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Neanderthal Parallax #3
Hybrids
In the Hugo-Award winning Hominids, Robert J. Sawyer introduced a character readers will never forget: Ponter Boddit, a Neanderthal physicist from a parallel Earth who was whisked from his reality into ours by a quantum-computing experiment gone awry - making him the ultimate stranger in a strange land.
In that book and in its sequel, Humans, Sawyer showed us the Neanderthal version of Earth in loving detail - a tour de force of world-building; a masterpiece of alternate history.
Now, in Hybrids, Ponter Boddit and his Homo sapiens lover, geneticist Mary Vaughan, are torn between two worlds, struggling to find a way to make their star-crossed relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the joining of their two versions of reality.
But after an experiment shows that Mary's religious faith - something completely absent in Neanderthals - is a quirk of the neurological wiring of Homo sapiens brains, Ponter and Mary must decide whether their child should be predisposed to atheism or belief. Meanwhile, as Mary's Earth is dealing with a collapse of its planetary magnetic field, her boss, the enigmatic Jock Krieger, has turned envious eyes on the unspoiled Eden that is the Neanderthal world . . .
Hybrids is filled to bursting with Sawyer's signature speculations about alternative ways of being human, exploding our preconceptions of morality and gender, of faith and love. His Neanderthal Parallax trilogy is a classic in the making, and here he brings it to a stunning, thought-provoking conclusion that's sure to make Hybrids one of the most controversial books of the year.
In that book and in its sequel, Humans, Sawyer showed us the Neanderthal version of Earth in loving detail - a tour de force of world-building; a masterpiece of alternate history.
Now, in Hybrids, Ponter Boddit and his Homo sapiens lover, geneticist Mary Vaughan, are torn between two worlds, struggling to find a way to make their star-crossed relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the joining of their two versions of reality.
But after an experiment shows that Mary's religious faith - something completely absent in Neanderthals - is a quirk of the neurological wiring of Homo sapiens brains, Ponter and Mary must decide whether their child should be predisposed to atheism or belief. Meanwhile, as Mary's Earth is dealing with a collapse of its planetary magnetic field, her boss, the enigmatic Jock Krieger, has turned envious eyes on the unspoiled Eden that is the Neanderthal world . . .
Hybrids is filled to bursting with Sawyer's signature speculations about alternative ways of being human, exploding our preconceptions of morality and gender, of faith and love. His Neanderthal Parallax trilogy is a classic in the making, and here he brings it to a stunning, thought-provoking conclusion that's sure to make Hybrids one of the most controversial books of the year.
400 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2003
About the author
Robert J. Sawyer
204 books2,385 followersRobert J. Sawyer is one of Canada's best known and most successful science fiction writers. He is the only Canadian (and one of only 7 writers in the world) to have won all three of the top international awards for science fiction: the 1995 Nebula Award for The Terminal Experiment, the 2003 Hugo Award for Hominids, and the 2006 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Mindscan.
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to have watched the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey 25 times. He began writing science fiction in a high school club, which he co-founded, NASFA (Northview Academy Association of Science Fiction Addicts). Sawyer graduated in 1982 from the Radio and Television Arts Program at Ryerson University, where he later worked as an instructor.
Sawyer's first published book, Golden Fleece (1989), is an adaptation of short stories that had previously appeared in the science-fiction magazine Amazing Stories. This book won the Aurora Award for the best Canadian science-fiction novel in English. In the early 1990s Sawyer went on to publish his inventive Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, about a world of intelligent dinosaurs. His 1995 award winning The Terminal Experiment confirmed his place as a major international science-fiction writer.
A prolific writer, Sawyer has published more than 10 novels, plus two trilogies. Reviewers praise Sawyer for his concise prose, which has been compared to that of the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov. Like many science fiction-writers, Sawyer welcomes the opportunities his chosen genre provides for exploring ideas. The first book of his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids (2002), is set in a near-future society, in which a quantum computing experiment brings a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel Earth to ours. His 2006 Mindscan explores the possibility of transferring human consciousness into a mechanical body, and the ensuing ethical, legal, and societal ramifications.
A passionate advocate for science fiction, Sawyer teaches creative writing and appears frequently in the media to discuss his genre. He prefers the label "philosophical fiction," and in no way sees himself as a predictor of the future. His mission statement for his writing is "To combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic."
http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...
Robert Sawyer grew up in Toronto, the son of two university professors. He credits two of his favourite shows from the late 1960s and early 1970s, Search and Star Trek, with teaching him some of the fundamentals of the science-fiction craft. Sawyer was obsessed with outer space from a young age, and he vividly remembers watching the televised Apollo missions. He claims to have watched the 1968 classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey 25 times. He began writing science fiction in a high school club, which he co-founded, NASFA (Northview Academy Association of Science Fiction Addicts). Sawyer graduated in 1982 from the Radio and Television Arts Program at Ryerson University, where he later worked as an instructor.
Sawyer's first published book, Golden Fleece (1989), is an adaptation of short stories that had previously appeared in the science-fiction magazine Amazing Stories. This book won the Aurora Award for the best Canadian science-fiction novel in English. In the early 1990s Sawyer went on to publish his inventive Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, about a world of intelligent dinosaurs. His 1995 award winning The Terminal Experiment confirmed his place as a major international science-fiction writer.
A prolific writer, Sawyer has published more than 10 novels, plus two trilogies. Reviewers praise Sawyer for his concise prose, which has been compared to that of the science-fiction master Isaac Asimov. Like many science fiction-writers, Sawyer welcomes the opportunities his chosen genre provides for exploring ideas. The first book of his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy, Hominids (2002), is set in a near-future society, in which a quantum computing experiment brings a Neanderthal scientist from a parallel Earth to ours. His 2006 Mindscan explores the possibility of transferring human consciousness into a mechanical body, and the ensuing ethical, legal, and societal ramifications.
A passionate advocate for science fiction, Sawyer teaches creative writing and appears frequently in the media to discuss his genre. He prefers the label "philosophical fiction," and in no way sees himself as a predictor of the future. His mission statement for his writing is "To combine the intimately human with the grandly cosmic."
http://us.macmillan.com/author/robert...
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December 9, 2023
The ultimate cross-cultural inter-species experiment!
A glitch in a quantum computing experiment creates a portal between two parallel universes - the one in which we live and die and another in which Homo sapiens failed, an extinct species merely a part of the fossil record, but Neanderthals have thrived and evolved into a modern species over the last 40,000 years. This is the basic premise and grist for a compelling trilogy, THE NEANDERTHAL PARALLAX. The first two entries in the series, HOMINIDS and HUMANS, lay the groundwork for the ultimate cross-cultural inter-species experiment in which Ponter Boddit, the Neanderthal computer scientist, and Mary Vaughan, the human geneticist, fall in love, marry and plan the birth of a hybrid daughter. The profound cultural and environmental differences between the two species and the fact that they are not even genetically compatible at a chromosomal level form the basis for the plot line of the final installment in the trilogy.
For those that like their sci-fi hard, there are lots of exciting and even controversial examples to draw on - quantum computers capable of cracking 512 bit encryption; intelligent, sentient "personal" computers hard-wired into the human body capable of monitoring and visually recording an individual's every move for posterity into an alibi archive; cochlear implants for immediate, audible communication with any individual at any point on the globe; a gene sequencer that can pull off the analysis of a complete genome in hours and then produce designer DNA or RNA based on a geneticist's computer instructions - Sawyer's imagination certainly is not short of ideas in this department!
Social commentary in the novel, for the most part, takes the form of Ponter puzzling over humanity's basic assumptions about a wide variety of issues. Because Ponter is naturally assumed to be absolutely ignorant of any of our beliefs, conventions or practices upon his arrival in the human world, it is quite reasonable to assume that, as an intelligent being, he would also question absolutely everything. Most of his queries, of course, would occur at a very fundamental level. While Sawyer didn't attempt to put forth any solutions, this particular approach is very effective at forcing a perceptive, cautious readers to address their own particular prejudices or thoughts on these issues - sex, sexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, love, marriage, divorce, crime, punishment, jurisprudence, the world's dependence on fossil fuels, birth rates, contraception, the Roman Catholic church's positions on priestly celibacy, female ordination and the child abuse scandal by priests, religious faith and even the fact that we believe in a supreme being at all. No issue seemed off limits. I would criticize Sawyer's approach to the extent that, while he is certainly entitled to his own personal opinion, the preaching at times got very heavy-handed and was delivered from atop a self-styled Canadian soap box.
