making it among the most, if not the most, believable in this regard, a gold standard of hard SpecEvo if you will. Striving for plausibility means that not everything is possible, that some solutions will inevitably converge with those found on planet Earth, and that there will inevitably be a limit to the possible "alienosity" of the alien organisms we can envision as plausible, an issue that was already covered on the blog. Indeed, some inspirations from Terran organisms are more apparent than others throughout the book, but I don't see why convergent evolution (to a reasonable degree) shouldn't be plausible and expected even at interplanetary scale, and I think the final result makes for a very satisfactory balance.

Another example of diagrams you'll find in the book, this one showing two phases in the tetrapter wing cycle (tetrapters are a group of Furahan flying organisms with radial symmetry). The full illustration in the book shows a lot more phases of this unique "radial flight". Copyright Gert van Dijk.

The book ends with a gallery of original paintings, a couple of which were previously unpublished to my knowledge, which is also nice.

An example of the kind of changes the art of Furaha has gone through from its beginning to its completion, here exemplified by the very banner of the blog, a hunting scene involving two hexapods, the bobbuck (Swala perceler) and the prober (Acerbus acutus), as it appeared in the original painting (above) and in its final book version (below). I'm a great fan of van Dijk's double-headed, double-necked, ladder-skeletoned hexapods (features that they actually share with other members of the "fishes IV" clade, see below), especially the neocarnivores or centauraptors like the prober here. Copyright Gert van Dijk.

If it wasn't already apparent, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but a fair review wouldn't be complete without some criticism. Plants and mixotrophs receive considerably less coverage than animals, something botanists will frown on perhaps, but the same could be said about popular books on Earth biodiversity too, so it's understandable. Plus, it's not like these weren't as well thought as their animal counterparts anyway, a prime example of this being the three different approaches to photosynthesis envisioned for Furahan plants.

A cladogram of Scalata, the clade comprising "fishes I to VI" (again, only a relative term) as well as terrestrial hexapods (as mentioned above, actually part of Fishes IV). This is an earlier version than the one found in the book, as the position of fishes IV and V is inverted compared to the final version. Wish there were more cladograms like this in the book! Copyright Gert van Dijk.

One thing I would have liked to see better explored is the phylogeny of the various organisms: this is an issue I've seen with many SpecEvo projects of this kind, one notable exception being the sadly currently defunct Nereus project  (incidentally, I think the only place where you can still find a version of the giant cladogram of all nereozoans that was created and frequently updated for the project is on the Furaha blog). A cladogram of scalates is presented (see above), and it's also mentioned that cloakfish (a group of radially-symmetrical swimmers) may be related to them, but one is left to wonder if spidrids are in some way related to tetrapters (both being radially symmetrical and superficially insectoid critters), or where do rusps (which include the multi-legged, multi-tonned behemoths mentioned above) fit into all this (it's only mentioned that they are not closely related to hexapods, could they be in any way related to polypods perhaps?).

Of course, it's perfectly possible that, on a recently colonised planet, such things are simply not known yet, and it is indeed mentioned that science on Furaha progresses slowly, but since it DOES progress, we can only hope that future Furaha publications will clear the issue. 

I was also left wondering about the reproductive mode of many organisms: as recently revealed (see the comments), for spidrids at least, not much has been thought out on this yet, so there's plenty of possibilities to explore in the event future publications may appear. 

A screengrab from the Furaha site's entry on the sawjaw (Serrabucca piscivora), a large predatory fish IV. As the map and text show, this is a denizen of Auralgia, yet in the book it's said to be from Meralgia, so what's going on here? Copyright Gert van Dijk.

Some more technical problems include some ambiguities in the distribution of some organisms (both the sawjaw Serrabucca piscivora and the shadowfisher Draco umbraferens are said to be from Meralgia, yet their distribution maps place them on different landmasses. Marblebills (Iaculator weismuelleri) are also said to be among the predators of the dandy (Callopistes poikilocheirus), a peculiar Palaeogaean hexapod in which the males sport asymmetrical display pincer-like claws on their first pair of limbs, yet the entry on the marblebill doesn't show Palaeogaea in its range. It's possible that part of this is due to the fact that the actual range of many Furahan species, as explained in the book, is not completely known, but it's still weird and at least in some cases some mistyping may have happened, something that could easily be corrected may a second edition appear.

Finally, there are some naming convention issues, like some clade names above the genus level italicized (they should not be, at least according to naming conventions on Earth), or some italicized "sp." abbreviations (again, following Earth taxonomic rules, they should not be). To be fair, Furaha scientists have developed their own taxonomic rules, so it may simply be that all of the above is actually allowed by the Furahan Codes of Nomenclature. 

A potator or treehugger (Amnesialata blansjarii), a microrusp, in a Furahan sunset, evoking a mix of awe and perhaps melancholy, just as I felt when finishing the book. If you think this image is beautiful, wait until you see the final version in the book. Copyright Gert van Dijk.

The above is of course but minor nitpicking in an overall extremely impressive and enjoyable work. My biggest complaint (and actually a praise) is that, when finishing the book, I was left wanting more, not because I was disappointed with what I was given, but because I feel we've just scratched the surface. Just like Sigismunda Felsacker, I too was reluctant to leave such a wonderful, still largely unexplored, world. 

I think such a level of immersion is the greatest achievement a SpecEvo project could possibly aspire to, and in this Gert van Dijk completely succeeds.

So can we expect more from Furaha? I can only hope so, and indeed we are already getting a new series of microdocumentaries to keep our Furahan appetite up. 

In the meantime, if you're passionate about Speculative Evolution, or just a casual reader of Science Fiction, or interested in biology or biomechanics, buy this book and dive into a new and exciting world, and if you've been a die-hard fan of the project since the beginning, also buy this book and see what a long way we've come.

Just buy the damn book, seriously.

You can buy Wildlife on the Planet Furaha here on Blackwell, here on Crowood, and here on Amazon, though it seems the first two options are preferable.