Friday, January 27, 2006
The Neanderthal Parallax
As promised yesterday, today I will begin posting reviews of the eight books I have read recently. As a bonus, I will also be flagging personalized recommendations for everyone who subscribes to my blog via FeedBlitz.
Today's review covers parts 2 and 3 of Robert J. Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax: Humans and Hybrids. But since those two books are really just continuations of the story established in the first book, Hominid, I'll be discussing all three.
Backstory is important with sci-fi titles, since that's the foundation on which entire careers are launched. It seems the guiding principal of successfully writing SF (i.e., actually making a living doing it) is to develop and establish a compelling "universe," preferably one that resonates with the book-buying public, then milk that "universe" for all it's worth by first writing a trilogy, then (if you're really good) writing several more trilogies (e.g., "Volume 17 of the Ayy'k'brin Starquest") until your "universe" is tapped out, or until you've achieved enough acclaim (and sold enough books) to collaborate with another established sci-fi writer to develop yet another "universe" to exploit.
All well and good, except too often the "universe" gets played out after the first book. Subsequent volumes seem a bit tossed off to critical readers, while casual readers love it nonetheless and continue to buy the books. Critical readers, meanwhile, move onto some other writer to scrutinize mercilessly.
Count me in the "critical readers" category. And color me suspicious of trilogies and SF series in general. With that foreknowledge, it should come as no surprise to you that I liked the Neanderthal Parallax, since I actually went ahead and read the second and third books in the trilogy. Had I not liked Hominid, you wouldn't be reading this review at all.
Back to the backstory: Volume 1 of the Neanderthal Parallax, Hominid, established the universe in which it and the succeeding books take place. Deep underground, in an abandoned nickel mine in Ontario, human scientists in our time are working on some sort of scientific work (I can't remember what, exactly, it is) that requires a chamber filled with heavy water and a lot of shielding from cosmic rays (which explains what the scientists are doing in a lab so far underground). Meanwhile, in a parallel universe in which Neanderthals thrived while humans died out, Neanderthal scientists are working in the same underground chamber on a quantum computing experiment. One of the Neanderthals inadvertently knocks one of the quantum computing devices while it is plugging away (quantum computers, it is explained, solve a problem by performing computations simultaneously in multiple universes) and BAM, he's transported to our universe. Over the course of Hominid, that particular Neanderthal (whose name is Ponter Boddit), is stuck in our world while the other scientist (who is also Ponter's man-mate, don't ask) navigates the tricky Neanderthal legal landscape, simultaneously trying to clear his own name of the murder of Ponter Boddit (because he disappeared without a trace while on his clock) and to bring him back to his world.
It's a clever device that provides Sawyer with ample opportunity to satirize and criticize human culture, one that has been skillfully created with a great deal of imagination. Despite the quantum physics that underly the novels' premise, these are socio-scientific books, filled with concepts that are easy for laypeople like you and me to understand.
Humans takes the story a bit further: Neandterthal scientists have figured out a way to keep the portal open so folks can go back and forth between the universes at will. Some of them want to close it, others -- their intellectual elite -- want to keep it open. Hybrids promises in its title exactly what it delivers: Ponter and Mary, a human scientist, have fallen in love and want to have a baby. But the only way to do that is to use a fancy gene splicing machine. And a decision needs to be made about whether the offspring gets the extra chromosome, which evidently is responsible in humans for their belief in God. Sounds heavy, but it's all handled with a relatively light and completely readable touch.
And now, personalized recommendations for my FeedBlitz subscribers (all except the one who wishes to remain anonymous). I am referring to the entire trilogy, btw, not just the 2nd and 3rd books.
Today's review covers parts 2 and 3 of Robert J. Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax: Humans and Hybrids. But since those two books are really just continuations of the story established in the first book, Hominid, I'll be discussing all three.