Until the final few chapters, one might have had trouble deciding what HYBRIDS actually was - an anthropological thought experiment, a cautionary social treatise, a hard core science fiction novel or an eco-suspense thriller, and that was great! But, sadly, the climax and the denouement failed to live up to the standard of the rest of the trilogy. An over the top Hollywood style finish that was almost silly and melodramatic left one to sigh, feeling robbed that what could have been truly great was now merely good. Final impressions are just as important as first ones and Sawyer could have done so much better!
Paul Weiss
A glitch in a quantum computing experiment creates a portal between two parallel universes - the one in which we live and die and another in which Homo sapiens failed, an extinct species merely a part of the fossil record, but Neanderthals have thrived and evolved into a modern species over the last 40,000 years. This is the basic premise and grist for a compelling trilogy, THE NEANDERTHAL PARALLAX. The first two entries in the series, HOMINIDS and HUMANS, lay the groundwork for the ultimate cross-cultural inter-species experiment in which Ponter Boddit, the Neanderthal computer scientist, and Mary Vaughan, the human geneticist, fall in love, marry and plan the birth of a hybrid daughter. The profound cultural and environmental differences between the two species and the fact that they are not even genetically compatible at a chromosomal level form the basis for the plot line of the final installment in the trilogy.
For those that like their sci-fi hard, there are lots of exciting and even controversial examples to draw on - quantum computers capable of cracking 512 bit encryption; intelligent, sentient "personal" computers hard-wired into the human body capable of monitoring and visually recording an individual's every move for posterity into an alibi archive; cochlear implants for immediate, audible communication with any individual at any point on the globe; a gene sequencer that can pull off the analysis of a complete genome in hours and then produce designer DNA or RNA based on a geneticist's computer instructions - Sawyer's imagination certainly is not short of ideas in this department!
Social commentary in the novel, for the most part, takes the form of Ponter puzzling over humanity's basic assumptions about a wide variety of issues. Because Ponter is naturally assumed to be absolutely ignorant of any of our beliefs, conventions or practices upon his arrival in the human world, it is quite reasonable to assume that, as an intelligent being, he would also question absolutely everything. Most of his queries, of course, would occur at a very fundamental level. While Sawyer didn't attempt to put forth any solutions, this particular approach is very effective at forcing a perceptive, cautious readers to address their own particular prejudices or thoughts on these issues - sex, sexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, love, marriage, divorce, crime, punishment, jurisprudence, the world's dependence on fossil fuels, birth rates, contraception, the Roman Catholic church's positions on priestly celibacy, female ordination and the child abuse scandal by priests, religious faith and even the fact that we believe in a supreme being at all. No issue seemed off limits. I would criticize Sawyer's approach to the extent that, while he is certainly entitled to his own personal opinion, the preaching at times got very heavy-handed and was delivered from atop a self-styled Canadian soap box.
Until the final few chapters, one might have had trouble deciding what HYBRIDS actually was - an anthropological thought experiment, a cautionary social treatise, a hard core science fiction novel or an eco-suspense thriller, and that was great! But, sadly, the climax and the denouement failed to live up to the standard of the rest of the trilogy. An over the top Hollywood style finish that was almost silly and melodramatic left one to sigh, feeling robbed that what could have been truly great was now merely good. Final impressions are just as important as first ones and Sawyer could have done so much better!
Paul Weiss
March 14, 2024
Check out my full, spoiler, video review HERE. I thought about giving this one 2 stars but there were some redeeming qualities in the series. My least favorite book in the series due to a ridiculous plot and sloppy writing. I hope Sawyer’s other works sit better with me.
October 4, 2010
I could not finish this book. This book is literally the single worst SF book I have tried to read in a decade.
The characters? Abysmal, cardboard cutouts who go on rants which last pages. Worse than Ayn Rand, worse than Arthur C. Clark.
The ideas? Nothing new at all. Just more of the same. Neanderthals are smarter, nicer, more moral, and all-around-better than Homo Sapiens. Their world is unspoiled, ours is a hell hole.
The political ideas?
- Eugenics are great. It would benefit society to force-sterilize the bottom 5% of intelligence each generation. Forced castration for certain crimes, along with sterilization of the criminal's family and children, for the good of the race.
- Religion is a mental aberration, and the cause of almost all that is bad.
- Men, especially capitalist men are just terrible creatures. Not to be trusted. Except for ... Phil Donohue? Really?
- Crime would go away if everyone would just sign up for 100% surveillance at all times. It is worth giving up privacy for the "freedom" this would give. Notably, even the characters in the book, the super-good-super-moral characters occasionally circumvent the surveillance when they judge that they have a good reason.
Yuck.
This is a stupid stupid book, don't read it.
The characters? Abysmal, cardboard cutouts who go on rants which last pages. Worse than Ayn Rand, worse than Arthur C. Clark.
The ideas? Nothing new at all. Just more of the same. Neanderthals are smarter, nicer, more moral, and all-around-better than Homo Sapiens. Their world is unspoiled, ours is a hell hole.
The political ideas?
- Eugenics are great. It would benefit society to force-sterilize the bottom 5% of intelligence each generation. Forced castration for certain crimes, along with sterilization of the criminal's family and children, for the good of the race.
- Religion is a mental aberration, and the cause of almost all that is bad.
- Men, especially capitalist men are just terrible creatures. Not to be trusted. Except for ... Phil Donohue? Really?
- Crime would go away if everyone would just sign up for 100% surveillance at all times. It is worth giving up privacy for the "freedom" this would give. Notably, even the characters in the book, the super-good-super-moral characters occasionally circumvent the surveillance when they judge that they have a good reason.
Yuck.
This is a stupid stupid book, don't read it.
July 23, 2011
I started my review of Hominids, the first book, by saying it was a pretty good start to the trilogy. Not great, but pretty good, and ultimately a little disappointing because a Hugo-winner should be better than, well, pretty good. Now I’ve finished the trilogy and Hybrids is solid ending. Not great, but, well, solid. Still I don’t feel the minor disappointment I felt with the first book because my expectations had been lowered from great to average, so reading a nice, solid ending was satisfying.
The tender love scenes got a little too tender for me, veering into to gag-me-with-a-spoon territory. The bad guy’s evil plot got a little too eeeevvviill if you know what I mean. But the author certainly knows how to drive a plot, building and changing dynamic along the way. The rape of a main character, which I found so ill-used (even inappropriately-used) in the first book, finally leads to some interesting, if not entirely plausible, plot twists and some sort-of meaningful discussion about rape as a subject. The overall idea I still found interesting, and I still love the use of the Neanderthal to provide incisive commentary on contemporary social and political topics, a la Michael Valentine in Stranger in a Strange Land .
Some may complain the commentary is obvious, but I think that’s missing the point. The commentary is not supposed to be subtle; like Mike the Martian, Ponter the Neanderthal lays his dumfounded criticism of our fucked-up world right out on the table for all to see. If you don’t like it, Ponter would say, then do something about it, change your world for the better and don’t leave it open to such obvious censure.
P.S. I don't normally do this, but ... 3.5 stars.
The tender love scenes got a little too tender for me, veering into to gag-me-with-a-spoon territory. The bad guy’s evil plot got a little too eeeevvviill if you know what I mean. But the author certainly knows how to drive a plot, building and changing dynamic along the way. The rape of a main character, which I found so ill-used (even inappropriately-used) in the first book, finally leads to some interesting, if not entirely plausible, plot twists and some sort-of meaningful discussion about rape as a subject. The overall idea I still found interesting, and I still love the use of the Neanderthal to provide incisive commentary on contemporary social and political topics, a la Michael Valentine in Stranger in a Strange Land .
Some may complain the commentary is obvious, but I think that’s missing the point. The commentary is not supposed to be subtle; like Mike the Martian, Ponter the Neanderthal lays his dumfounded criticism of our fucked-up world right out on the table for all to see. If you don’t like it, Ponter would say, then do something about it, change your world for the better and don’t leave it open to such obvious censure.
P.S. I don't normally do this, but ... 3.5 stars.
