The first volume in this new science fiction trilogy examines the humans of this universe and the Neanderthals of a parallel world where they are the dominant ...Show synopsisThe first volume in this new science fiction trilogy examines the humans of this universe and the Neanderthals of a parallel world where they are the dominant intelligence. When a Neanderthal physicist pierces the barrier between the two worlds and finds himself in this universe, he is quarantined and studied, while in his own world his lab partner is investigated for his murder.Hide synopsis
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Description:Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback....Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 448 p. Audience: General/trade.
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Description:Donato. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. VG+ 444 p. 1st mass...Donato. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. VG+ 444 p. 1st mass market paperback edition from Tor, 2003. VERY GOOD PLUS. Donato cover art.
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Description:Fair in Fair jacket. 0312876920 The covers have a little shelf...Fair in Fair jacket. 0312876920 The covers have a little shelf wear and there is some creasing around the spine. The dust jacket is covered in library plastic. There are library stamps on the top edges of the pages and on the back endpaper. There is call number sticker on the spine and other library stickers on the back cover. The edges of the pages have some very slight soiling. Ponter Boddit, a Neaderthal scientist from a parallel world, ends up in our own world, trapped and confused by our own scientists, while in his world, his assistant is taking the blame for his disappearence.
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Description:Fine in fine dust jacket. Ex-library. Cover is in protective...Fine in fine dust jacket. Ex-library. Cover is in protective plastic sleeve. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 444 p. Audience: General/trade.
Description:Very good in very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over...Very good in very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 444 p. Audience: General/trade.
Description:[0-765-34500-5] [date not indicated], later printing. (Mass...[0-765-34500-5] [date not indicated], later printing. (Mass market paperback)...Very good.......Award winner: Hugo 2003. Series: The Neanderthal Parallax 1....(Science Fiction)
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The Neanderthal world was clunky at first but actually became somewhat more appealing as more of it was revealed, even though some logical inconsistencies still detract from immersion. It's a mixture of a utopia and the worst kind of surveilance society which makes the utopian aspirations disingenuous. The plot depends on certain events having happened for the first time or at least being pretty unexpected though on the society described they should happen quite often.
The human side of the story just felt like one of those cheap summer blockbuster disaster stories - a poorly fleshed out cast of characters seemingly randomly assembled that go through the motions of the plot though embodied with neither real character nor feelings.
I really would have given it 3.5 stars if I could. I didn't quite *really* like it but I liked it a lot. It was a great science-fiction story that did a good job with explaining the theoretical physics in a way that a layman could understand. However, the book spent SO MUCH time discussing the physics, that characterization fell flat. I really didn't care much about ANY of the characters, and when I think back on the book, I can barely remember some of the supporting players' names. The plot is good enough that I can overlook poor characterization and read to find out what happens, but it isn't going to make for a book I'll be thinking about long past I've put it down.
Interesting thesis and plot, abysmal characterization (why does this keep happening to me?). Sawyer creates an interesting parallel world in which Homo sapiens died out and the Neanderthals instead took our evolutionary niche and progressed technologically to the present. Our world and theirs meet when their quantum computer "crashes" and accidentally sends us a Neanderthal (yeah, that raised a couple of scientific hackles, but I'm willing to let it go as a premise). So far, so good: lots of potential for culture clash and for exploring an intriguing alternate present. And if you read the book for the Neanderthal bits and skip over the rest, it makes a pretty intriguing tale.
The half of the book that takes place in our world is not only far less interesting, but it seems to have no impact on the overall plot. The human characters run about a bit and fuss a lot (and engage in the "oldest form of entertainment" or some such euphemism -- gag me!). There are painful wedges of info-dumps about quantum computing and parallel worlds and physics and archaeology that the characters themselves complain about. The book opens with the most gratingly heavily foreshadowed rape scene in the history of the novel, clearly written by someone who's spent about 30 minutes scanning rape center pamphlets, and the event is remembered repeatedly throughout the rest of the book but it NEVER MEANS ANYTHING to the plot. There are some interesting directions this could potentially have gone -- an in-depth examination of how such an event would be treated in the Neanderthal society? -- but instead this is only brushed over and provides no new insights or plot elements.
So my advice is to read it for the fun, creative imagining of Neanderthal society, and just skip the rest. You won't have missed out on anything.
This book was both more enjoyable and more annoying than I expected it to be. On the annoying side, one of the few violent scenes in the book was more graphic than necessary for the overall tone of the book. The payoff for one of the characters and her motivations started off with the potential to be fascinating then fell flat at the end. There were serious undertones of misogyny that took a somewhat abrupt swing to misandry in the latter part of the book, and the author's views on religion came out a little more strongly than warranted.
On the enjoyable side, the book moved along at a great pace and was engaging even though the plot was reasonably predictable. The science was understandable and believable; I give extra points for using a fictional extrapolation of the differences between the Copenhagen Interpretation and the Many-Worlds Theory as a plot point. The contrast between the two societies explored the ideas of the origin of morality as well as personal safety at the expense of personal freedom. The Neanderthals live in a benevolent totalitarian society, where their every action is recorded and can be monitored and the council of rulers and those with the right to vote are all "gray hairs," those who are considered old enough to have experience and wisdom. They accept this because, from what we see of their civilization, they have what they consider to be a near-utopia with almost no crime and poverty.
Other than the parts that made me twitch, this was an enjoyable book. Additionally, the protagonist was a bisexual Neanderthal physicist (it's nice to run across the occasional character that makes me say, "huh, that's a new one on me.") and I learned how we ended up with the alternate spellings/pronunciations of the term Neanderthal. I've spent my time reading worse things.
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