Backstory is important with sci-fi titles, since that's the foundation on which entire careers are launched. It seems the guiding principal of successfully writing SF (i.e., actually making a living doing it) is to develop and establish a compelling "universe," preferably one that resonates with the book-buying public, then milk that "universe" for all it's worth by first writing a trilogy, then (if you're really good) writing several more trilogies (e.g., "Volume 17 of the Ayy'k'brin Starquest") until your "universe" is tapped out, or until you've achieved enough acclaim (and sold enough books) to collaborate with another established sci-fi writer to develop yet another "universe" to exploit.
All well and good, except too often the "universe" gets played out after the first book. Subsequent volumes seem a bit tossed off to critical readers, while casual readers love it nonetheless and continue to buy the books. Critical readers, meanwhile, move onto some other writer to scrutinize mercilessly.
Count me in the "critical readers" category. And color me suspicious of trilogies and SF series in general. With that foreknowledge, it should come as no surprise to you that I liked the Neanderthal Parallax, since I actually went ahead and read the second and third books in the trilogy. Had I not liked Hominid, you wouldn't be reading this review at all.
Back to the backstory: Volume 1 of the Neanderthal Parallax, Hominid, established the universe in which it and the succeeding books take place. Deep underground, in an abandoned nickel mine in Ontario, human scientists in our time are working on some sort of scientific work (I can't remember what, exactly, it is) that requires a chamber filled with heavy water and a lot of shielding from cosmic rays (which explains what the scientists are doing in a lab so far underground). Meanwhile, in a parallel universe in which Neanderthals thrived while humans died out, Neanderthal scientists are working in the same underground chamber on a quantum computing experiment. One of the Neanderthals inadvertently knocks one of the quantum computing devices while it is plugging away (quantum computers, it is explained, solve a problem by performing computations simultaneously in multiple universes) and BAM, he's transported to our universe. Over the course of Hominid, that particular Neanderthal (whose name is Ponter Boddit), is stuck in our world while the other scientist (who is also Ponter's man-mate, don't ask) navigates the tricky Neanderthal legal landscape, simultaneously trying to clear his own name of the murder of Ponter Boddit (because he disappeared without a trace while on his clock) and to bring him back to his world.
It's a clever device that provides Sawyer with ample opportunity to satirize and criticize human culture, one that has been skillfully created with a great deal of imagination. Despite the quantum physics that underly the novels' premise, these are socio-scientific books, filled with concepts that are easy for laypeople like you and me to understand.
Humans takes the story a bit further: Neandterthal scientists have figured out a way to keep the portal open so folks can go back and forth between the universes at will. Some of them want to close it, others -- their intellectual elite -- want to keep it open. Hybrids promises in its title exactly what it delivers: Ponter and Mary, a human scientist, have fallen in love and want to have a baby. But the only way to do that is to use a fancy gene splicing machine. And a decision needs to be made about whether the offspring gets the extra chromosome, which evidently is responsible in humans for their belief in God. Sounds heavy, but it's all handled with a relatively light and completely readable touch.
And now, personalized recommendations for my FeedBlitz subscribers (all except the one who wishes to remain anonymous). I am referring to the entire trilogy, btw, not just the 2nd and 3rd books.
- Mark: I don't think this kind of sci-fi is really up your alley. Stay tuned for other recommendations better suited to you. I promise one is coming.
- Beth: As an anthropology major, I figure you'd eat this stuff up. Highly recommended!
- Dave: Not a troll nor an elf to be found in these books, but I think you'd like them nonetheless. Recommended to you without reservation.
- Pat: Like you have time to read about a parallel Neanderthal universe, what with all your hockey-writing responsibilities nowadays.
- Jeff: Like me, you are an avid sci-fi reader. The Neanderthal Parallax is not exactly Neil Stephenson, but it's good enough to keep you interested. Recommended.
- Mom: I kinda doubt you made it this far in my review, especially given the subject matter, but here goes: Neanderthal-human love is not really your thing, so far as I know. No need to explore it further.
- As for Matt and Bill, who read the BB regularly, but don't subscribe to FeedBlitz: Matt, if you liked the description at all, you'll probably like the books. They are damned entertaining. Bill, these are probably not literary enough for you, you too-smart bastard you.
posted by Bill Purdy, 10:24 AM