May 28, 2013
The most cringe worthy book I have EVER read. This series started off with an interesting concept but proved to be totally repulsive. It's like the author crammed a bunch of- ill give him this- actual scientific theories together with awful plot lines and character dialogue making one huge awkward mess. This last one was by far the worst. I really don't see how an extremely uncomfortably graphic depiction of a woman's rape in the first book was remotely necessary, unless you count the ridiculous castration of the rapist leading to some kind of epiphany about the "cure" for violent urges in males being the removal of testosterone. The beginning and middle of this one was really difficult to even continue reading, but, by the end some action finally happens and it's way too much all at once to even make me care about anything except the book finally ending. It left me saying, out loud, countless times, REALLY?! Followed a couple times by an actual laugh of disbelief at the preposterous phrase in question. The author slams too many massive ideas together. Pretty much all the big aspects of humanity- religion, violence, global warming, loss, even biology and anthropology- are put into some kind of misguided attempt at questioning our entire existence and morality as a species. If one or two were examined on a broad scale with decent character developments, it would be easier to digest and care about, but it's much too chaotic to take seriously. The main character is full of contradictions- a die hard catholic that believes in everything Catholics are against and frequently uses phrases like "Jesus Christ! God damn it!" And eventually ends up deciding to leave her religion all together. That would normally make for an interesting plot development but its done in a completely non believable manner that is just arbitrary and ultimately a waste of time. Do NOT spend money on any of these books. Yes, there were a few ideas that are pretty interesting, but they're lumped into this giant messy heap of characters and substories that just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. It clearly begs the reader to question humanity and hold our species under a microscope but the only thing that ends up making me do that is the fact that somebody published these books. Sorry this is kind of harsh but I really wish somebody had told me these things before I spent money on this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2011
The conclusion to a bafflingly successful series. The author descends to new depths of misandry as he demonstrates how all the world's violence and problems are because of men and/or religion. Meanwhile the Neaderthal utopia is a Nazi's dream, with 24-hour surveillance, forced sterilization, and eugenics. I'm still not sure if this is tongue in cheek or obliviousness. I would assume it was commentary but the heavy-handedness of the rape subplots lead to believe it may very well be straight up.
Edit: I forgot to mention the absolutely offensive and inaccurate discussion of affirmative action in academic hiring. Apparently in Canadian universities, brilliant white men can't get jobs. This causes them to become rapists.
Edit: I forgot to mention the absolutely offensive and inaccurate discussion of affirmative action in academic hiring. Apparently in Canadian universities, brilliant white men can't get jobs. This causes them to become rapists.
July 2, 2021
La culminación de la trilogía. Todas las líneas narrativas pendientes son anudadas: la historia personal de Mary, la relación con Ponter, las relaciones diplomáticas entre los dos universos. En parte era predecible. El libro culmina con la demostración científica de que la religión es producto de actividad cerebral y nada más, y se puede "extirpar", como quien remueve una muela infectada. Controversial, pero para la mayoría de los personajes al menos tiene un final feliz.
January 1, 2010
Didn't we just do this? I need to take a break from Robert J. Sawyer for a while now, since I just read
Hominids
,
Humans
, and now Hybrids. The complete trilogy! Do I get a set of steak knives?
If you're really interested in a critique, I advise you to read my reviews, neither of which are very spoilerific, of the first two books. All my criticism (and praise) of those books holds for Hybrids as well. It saves me typing and saves you bandwidth and valuable time you could otherwise use for, say, reading books.
Oh, and there are spoilers now. You started reading this review regardless of the automatic warning, though, so I assume you're OK with that.
One of the main plots in Hybrids centres around Ponter and Mary's budding relationship. They need to work out living arrangements, considering that Ponter spends twenty-five days of the month living with his man-mate, Adikor, and if bonded to Mary would only expect to see her four days a month. Mary has to get over her conditioned discomfort with Ponter and Adikor's intimate relationship, and she has to decide where she wants to live—her Earth, or his. Finally, Mary and Ponter want to have a child, and they need to decide if it will have a predisposition toward religious belief (like humans) or be an atheist (like Neanderthals).
This plot is the most interesting part of the book. Mary's ultimate decision to make their child a born atheist is no doubt controversial. I'm an atheist, and even I at first expressed some indignation—I thought Mary's decision was one that she couldn't make, that the child should have the choice. But belief isn't a choice, is it? I can't just choose to suddenly change my mind and believe in God . . . such convictions are deeper than conscious thought. So my initial position seems to be wrong; the idea that Mary and Ponter's child should be born with the potential for choosing religion or atheism because it's an "obstacle" to be overcome is just as bad as saying that the child should be born blind so it can "overcome" the obstacles associated with blindness. Religious people would no doubt disagree . . . but such a debate is outside the scope of this review. It's enough that Hybrids sparks the debate; science fiction should do that.
The other plot is Jock Krieger's genocidal attempt to infect all Neanderthals with an altered, selective strain of Ebola so as to wipe clean their pristine version of Earth and leave it ripe for human colonization. This plot isn't nearly as convincing nor as interesting as the other one. Firstly, Jock is just such a stereotypical villain—the "avaricious American"—that I cringed a great deal while reading his scenes. Secondly, Sawyer can't maintain the suspense required for the amount of travel his characters have to accomplish just to foil the bad guy.
With regards to Jock, I had a hard time believing someone could be both that nefarious and that blasé at the same time. (I'm sure some people in real life are, but fiction, unlike real life, has to make sense.) His character didn't sit well with me in Humans either; he seemed to fluctuate between earnest scientist who desired synergy and coldblooded game theorist who only wanted to exploited the Neanderthals. And as soon as Mary gives him the Neanderthal codon writer, the first thing he does is manufacture a virus that kills Neanderthals—and only Neanderthals. It wasn't a big deal to him though.
After reading Flashforward and these books, I've realized that Sawyer has a penchant for forcing his characters to traverse nearly impossible distances in very short lengths of time. In the case of Hybrids, he ups the ante: our characters have to go back and forth as their goals change toward the very end of the book, and I had a hard time keeping it all straight.
What most let me down about Hybrids, however, was the fizzle of the threat of Earth's geomagnetic reversal. In Humans, we learned that it was possible that the collapse of the Earth's magnetic field would cause human consciousness to "crash." Not only does Sawyer dismiss this threat in Hybrids, but he does it in an incredibly banal way, tacking it on after the climax where Mary and Ponter confront Jock. All of humanity goes on a great big magnetically-induced acid trip with themes ranging from religion to alien abduction? While this could be an important plot point in its own right, the way Sawyer included it at the end of the book turns it into an afterthought and undermines the intriguing ideas he advanced in Humans about the link between consciousness and Earth's magnetic field.
So what's new with Hybrids? Not much. Babies, genocide, a little uncomfortable dramatic irony. As far as concluding volumes go, Hybrids wraps up the plot nice and neatly, but it doesn't earn any points in the drama department. The story here is thin and not very satisfying.
If you're really interested in a critique, I advise you to read my reviews, neither of which are very spoilerific, of the first two books. All my criticism (and praise) of those books holds for Hybrids as well. It saves me typing and saves you bandwidth and valuable time you could otherwise use for, say, reading books.
Oh, and there are spoilers now. You started reading this review regardless of the automatic warning, though, so I assume you're OK with that.
One of the main plots in Hybrids centres around Ponter and Mary's budding relationship. They need to work out living arrangements, considering that Ponter spends twenty-five days of the month living with his man-mate, Adikor, and if bonded to Mary would only expect to see her four days a month. Mary has to get over her conditioned discomfort with Ponter and Adikor's intimate relationship, and she has to decide where she wants to live—her Earth, or his. Finally, Mary and Ponter want to have a child, and they need to decide if it will have a predisposition toward religious belief (like humans) or be an atheist (like Neanderthals).
This plot is the most interesting part of the book. Mary's ultimate decision to make their child a born atheist is no doubt controversial. I'm an atheist, and even I at first expressed some indignation—I thought Mary's decision was one that she couldn't make, that the child should have the choice. But belief isn't a choice, is it? I can't just choose to suddenly change my mind and believe in God . . . such convictions are deeper than conscious thought. So my initial position seems to be wrong; the idea that Mary and Ponter's child should be born with the potential for choosing religion or atheism because it's an "obstacle" to be overcome is just as bad as saying that the child should be born blind so it can "overcome" the obstacles associated with blindness. Religious people would no doubt disagree . . . but such a debate is outside the scope of this review. It's enough that Hybrids sparks the debate; science fiction should do that.
The other plot is Jock Krieger's genocidal attempt to infect all Neanderthals with an altered, selective strain of Ebola so as to wipe clean their pristine version of Earth and leave it ripe for human colonization. This plot isn't nearly as convincing nor as interesting as the other one. Firstly, Jock is just such a stereotypical villain—the "avaricious American"—that I cringed a great deal while reading his scenes. Secondly, Sawyer can't maintain the suspense required for the amount of travel his characters have to accomplish just to foil the bad guy.
