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Hominids Volume One of The Neanderthal Parallax Robert J Sawyer 9780765345004 Books

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Hominids Volume One of The Neanderthal Parallax Robert J Sawyer 9780765345004 Books

Enjoyed reading this book. It got too preachy for my taste in parts but it's still good. I found at 78% I finally got some payoff for my time investment. In total a satisfying read.

I liked the Neanderthal society concept. Seemed a bit too perfectly socialist with a green agenda but it's thought out well and the author considered how a non agricultural society might get there. I can't say I agreed that just breeding dogs would get them to genetics but their brains are bigger! Anyway the bigger gap for me was material science. They didn't rely on fossil fuels but how'd they get to electricity? Author doesn't explore that. It was a nagging question for me.

Still a fun book and I recommend reading it.


Tags : Hominids: Volume One of The Neanderthal Parallax [Robert J. Sawyer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Hominids </i>examines two unique species of people. We are one of those species; the other is the Neanderthals of a parallel world where they became the dominant intelligence. The Neanderthal civilization has reached heights of culture and science comparable to our own,Robert J. Sawyer,Hominids: Volume One of The Neanderthal Parallax,Tor Science Fiction,0765345005,Science Fiction - General,Neanderthals;Fiction.,Prehistoric peoples;Fiction.,Science fiction.,Alternative histories,FICTION Science Fiction General,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction Science Fiction Hard Science Fiction,Fiction-Science Fiction,General Adult,MASS MARKET,Neanderthals,Prehistoric peoples,Science Fiction

Hominids Volume One of The Neanderthal Parallax Robert J Sawyer 9780765345004 Books Reviews

This book manages to combine a highly readable story with fascinating speculations about the nature of humanity, consciousness, and quantum physics. And also the nature of our Neanderthal cousins. So what is not to like? I found this novel to be one of the most engrossing and imaginative science fiction novels that I have read in some time.

Others have criticized various speculations by the author. This is to miss the point these are speculations. I thought that the author made a decent case that human consciousness began about 40,000 years ago with the "great awakening" whereby consciousness came into being as essentially a quantum effect within the mind. This differentiates consciousness from the very genuine but different thought processes of the other higher animals chimps, certain parrots, and dolphins, for example. In the Neanderthal world constructed by the author, the Neanderthals, rather than Homo Sapiens, first achieve this quantum consciousness effect, and go on to dominate the Earth. In that universe, Homo Sapiens dies out, much as the Neanderthals did in our reality. The way the author ties this in with the quantum computing experiment at the beginning of the story is utterly fascinating, and frankly ingenious. One need not agree with his conclusions to be impressed by them.

The author provides humorous justification by the Neanderthals as to why they, rather than Homo Sapiens, became the dominant human species in their universe. Homo Sapiens, we are told, had smaller brains than the Neanderthals (true; about 10% smaller, but smaller body mass too.) The chins than Homo Sapiens have that Neanderthals lack were to act as drool catchers (idiots drool a lot, we are reminded). The famous brow ridges of Neanderthals act as sun visors, giving the Neanderthals a competitive advantage as hunters over Homo Sapiens, who the Neanderthals believed, due to the lack of such ridges, were nocturnal, retiring creatures. Of limited intelligence. Frankly, this did not seem any less reasonable than the justifications that our scientists give for Homo Sapiens' dominance over the Neanderthals.

There are certain details of the Neanderthal universe that I found less than persuasive, and I mention them here only to show that I do not unequivocally accept the author's speculations. For example, the author states in the story that the Neanderthals have effective birth control pills. And yet, the central tenet of Neanderthal civilization as constructed by the author is that men and women live completely apart except for a few days a month, in large part to keep population down. And the sexes take same-sex partners for the rest of the time in order to make up for this apartness. This simply did not seem plausible to me. The author was a little unclear as to whether Neanderthal women are supposed to have estrus cycles (as opposed to menstrual periods that human women, of course, have) but even if they do it seems far-fetched that the sexes would segregate themselves in this fashion. Other animals with estrus cycles do not generally form same-sex bonds (although it is far from unheard of, it is the exception). This is just a few examples of where I thought the author was a bit far fetched.

The author postulates the Neanderthals as a high-technology low-industry society that never discovered agriculture. I do not accept that this is very likely, and it may not even be possible. Agriculture and the food surpluses that it engenders is what originated humanity's climb to an advanced civilization--people had time to do things other than obtain food. And how are the Neanderthals managing to have advanced vehicles, super-advanced computers, ubiquitous robots, all with ultra low population and almost no industry? Not likely.

These are minor quibbles that should not interfere in the least with an enjoyment of this novel. This is an engrossing read that never loses the reader. As Mankind enters the Brave New World of quantum computing and quantum physics, one can only wonder where it may lead. (Probably not to Neanderthals in a different universe.) This novel contains tantalizing hints even if one does not accept all of the author's speculations. Highly recommended. RJB.
I found the storyline fascinating. The premise of the narrative is that we exist alongside a parallel universe in which humanity developed along the Neanderthal branch of our family tree rather than the Homo Sapiens. The mechanics of how a Neanderthal made the leap into our universe (and what happened to him here) are less interesting to me than the descriptions of the Neanderthal universe itself. Given the abysmal outlook for our side of the coin today, I found hope in the glimpse of the Neanderthal side, where the Earth is cared for rather than destroyed and humanity has coped successfully with population control, crime, and greed.
I read Hominids while working my way through the list of Hugo winning novels and was hooked from the beginning. The writing is very simple and nothing especially creative and some of the dialogue is pretty cliche, but what is really intriguing is the alternative-world and society building. A whole lot of research went into the physics of the basic premise, as well as sociology, anthropology, etc to build this alternative universe and Neanderthal society. It does drag a bit in the middle and the climax is not terribly exciting, but I had trouble putting it down regardless and am looking forward to the next installment of the series.
Book number one of a three book fantasy trilogy, the Neanderthal Parallax Series. I read the well formatted, printed, and bound MMPB published by TOR in 2003. I have purchased the other two books in the series and am reading the second book now. BTW, this book won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2003. The book was in my SBR (strategic book reserve) since 2012.

Basically, the book postulates that there are many universes. A new universe is created when a fork in a path is taken differently. In our universe, Homo Sapiens survived and flourished. In another universe, Homo Neanderthal survived and flourished. So, what happens when a pathway is created between the two universes using quantum physics ?
Enjoyed reading this book. It got too preachy for my taste in parts but it's still good. I found at 78% I finally got some payoff for my time investment. In total a satisfying read.

I liked the Neanderthal society concept. Seemed a bit too perfectly socialist with a green agenda but it's thought out well and the author considered how a non agricultural society might get there. I can't say I agreed that just breeding dogs would get them to genetics but their brains are bigger! Anyway the bigger gap for me was material science. They didn't rely on fossil fuels but how'd they get to electricity? Author doesn't explore that. It was a nagging question for me.

Still a fun book and I recommend reading it.