Hybrids

The Neanderthal Parallax, Book 3

By: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Robert J. Sawyer

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Scientists (and lovers) Mary Vaughan, who is human, and Ponter Boddit, who is Neanderthal, embark on the harrowing adventure of conceiving a child together. To overcome the genetic barbed wire of mismatched chromosomes, they must use banned technology obtainable only from a Neanderthal scientist living in the northern wilderness.

BONUS AUDIO: Author Robert J. Sawyer reveals the "secret history" of The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy.

Hunt and gather: listen to more in the Neanderthal Parallax trilogy.

©2003 by Robert J. Sawyer (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The genre's northern star - in fact, one of the hottest SF writers anywhere." ( Maclean's)

There are some major problems here

I don't blame the author for referencing Bill Cosby as a good man - that was just unlucky timing - but trying to give a redemptive third act to one of the characters was weird and ruined the book for me.

Much better than I expected

After reading the other reviews I admit to being somewhat skeptical, but I was pleasantly surprised. This wrapped up the trilogy quite nicely, one good guy dies, two bad guys die, a happy scene at the end…
The Presidents speech…meh…and all the necessary review of the previous two, oh well.
Pinter is a wonderful character, the vagaries of Neanderthal marriages came clear and was a normal development of that society.
Bravo!

To Much Social Commentary; Too Little Substance

I love reading thoughtful science fiction (Asimov and similar); or great Epic Fantasy (Tolkien and similar). I really hate it when I get hooked by an introductory book (which was very good, by the way), only to discover that the writer feels they have free reign to stuff their social and political views down the reader’s throat in subsequent books once they have the attention of an audience. By the third book, the reader is being taught that America is bad, socialist government is good, men are bad, communism is good, religion is superstitious nonsense, individualism is bad, big-brother is good. Ok I get it. I would even grin and bear it if the story were good. It is not.

Great Science Fiction!

Let your imagination carry you to a world based upon...hunting/gathering, a stable population, the rhythm method (don't frown, they have lots of sex), long term contribution to society, experience prized over strength, science moves forward thru cooperation and without prejudices, violence is not tolerated, crime is very rare yet there is tremendous freedom for all, all life is precious, a very green world. Wait, don't think this is utopia; there are problems, big ones; but what interesting notions thru which to examine our own world. These books examine many foundational ideas/beliefs/principles that we take for granted; stand them on their heads and paints one (of the many possible) picture of what may fall out. The narration is excellent; distinct character voices, perfect pace, and precise pauses to let your mind extrapolate on the image/ideas. I have never written a review but was compelled to write this to give some balance to the reviews of this great trilogy. I agree Hominids was the best and I give it 4.4 stars with Humans and Hybrids close behind with 3.8 stars each (of course I have to fit into the !format! given and round all to 4); but they should really be all taken together as a whole. It probably would have been a really great but long single book. But I understand Sawyer has to pay his bills (and I want him to eat so he writes more books) also there is some suspense in breaking up a good tale. Lastly I have been listening to audio books for over 25 years and what you will enjoy is very personal, highly dependent on where you've been, where you are in life and what happened yesterday and today. So take all the reviews with a bucket of salt; listen/read to lots of different authors/narrators/genre/old books/new books/fiction/nonfiction and determine for yourself what You like/believe/and want to expand upon.

Hybrids, none to be seen!

Not quite what I expected. The novel was fraught with plots that it wasn't very clear to me what was important and was minutia. If there was an overall message intended to be delivered, it was lost on me. At best, the combination of love story, social commentary, and ecothriller felt like multiple stories weaved with naive preaching to me.

If the sub-plots were to be thought of as episodes in a series, then I think it would more enjoyable as the plotlines can be compartmentalized yet run through. The entirety of the book was marred with uneven pacing between action and exposition towards the end.

Glad I did not listen to negative reviews

The series is excellent.it is both fanciful and has excellent scientific interests .
the characters are interesting and the story is fascinating.

Loved the entire series

This one challenges many thoughts and beliefs. I like how Sawyer swims in each of these subjects while weaving them. Not all of these are social issues either, some are scientific. I am admittedly ignorant on a lot of subjects. I feel he educates the reader very well.

Again, I equate a lot of these with Heinlein style of writings. So if you like Heinlein you'll like these too!

The Narrator Jonathan Davis did an absolute fabulous job in all three of these books in this series.

Ironic

Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis and Robert J. Sawyer ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. About the same.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I needed to take breaks. I can't sit through this much political mush-headedness in one listening.

Any additional comments?

The author continues his political discourse throughout this 3rd book. It reminds me of a person complaining about the evils of large corporations while eating dinner in a restaurant owned by a large corporation... a meal being paid for by his father, who works for a large corporation. How nice that you have views, but you would not be free to discuss your views in this forum if it wasn't for the benefits of the system that you believe to be inferior. Specifically, Robert J Sawyer would not be able to spend time writing about the evils of agricultural societies if he lived in a hunter-gatherer society. He would be hunting. He would be fishing. He would be cleaning game & carrying it back to where the meal would be prepared. He would be doing these things because he had to eat, not because he enjoyed them. What archaeological evidence do we have that hunter-gatherers had any sort of writing? None. All evidence of early writing comes from peoples who lived in cities & cultivated fields.

His views on religion are interesting, too. It must be nice to live in a think-tank where people are not responsible for their own actions. This is not reality, however. People choose to make mistakes. Few, if any, religions preach that people should war with their neighbors. People choose to make war instead of peace. People choose to do evil unto others. These are choices, not mandates of religious system or practice.

The often-cited view of the author that Canada is superior to other countries is odd, also. In one paragraph he writes about how horrible is the death penalty, and how Canada doesn't practice it. In another he writes about abortion and how Canada allows it. So, it's okay to kill innocent babies but not okay to kill people who have chosen to enter a school and kill children? How is that a superior, or even logical, thought process?

These are only a small sample of the views expressed throughout the book. As I said in my comments about Book 2, Robert Sawyer - please tell your fabulous story, but leave out your brainwashing tactics.

The weakest in the trilogy.

I am of 2 minds about this book, after listening to the 1st 2, I couldn't wait to listen to this 3rd one in the series. However, I just couldn't stand the main character. While she wasn't my favourite character In the 1st 2 books I actually grew to dislike her in this last book. The story itself was pretty good. However, in this last book, the main character spoiled it for me.

hahaha bill cosby

a little preachy and definitely outdated information but a great story. I would love to hear an updated version