With regards to Jock, I had a hard time believing someone could be both that nefarious and that blasé at the same time. (I'm sure some people in real life are, but fiction, unlike real life, has to make sense.) His character didn't sit well with me in Humans either; he seemed to fluctuate between earnest scientist who desired synergy and coldblooded game theorist who only wanted to exploited the Neanderthals. And as soon as Mary gives him the Neanderthal codon writer, the first thing he does is manufacture a virus that kills Neanderthals—and only Neanderthals. It wasn't a big deal to him though.
After reading Flashforward and these books, I've realized that Sawyer has a penchant for forcing his characters to traverse nearly impossible distances in very short lengths of time. In the case of Hybrids, he ups the ante: our characters have to go back and forth as their goals change toward the very end of the book, and I had a hard time keeping it all straight.
What most let me down about Hybrids, however, was the fizzle of the threat of Earth's geomagnetic reversal. In Humans, we learned that it was possible that the collapse of the Earth's magnetic field would cause human consciousness to "crash." Not only does Sawyer dismiss this threat in Hybrids, but he does it in an incredibly banal way, tacking it on after the climax where Mary and Ponter confront Jock. All of humanity goes on a great big magnetically-induced acid trip with themes ranging from religion to alien abduction? While this could be an important plot point in its own right, the way Sawyer included it at the end of the book turns it into an afterthought and undermines the intriguing ideas he advanced in Humans about the link between consciousness and Earth's magnetic field.
So what's new with Hybrids? Not much. Babies, genocide, a little uncomfortable dramatic irony. As far as concluding volumes go, Hybrids wraps up the plot nice and neatly, but it doesn't earn any points in the drama department. The story here is thin and not very satisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2020
Sawyer brought his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy to a satisfactory conclusion with Hybrids. The relationship of Ponder Boddit and Mary Vaughn is examined in detail, with considerable philosophizing on religion, acceptance, the nature of romance, parental responsibility, and other such weighty subjects. The hard-science speculation takes a bit of a back seat to social and moral considerations, and the plot is not as fast paced as the earlier two books, but once it takes off it's a gripping finale to their tale. It's a very good and thought provoking book.
July 17, 2012
The book discovered a plot rather late in the narrative.
February 19, 2018
Meh. Hybrids had some good moments, but overall a flawed end to this story arc.
I'm glad I took the time to complete the trilogy, but I'm underwhelmed.
I'm glad I took the time to complete the trilogy, but I'm underwhelmed.
September 4, 2021
Definitely speculative science, grounded in real possibilities. Definitely has the Sense of Wonder and What If that I read SF for. Some nits could be picked, but I won't do so.
In this trilogy, start with the first and either stop or keep going after each. I'm glad I read to the end, and I think anyone who does like the first will feel the same way.
---
After enjoying War with the Newts by Karel Čapek, I should have looked for more. Sawyer did, and found "And let me tell you, God is not so infinite as the Catholics assert. He is about six hundred meters in diameter, and even then is weak towards the edges" from The Absolute at Large.
"She adhered to the rule of thumb that a friend was someone to whose home you had been, or who had been to your home."
---
Caveat: No graphic rape or related stuff in this third book, but still way too much for those readers triggered.
In this trilogy, start with the first and either stop or keep going after each. I'm glad I read to the end, and I think anyone who does like the first will feel the same way.
---
After enjoying War with the Newts by Karel Čapek, I should have looked for more. Sawyer did, and found "And let me tell you, God is not so infinite as the Catholics assert. He is about six hundred meters in diameter, and even then is weak towards the edges" from The Absolute at Large.
"She adhered to the rule of thumb that a friend was someone to whose home you had been, or who had been to your home."
---
Caveat: No graphic rape or related stuff in this third book, but still way too much for those readers triggered.
February 12, 2022
These comments were written back in 2004, when I read the book.
Cover: Ponter Bondit and his Homo Sapiens lover, geneticist Mary Vaughan, are torn between two worlds, struggling to find a way to make their star-crossed relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the joining of their two versions of reality. Meanwhile, as Mary's Earth is dealing with a collapse of its planetary magnetic field, her boss, the enigmatic Jock Krieger, has turned envious eyes on the unspoiled Eden that is the Neanderthal world.
So often, after a really good novel, the sequels fail to satisfy in the same way. But in this case, the third and final novel of the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy exceeds the original. This is a really new novel, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it nominated for awards over the next year. I don't want to reveal *any* of the plot elements, except to say that this novel works well on many different levels, besides a gripping plot, it engages the biological basis of gender roles, sexual preference, and religion - as well as academic politics, Canadian/US relations, and cosmology.
One thing I will comment on, is that Sawyer has often dealt with matters of the philosophy of religion in a somewhat ambiguous manner, having his characters voice particular points of view, without exposing his own perspective. However, through its plot, the conclusion of this book leaves little doubt as to his own thoughts, as projected through the character of Mary Vaughan.
Cover: Ponter Bondit and his Homo Sapiens lover, geneticist Mary Vaughan, are torn between two worlds, struggling to find a way to make their star-crossed relationship work. Aided by banned Neanderthal technology, they plan to conceive the first hybrid child, a symbol of hope for the joining of their two versions of reality. Meanwhile, as Mary's Earth is dealing with a collapse of its planetary magnetic field, her boss, the enigmatic Jock Krieger, has turned envious eyes on the unspoiled Eden that is the Neanderthal world.
So often, after a really good novel, the sequels fail to satisfy in the same way. But in this case, the third and final novel of the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy exceeds the original. This is a really new novel, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it nominated for awards over the next year. I don't want to reveal *any* of the plot elements, except to say that this novel works well on many different levels, besides a gripping plot, it engages the biological basis of gender roles, sexual preference, and religion - as well as academic politics, Canadian/US relations, and cosmology.
One thing I will comment on, is that Sawyer has often dealt with matters of the philosophy of religion in a somewhat ambiguous manner, having his characters voice particular points of view, without exposing his own perspective. However, through its plot, the conclusion of this book leaves little doubt as to his own thoughts, as projected through the character of Mary Vaughan.
March 19, 2016
As far as series endings go, this book was not that bad. I really had very little hope for this book after finishing the second book in this trilogy, Humans. But I found the first one entertaining enough to see how this train wreck was going to end. was an ending, and Mr. Sawyer did try to address at least one of my complaints about the second book. In this third book, we see the darker side of the Neanderthal justice system, it is only good if people report a problem, so what is done behind closed doors is left there unless it is reported. This means that all the comparisons made to 1984, are a tad unjustified. In That novel, big Brother was literally watching all the time, not so the case here, where if there was a complaint the authorities just go back and look at the episode in question. This was touched on in the first novel.
The concepts behind the basis of Neanderthal society still gives me a shudder and a fear in the pit of my stomach. The constant observation, and the eugenics enforced by the "Grey Council" is horrific, and I bothered me that the author saw this as not only a viable, but superior choice of living.
I am a Christian, and to be one I have Faith. Although the author dedicated a large portion of the book to Mary's crisis of faith, I found it boring and unnecessary. Oxford dictionary defines faith as:
1 Complete trust or confidence in someone or something
2 Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof
Basically you either believe or you don't. That is what faith means, and to me Mary's faith was not strong to begin with. She gave lip service to her Christian beliefs, but when tested, in my opinion she was found lacking. Which is fine, not everyone is happy or comfortable with religion. Obviously the author was not.
I'm giving this book 2.5 stars, it was better than the second book, but was it good, No.
The concepts behind the basis of Neanderthal society still gives me a shudder and a fear in the pit of my stomach. The constant observation, and the eugenics enforced by the "Grey Council" is horrific, and I bothered me that the author saw this as not only a viable, but superior choice of living.
I am a Christian, and to be one I have Faith. Although the author dedicated a large portion of the book to Mary's crisis of faith, I found it boring and unnecessary. Oxford dictionary defines faith as:
1 Complete trust or confidence in someone or something
2 Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof
Basically you either believe or you don't. That is what faith means, and to me Mary's faith was not strong to begin with. She gave lip service to her Christian beliefs, but when tested, in my opinion she was found lacking. Which is fine, not everyone is happy or comfortable with religion. Obviously the author was not.
I'm giving this book 2.5 stars, it was better than the second book, but was it good, No.
September 30, 2022
If I could give this book zero stars I would! It reads like Sawyer was slogging his way through the final installment of a contractually-obligated three books. This would be punishment enough, but it actually seems like Sawyer wants the reader to share in his misery. This review is for the final book for the most part but accounts for the other books as well, I did not review them.
I am slowly working my way through the Hugo award winners and I was surprised that Hominids won. It wasn't too bad - interesting concept & kept me engaged enough to continue the series - but in my opinion it is simply not even close to award-winning material. Compared to The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, Ringworld, Neuromancer, Hyperion, The City & the City, to pick a few, this series reads like a Hunger Games installment and gets progressively worse. Sawyer's writing is wooden - this happened, then this happened, then this character said this, and then they went here, and blah blah blah. This tendency is exaggerated to a comical degree in the final installment - I actually yelled at the book a few times. The highlights:
- Coulda done without the awkward sex scene & Mary's constant slobbering over Ponter's physique! We get it, Neanderthals are beefy. Does Sawyer want to have sex with a Neanderthal? The sentence where Sawyer describes how Ponter is well endowed - both in girth and length, he is sure to point out - just popped into my head. Come on, man. This also comes through in his constant remarking on how beautiful Louise is. Using these to "color" the narrative is fine but Sawyer just whacks you over the head with them. "HEY, REMEMBER LOUISE IS REALLY HOT?!" Any time Mary interacts with Louise, Sawyer is sure to mention Mary is jealous of her physical beauty.
- The book does show the "dark side" of the Neanderthal eugenics and total surveillance program, to be fair, but the narrative does seem to be that crime is almost entirely a product of bad genes. I think there is even a sentence where a character casually writes off material circumstances as contributing factors to crime. Kinda gave me the willies.
- Sci-fi is of course often a way to showcase interesting scientific ideas but again, Sawyer hits you over the head with it. There are whole chapters consisting of characters just expounding on obscure scientific theories - in particular the sections on magnetism/consciousness and electromagnetic stimulation of religious experiences. These are interesting concepts but Sawyer manages to make them boring by just crapping out paragraph after paragraph of boring exposition.
- In this book in particular, Sawyer pads out the word count by painfully re-hashing the events of the first two books. I get that you may want to refresh the reader's memory here and there, but here you get a LOT of refreshers in the first quarter of the book, and even halfway or more through the book Sawyer will throw in "RUEBEN MONTEGO WAS THE PHYSICIAN ON DUTY AT THE SUDBURY NUETRINO OBSERVATORY IN THE CREIGHTON MINE IN CANADA WHERE PONTER BODDIT WAS TRANSPORTED FROM HIS UNIVERSE TO OURS BY AN ERRANT QUANTUM COMPUTING EXPERIMENT". That is not much of an exaggeration, either - no style, no nuance. HEY REMEMBER THIS HAPPENED in high-school level declarative sentences.
- The absolutely heinous corniness and simplicity of Sawyer's writing is insulting, good lord. Especially when he awkwardly dives into sexy times. Some samples:
"Bedros hadn't gone down into the depths of the Debral nickel mine today. Instead, he'd waited up on the surface for the...other UN officials to come up. Which was what they had just done."
"The sex, as always, was fabulous, with Mary climaxing repeatedly."
"After some more wonderful sex,"
"Editing CDs was easy. Editing a life was hard."
"The elevator began its drop down a shaft five times as deep as each of the World Trade Center towers had been tall - until, of course, some male Homo sapiens had destroyed them..."
As other reviewers note the last is an example of the novel's pervasive misandry, which doesn't bother me per se (men are trash in so many ways to be fair), again, it's more so that Sawyer repeatedly smashes you over the head with MEN BAD AREN'T MEN SO EVIL RAPE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HITLER MUSSOLINI STALIN ALL MEN TESTOSTERONE BAD RAPE CASTRATION to the point of absurdity. There is maaaybe some weird psychology being worked out here.
- While there is of course a driving sci-fi element to the story, the main plot element in this series is Mary's struggle with the aftermath of being raped. Personal and interpersonal drama take center stage over any exploration of the effects from an actual multiverse being suddenly introduced into the world. For example, the stench of our world due to pollution, the presence of Passenger Pigeons and other extinct fauna, a Mammoth skull mounted in a cabin - these are relevant items that could be brought up once or twice, instead, they are constantly remarked upon. Aren't there other differences/implications/themes to explore? Whoa, animal extinct in this world isn't in other. Pollution smell bad. Mind blown. Not to say you can't have difficult subjects or "drama" drive your story but again, to me his use of it comes off ham-fisted and repetitive. Mary's distrust of men is constantly brought up - HEY REMEMBER MARY WAS RAPED?! Got it! Much of this installment is devoted to showing how Understanding and perfect Ponter is as a partner - it actually seemed like Sawyer was writing Mary as the epitome of the Nagging Irrational Emotional Woman only to have Ponter magnanimously declare "whatever makes you happy, dear" to showcase how great he is. This also comes through in how perfect Neanderthal society is compared to ours - not a problem in itself but it's a little too just so. Even the Socratic ideal Company Man (who is actually named "Jock") is bowled over by how perfect the Neanderthal world is.
- Sometimes, all of the above are alchemically combined into one maddening sentence - in the next-to-last chapter:
"He [Cornelius Ruskin] was gripping the arms of his new easy chair...as CNN showed the interview with Mary Vaughan, one of the women he'd raped."
Thanks for the reminder, Robert! I forgot all about that!
Finally, last tidbit, in a hilarious/awful Milkshake Duck moment - Sawyer using Bill Cosby as an example of an Upstanding Male, oops!
TL;DR:
It's just not...good.
I am slowly working my way through the Hugo award winners and I was surprised that Hominids won. It wasn't too bad - interesting concept & kept me engaged enough to continue the series - but in my opinion it is simply not even close to award-winning material. Compared to The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed, Ringworld, Neuromancer, Hyperion, The City & the City, to pick a few, this series reads like a Hunger Games installment and gets progressively worse. Sawyer's writing is wooden - this happened, then this happened, then this character said this, and then they went here, and blah blah blah. This tendency is exaggerated to a comical degree in the final installment - I actually yelled at the book a few times. The highlights:
- Coulda done without the awkward sex scene & Mary's constant slobbering over Ponter's physique! We get it, Neanderthals are beefy. Does Sawyer want to have sex with a Neanderthal? The sentence where Sawyer describes how Ponter is well endowed - both in girth and length, he is sure to point out - just popped into my head. Come on, man. This also comes through in his constant remarking on how beautiful Louise is. Using these to "color" the narrative is fine but Sawyer just whacks you over the head with them. "HEY, REMEMBER LOUISE IS REALLY HOT?!" Any time Mary interacts with Louise, Sawyer is sure to mention Mary is jealous of her physical beauty.
- The book does show the "dark side" of the Neanderthal eugenics and total surveillance program, to be fair, but the narrative does seem to be that crime is almost entirely a product of bad genes. I think there is even a sentence where a character casually writes off material circumstances as contributing factors to crime. Kinda gave me the willies.
- Sci-fi is of course often a way to showcase interesting scientific ideas but again, Sawyer hits you over the head with it. There are whole chapters consisting of characters just expounding on obscure scientific theories - in particular the sections on magnetism/consciousness and electromagnetic stimulation of religious experiences. These are interesting concepts but Sawyer manages to make them boring by just crapping out paragraph after paragraph of boring exposition.
- In this book in particular, Sawyer pads out the word count by painfully re-hashing the events of the first two books. I get that you may want to refresh the reader's memory here and there, but here you get a LOT of refreshers in the first quarter of the book, and even halfway or more through the book Sawyer will throw in "RUEBEN MONTEGO WAS THE PHYSICIAN ON DUTY AT THE SUDBURY NUETRINO OBSERVATORY IN THE CREIGHTON MINE IN CANADA WHERE PONTER BODDIT WAS TRANSPORTED FROM HIS UNIVERSE TO OURS BY AN ERRANT QUANTUM COMPUTING EXPERIMENT". That is not much of an exaggeration, either - no style, no nuance. HEY REMEMBER THIS HAPPENED in high-school level declarative sentences.
- The absolutely heinous corniness and simplicity of Sawyer's writing is insulting, good lord. Especially when he awkwardly dives into sexy times. Some samples:
"Bedros hadn't gone down into the depths of the Debral nickel mine today. Instead, he'd waited up on the surface for the...other UN officials to come up. Which was what they had just done."
"The sex, as always, was fabulous, with Mary climaxing repeatedly."
"After some more wonderful sex,"
"Editing CDs was easy. Editing a life was hard."
"The elevator began its drop down a shaft five times as deep as each of the World Trade Center towers had been tall - until, of course, some male Homo sapiens had destroyed them..."
As other reviewers note the last is an example of the novel's pervasive misandry, which doesn't bother me per se (men are trash in so many ways to be fair), again, it's more so that Sawyer repeatedly smashes you over the head with MEN BAD AREN'T MEN SO EVIL RAPE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HITLER MUSSOLINI STALIN ALL MEN TESTOSTERONE BAD RAPE CASTRATION to the point of absurdity. There is maaaybe some weird psychology being worked out here.
- While there is of course a driving sci-fi element to the story, the main plot element in this series is Mary's struggle with the aftermath of being raped. Personal and interpersonal drama take center stage over any exploration of the effects from an actual multiverse being suddenly introduced into the world. For example, the stench of our world due to pollution, the presence of Passenger Pigeons and other extinct fauna, a Mammoth skull mounted in a cabin - these are relevant items that could be brought up once or twice, instead, they are constantly remarked upon. Aren't there other differences/implications/themes to explore? Whoa, animal extinct in this world isn't in other. Pollution smell bad. Mind blown. Not to say you can't have difficult subjects or "drama" drive your story but again, to me his use of it comes off ham-fisted and repetitive. Mary's distrust of men is constantly brought up - HEY REMEMBER MARY WAS RAPED?! Got it! Much of this installment is devoted to showing how Understanding and perfect Ponter is as a partner - it actually seemed like Sawyer was writing Mary as the epitome of the Nagging Irrational Emotional Woman only to have Ponter magnanimously declare "whatever makes you happy, dear" to showcase how great he is. This also comes through in how perfect Neanderthal society is compared to ours - not a problem in itself but it's a little too just so. Even the Socratic ideal Company Man (who is actually named "Jock") is bowled over by how perfect the Neanderthal world is.
- Sometimes, all of the above are alchemically combined into one maddening sentence - in the next-to-last chapter:
"He [Cornelius Ruskin] was gripping the arms of his new easy chair...as CNN showed the interview with Mary Vaughan, one of the women he'd raped."
Thanks for the reminder, Robert! I forgot all about that!
Finally, last tidbit, in a hilarious/awful Milkshake Duck moment - Sawyer using Bill Cosby as an example of an Upstanding Male, oops!
TL;DR:
It's just not...good.
February 4, 2020
(4.4 of 5) My least favorite of the trilogy, but only by a hair; this was still very enjoyable. Likely, I'll write a longer review tomorrow.
EDIT: I did write a longer review if you’re interested. One thing I thought of as I was wrapping up was how it looked like Sawyer intended to extend this series. In this final book, several new threads were introduced that might have made compelling sequels.
December 13, 2023
Kitabın bölüm başlarındaki konuşma parçaları beni ters köşe yaptı ama kitabın gidişatı ile ters köşe tahmin ettiğim yöne döndü. DNA makinesi ve sonrasında yaşananlar Y -Son Adam'ı anımsattı. Robert Sawyer'ın üslubunu sevip sevmediğimden emin olamadım. Güzel bilimkurgu fikirleri var ama üslup biraz vasat doğrusu. Yine de okunası bir seriydi.
May 2, 2021
Nie mam siły recenzować kolego tomu tej trylogii. Zakończenie mnie zabiło. Jeśli jeszcze raz będę musiała przeczytać książkę, w której jest tyle bredzenia o religii to dokonam aktu samospalenia.
August 23, 2022
Slightly better than #2 but still a big disappointment from where the series started.
May 9, 2018
I thought a lot of things during and after reading this book. The first was that some undesirable human traits cling like white on snow through the centuries although the Neanderthal world had a way of um... eradicating same in their people. Still not sure how I feel about their method. And, the Pope really did have some 'splainin' to do. There were many joyful moments...hope does spring eternal.
January 10, 2019
Y llegamos a la conclusión con una trama en la que nos metemos de lleno en el mundo Neandethal pero que a mi me sabe a poco. Quizás esperé una trama más intensa para el cierre de saga.
January 23, 2014
Book three of the Hominids trilogy. Our human female and neanderthal male protagonists decide to use technology to have a baby, and a dastardly human plots the extinction of the neanderthals and colonization of their world.
Hybrids is aptly named as it mixes a lot of win with a lot of silliness.
Wins:
1) The wonderfully logical neanderthal civilization. Sawyer imagined a technologically advanced hunter-gatherer society, as opposed to our agricultural society. It's tremendously different but all of the pieces fit together, they have reasons for being. Unlike John Scalzi's Old Man's War series, for example, in which the alien civilizations are just different to be different.
2) Challenges to the ethicality and practicality of the neanderthal ways of doing things. Their single planetwide government, their sterilization of violent criminals, their methods of population control, their Big Brother-like justice system, it all gets picked apart, examined, and put back together. Do the idyllic ends justify the oft-unsettling means? The discussions are fairly sophisticated, with no easy answers.
3) Exploration of religion as a purely electromagnetic phenomenon. A scientist is able to induce life-altering sensory experiences by generating an electromagnetic field around the temporal lobes of the brain. This raises some thorny issues and uncomfortable conversations for the protagonists. And for the reader.
Stumbles (and a couple minor plot point spoilers):
1) To fit into her adopted "barast" society with her male neanderthal partner, our human hero is pressured to also take a neanderthal woman-mate like all barasts. Oooooookay.
2) I was put off by how the author
3) The lack of physical trade-offs. Sawyer's "barasts" are on average more intelligent than humans, due to selective breeding, and they're far stronger because, well, Sawyer says so. But they're also running 3-minute miles, in spite of being built like short bow-legged dump trucks. And super-coordinated.
Would neanderthals really be physically superior in every conceivable way? Bombers trade the speed and maneuverability of fighter jets for range and cargo capacity, adult trees endure through strength while saplings do so through flexibility; if you could fit all features in one package, we would. But even the unimposing nerdy quantum physicist protagonist is a bona fide kung fu action hero whenever he visits our Earth, just by virtue of being neanderthal. BAM! POW! Human miscreants, malefactors and evil-doers go flying at every turn. Sawyer needs to stop channeling Batman.
At the end of the day though I had a lot of fun with the book and the series.
Hybrids is aptly named as it mixes a lot of win with a lot of silliness.
Wins:
1) The wonderfully logical neanderthal civilization. Sawyer imagined a technologically advanced hunter-gatherer society, as opposed to our agricultural society. It's tremendously different but all of the pieces fit together, they have reasons for being. Unlike John Scalzi's Old Man's War series, for example, in which the alien civilizations are just different to be different.
2) Challenges to the ethicality and practicality of the neanderthal ways of doing things. Their single planetwide government, their sterilization of violent criminals, their methods of population control, their Big Brother-like justice system, it all gets picked apart, examined, and put back together. Do the idyllic ends justify the oft-unsettling means? The discussions are fairly sophisticated, with no easy answers.
3) Exploration of religion as a purely electromagnetic phenomenon. A scientist is able to induce life-altering sensory experiences by generating an electromagnetic field around the temporal lobes of the brain. This raises some thorny issues and uncomfortable conversations for the protagonists. And for the reader.
Stumbles (and a couple minor plot point spoilers):
1) To fit into her adopted "barast" society with her male neanderthal partner, our human hero is pressured to also take a neanderthal woman-mate like all barasts. Oooooookay.
2) I was put off by how the author
3) The lack of physical trade-offs. Sawyer's "barasts" are on average more intelligent than humans, due to selective breeding, and they're far stronger because, well, Sawyer says so. But they're also running 3-minute miles, in spite of being built like short bow-legged dump trucks. And super-coordinated.
Would neanderthals really be physically superior in every conceivable way? Bombers trade the speed and maneuverability of fighter jets for range and cargo capacity, adult trees endure through strength while saplings do so through flexibility; if you could fit all features in one package, we would. But even the unimposing nerdy quantum physicist protagonist is a bona fide kung fu action hero whenever he visits our Earth, just by virtue of being neanderthal. BAM! POW! Human miscreants, malefactors and evil-doers go flying at every turn. Sawyer needs to stop channeling Batman.
At the end of the day though I had a lot of fun with the book and the series.
October 14, 2011
The third book in The Neanderthal Parallax series returns to the soft science fiction theme of two cultures colliding. This final book has a single antagonist, a racist (or would it be species-ist?) bigot who wants to take the unexploited and unpolluted Neanderthal world for Homo sapiens. Of course to do so will involve a minor case of genocide but he has the tools and he has the technology, kindly provided by the Neanderthals themselves. Mary, the geneticist heroine from the last book, has to stop him. She is still annoying and she is still a bag of internal contradictions but her hard to understand romance with the Neanderthal, Ponter, is demoted to a major subplot rather than the main story.
I have a hard time with the Mary character because she simply does not make sense. She is described as a devout Catholic and accepts that the Pope speaks for God but she doesn’t seem to agree with Catholic doctrine on pretty much anything including divorce, homosexuality, contraception, abortion, or celibacy for clergy. So why, I kept asking myself, does this woman identify with this particular faith when, in fact, she doesn’t agree with its stand on most issues? Why does she get defensive when Ponter questions her about religion? She is supposed to be a brilliant scientist and self sufficient woman but she comes across as intellectually and emotionally weak for not asking herself these questions a long time ago given her positions on these issues.
The main scientific flaw that continues to bother me and which makes it hard to really suspend disbelief enough to go with the flow of the story is the reliance on the assumption that human consciousness, a particularly tenuous and inexact concept, emerged suddenly 40,000 years ago because of a shift it the Earth’s magnetic field. There is finally some techno-babble to explain this but it is far from compelling although the whole scientific community in these books seems to accept it as established fact.
I do like the contrast Sawyer draws between the ethically enlightened Neanderthals with the selfishly competitive Homo sapiens. This shines the light of inquiry on our species and all good soft science fiction must do that in some way. But this contrast, I think, would have been clearer and more believable if the Neanderthals were described as ethically, philosophically and even perhaps artistically more advance while Homo sapiens retained the clear edge on technology and science. Giving the Neanderthals an arguable advantage in almost all areas made them simply too good to believe.
I have a hard time with the Mary character because she simply does not make sense. She is described as a devout Catholic and accepts that the Pope speaks for God but she doesn’t seem to agree with Catholic doctrine on pretty much anything including divorce, homosexuality, contraception, abortion, or celibacy for clergy. So why, I kept asking myself, does this woman identify with this particular faith when, in fact, she doesn’t agree with its stand on most issues? Why does she get defensive when Ponter questions her about religion? She is supposed to be a brilliant scientist and self sufficient woman but she comes across as intellectually and emotionally weak for not asking herself these questions a long time ago given her positions on these issues.
The main scientific flaw that continues to bother me and which makes it hard to really suspend disbelief enough to go with the flow of the story is the reliance on the assumption that human consciousness, a particularly tenuous and inexact concept, emerged suddenly 40,000 years ago because of a shift it the Earth’s magnetic field. There is finally some techno-babble to explain this but it is far from compelling although the whole scientific community in these books seems to accept it as established fact.
I do like the contrast Sawyer draws between the ethically enlightened Neanderthals with the selfishly competitive Homo sapiens. This shines the light of inquiry on our species and all good soft science fiction must do that in some way. But this contrast, I think, would have been clearer and more believable if the Neanderthals were described as ethically, philosophically and even perhaps artistically more advance while Homo sapiens retained the clear edge on technology and science. Giving the Neanderthals an arguable advantage in almost all areas made them simply too good to believe.
May 30, 2018
Okay, I guess we'll do this one more time.
To say the first two books in this series didn't impress me is an understatement along the lines of noting that volcanoes are kind of hot. Despite the first book winning the Hugo Award (by this point I feel like more on concept than execution . . . though looking at the 2003 nominees it wasn't exactly their strongest year) and the second telling us that everyone wins with love, it seemed like Sawyer was more concerned with exploring the, shall we say, nondescript personality of Mary Vaughan and digressing into weird one-sided ethics debate that the humans never win.
So I guess with the idea of "why mess with a winning formula" we're back for the conclusion to the trilogy and if you were hoping for some kind of shift back toward a broader cultural exchange or even people discussing stuff that didn't directly impact Mary and Ponter's lovelife . . . sorry, not this time. Operating from the assumption that what brought everyone here was the sweet, sweet Neanderthal wooing, this time out the book is almost totally about Mary and Ponter's love and their efforts to conceive a child despite having not totally compatible sets of DNA. Can they do it? Will it be allowed?
Having completely failed to win me over with Mary as a character, the proper question is probably "Will I care?" to which I can only answer, "Not really." Continuing the trend basically since the beginning, Mary's life essentially orbits around Ponter and when she's not being jealous that she can't see him except when Two Become One (the fact that no one ever references the Spice Girls song or even has them make an appearance is perhaps the series' biggest travesty . . . I mean, they found room for former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I think we can argue they're just as important a cultural landmark for our world), that brief period of the month when the male Neanderthals stop hanging out in their man-caves and spend some time with the ladies, she's mulling over her rape and rapist (whose identity she found out in the last book), her estranged husband and why they aren't divorced yet, religion in general, or why grad student Louise is so uber-hot.
Its not deep and despite his attempts to spice things up intellectually by including debates on religion or Neanderthal ethics or the environment, it can't disguise that none of this is very interesting unless you are specifically invested in these characters and their travails because that is literally all the book is concerned about. Even the book's valiant attempt to turn itself into a sort of "Case of Conscience"-lite falls flat because the religious arguments never excite . . . all the discussion of the "god gene" never seems to go anywhere useful (and is just used later to give Mary a dilemma about what kind of child she wants) and even a strange digression into the choosing of a new pope winds up being more about Mary wondering if a new pontiff will okay divorce and get her off the hook when it comes to her husband (despite ample historical evidence that its a very low chance a new pope will step in and just start changing basic doctrine, you know, just because). Even the dilemma the book gives her with her husband feels contrived . . . she doesn't want an annulment because that would be too easy, he doesn't want a divorce because he doesn't want to be ex-communicated (which seems like a harsh act, so he must go to one hardcore branch of the faith since in real life it isn't that common . . . one list I found names less than fifty people since 2000 so its not like they do it for giggles) and so the problem just sits there until Sawyer remembers it exists and resolves it extraordinarily simply considering how much ink is wasted on it.
Even the Captain Science portion of the book fails. Much like with the Companions of previous books, the solution to Ponter and Mary's child dilemma happens to rest with a magic DNA sequencer that allows them to play "Dial-a-Baby", which is convenient but not exactly high drama. We get other various nods toward academic debates but they feel more like lectures than anything else, another way for the author to incorporate his recent readings.
Meanwhile, almost nothing works. With the novelty of the Neanderthal world having pretty much worn off, the best we can do is have previously heterosexual characters flirt with bisexuality (there's a "When in Rome" aspect to it I guess but I think people would be amazed that its not quite that easy in real life) or devote way too much time to Mary's rapist, who thanks to Ponter is missing a vital part of his anatomy and experiencing changes because of it. It also gives the author a chance to write what he must imagine someone opposed to affirmative action would sound like, so we get a sad sack white guy who feels threatened because all the minorities and women are getting jobs ahead of him and thus has to turn to rape as an outlet. Not only are his arguments specious but he doesn't even make a good attempt at a coherent argument, which makes you wonder why the book even bothers.
Right toward the end we take a sharp left turn into thriller country but it doesn't even feel like Sawyer's heart is in it by then. The threat pretty much comes out of nowhere and gets resolved with a brief showdown, only pausing long enough to pointlessly and graphically murder a main character (the plan for genocide makes zero sense anyway . . . we're already been told time and again that the Neanderthal global population is far less than ours, so its not like there isn't room on their world). Even then we're not done as the book resolves the long running worry about the magnetic field reversing in a nonsensical and out of nowhere climax that really only serves to help Mary make a decision. Because that's what this has been about the whole time.
Sawyer has a pretty good imagination and a easily digestible writing style, so the kernel of this whole series is sound, but it seems that he promised someone three books and had no idea where to go with this after the first book, with his only recourse to run the concept so far into the ground that it renders moles homeless. The focus on "issues" brought up by cultural differences never feels more than slight and making Mary the center of this universe was a tragic mistake as she never comes alive (she was no ball of fire before the sexual assault and the fact that the story required her to be traumatized first to justify her reawakening comes near to being deeply offensive on some level) or becomes more than someone defined by her proximity to Ponter.
Normally when I read a series this quickly I'm sad to see it end but that is definitely not the case here. This whole thing feels so botched that its almost disappointing, a good idea hijacked by a mediocre love story. Usually after spending three books with the same cast I finish with a note of wistfulness, knowing these people I've come to know will have further adventures, I just won't be there to see them. Here, I'm happy to see them go and look forward to never having to read about any of them ever again.
To say the first two books in this series didn't impress me is an understatement along the lines of noting that volcanoes are kind of hot. Despite the first book winning the Hugo Award (by this point I feel like more on concept than execution . . . though looking at the 2003 nominees it wasn't exactly their strongest year) and the second telling us that everyone wins with love, it seemed like Sawyer was more concerned with exploring the, shall we say, nondescript personality of Mary Vaughan and digressing into weird one-sided ethics debate that the humans never win.
So I guess with the idea of "why mess with a winning formula" we're back for the conclusion to the trilogy and if you were hoping for some kind of shift back toward a broader cultural exchange or even people discussing stuff that didn't directly impact Mary and Ponter's lovelife . . . sorry, not this time. Operating from the assumption that what brought everyone here was the sweet, sweet Neanderthal wooing, this time out the book is almost totally about Mary and Ponter's love and their efforts to conceive a child despite having not totally compatible sets of DNA. Can they do it? Will it be allowed?
Having completely failed to win me over with Mary as a character, the proper question is probably "Will I care?" to which I can only answer, "Not really." Continuing the trend basically since the beginning, Mary's life essentially orbits around Ponter and when she's not being jealous that she can't see him except when Two Become One (the fact that no one ever references the Spice Girls song or even has them make an appearance is perhaps the series' biggest travesty . . . I mean, they found room for former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, I think we can argue they're just as important a cultural landmark for our world), that brief period of the month when the male Neanderthals stop hanging out in their man-caves and spend some time with the ladies, she's mulling over her rape and rapist (whose identity she found out in the last book), her estranged husband and why they aren't divorced yet, religion in general, or why grad student Louise is so uber-hot.
Its not deep and despite his attempts to spice things up intellectually by including debates on religion or Neanderthal ethics or the environment, it can't disguise that none of this is very interesting unless you are specifically invested in these characters and their travails because that is literally all the book is concerned about. Even the book's valiant attempt to turn itself into a sort of "Case of Conscience"-lite falls flat because the religious arguments never excite . . . all the discussion of the "god gene" never seems to go anywhere useful (and is just used later to give Mary a dilemma about what kind of child she wants) and even a strange digression into the choosing of a new pope winds up being more about Mary wondering if a new pontiff will okay divorce and get her off the hook when it comes to her husband (despite ample historical evidence that its a very low chance a new pope will step in and just start changing basic doctrine, you know, just because). Even the dilemma the book gives her with her husband feels contrived . . . she doesn't want an annulment because that would be too easy, he doesn't want a divorce because he doesn't want to be ex-communicated (which seems like a harsh act, so he must go to one hardcore branch of the faith since in real life it isn't that common . . . one list I found names less than fifty people since 2000 so its not like they do it for giggles) and so the problem just sits there until Sawyer remembers it exists and resolves it extraordinarily simply considering how much ink is wasted on it.
Even the Captain Science portion of the book fails. Much like with the Companions of previous books, the solution to Ponter and Mary's child dilemma happens to rest with a magic DNA sequencer that allows them to play "Dial-a-Baby", which is convenient but not exactly high drama. We get other various nods toward academic debates but they feel more like lectures than anything else, another way for the author to incorporate his recent readings.
Meanwhile, almost nothing works. With the novelty of the Neanderthal world having pretty much worn off, the best we can do is have previously heterosexual characters flirt with bisexuality (there's a "When in Rome" aspect to it I guess but I think people would be amazed that its not quite that easy in real life) or devote way too much time to Mary's rapist, who thanks to Ponter is missing a vital part of his anatomy and experiencing changes because of it. It also gives the author a chance to write what he must imagine someone opposed to affirmative action would sound like, so we get a sad sack white guy who feels threatened because all the minorities and women are getting jobs ahead of him and thus has to turn to rape as an outlet. Not only are his arguments specious but he doesn't even make a good attempt at a coherent argument, which makes you wonder why the book even bothers.
Right toward the end we take a sharp left turn into thriller country but it doesn't even feel like Sawyer's heart is in it by then. The threat pretty much comes out of nowhere and gets resolved with a brief showdown, only pausing long enough to pointlessly and graphically murder a main character (the plan for genocide makes zero sense anyway . . . we're already been told time and again that the Neanderthal global population is far less than ours, so its not like there isn't room on their world). Even then we're not done as the book resolves the long running worry about the magnetic field reversing in a nonsensical and out of nowhere climax that really only serves to help Mary make a decision. Because that's what this has been about the whole time.
Sawyer has a pretty good imagination and a easily digestible writing style, so the kernel of this whole series is sound, but it seems that he promised someone three books and had no idea where to go with this after the first book, with his only recourse to run the concept so far into the ground that it renders moles homeless. The focus on "issues" brought up by cultural differences never feels more than slight and making Mary the center of this universe was a tragic mistake as she never comes alive (she was no ball of fire before the sexual assault and the fact that the story required her to be traumatized first to justify her reawakening comes near to being deeply offensive on some level) or becomes more than someone defined by her proximity to Ponter.
Normally when I read a series this quickly I'm sad to see it end but that is definitely not the case here. This whole thing feels so botched that its almost disappointing, a good idea hijacked by a mediocre love story. Usually after spending three books with the same cast I finish with a note of wistfulness, knowing these people I've come to know will have further adventures, I just won't be there to see them. Here, I'm happy to see them go and look forward to never having to read about any of them ever again.
September 26, 2010
Is it accurate to consider a book disappointing when you really don't expect much from the writer? Hybrids was the most lame of the trilogy, actually that's not fair, hominids was actually pretty good and humans was better than most of the other Sawyer books I've read but this was just a mess. The characters were flat and lifeless, they seemed to stumble around on his stage with no real point or purpose and on the whole it was a struggle to give a damn about them. The only excitement was at the end with a little grafted on chunk about a bomb that felt hokey and forced.
Sawyers has won a lot of awards and I've been trying to figure out why, he just is not that great a writer. If he wasn't Canadian and benefitting from the small pond I doubt he'd be nearly as successful.
Sawyers has won a lot of awards and I've been trying to figure out why, he just is not that great a writer. If he wasn't Canadian and benefitting from the small pond I doubt he'd be nearly as successful.
March 17, 2011
Tidy ending with a , but it's safe to say that Sawyer has thoroughly exhausted what he could offer based on this premise by the third volume in the trilogy.
Everyone in these novels seems to use extremely short and simple declarative sentences, even when they aren't trying to communicate across a language and species barrier. I have no idea if this is a deliberate stylistic choice and what if anything it means, but I suppose one might try them out on a reluctant reader or an ESL SFF fan. I observed that I blew through them at approximately twice my normal reading speed for recreational prose reading.
Everyone in these novels seems to use extremely short and simple declarative sentences, even when they aren't trying to communicate across a language and species barrier. I have no idea if this is a deliberate stylistic choice and what if anything it means, but I suppose one might try them out on a reluctant reader or an ESL SFF fan. I observed that I blew through them at approximately twice my normal reading speed for recreational prose reading.
November 13, 2017
A brilliant series of novels. The story affected me deeply somehow, in a way that I don't really understand. It wasn't just the great characters or the roller-coaster plot or the authenticity of the science; there was something very disturbing about the way Sawyer explored the essence of human beings. Maybe it awakens our Neanderthal genes or something, but in any case it certainly made a lasting impression on me.
October 6, 2013
Il romanzo conclusivo della trilogia Neandertal. Una lettura che riesce a sorprendere dopo due già ottimi romanzi, e dove poche cose sono scontate, ed il lieto fine non è un obbligo. La risposta a domande come "riusciranno le due specie a convivere?" e "Dio esiste o è solo un'illusione?" sono solo parte della lettura.
August 25, 2009
A weak ending, as Sawyer moves away from the compelling ideas of the first two books into (regrettably characteristic) didacticism, stripping his characters of what little depth they had in favour of driving his points home with as much blunt force as possible.
Read
April 23, 2012A solid ending to an excellent trilogy, marred a bit by uneven pacing between action and exposition towards the end, a touch too much of deus ex, and a complex plot issues being resolved a bit too neatly. That noted, this is great biological sci-fi, and is recommended.
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