Humans

, #2

by ,

11 hours, 35 minutes

English language

Published April 22, 2008 by Audible Studios.

ASIN:
B00NTQJ1NY
(3 reviews)

In this Hugo-nominated novel, Neanderthal physicist Ponder Boddit brings Canadian geneticist Mary Vaughan back to his world to explore the near-utopian civilization of the Neanderthals. Boddit serves as a Candide figure, the naive visitor whose ignorance about our society makes him a perfect tool to analyze human tendencies toward violence, over-population, and environmental degradation. The Neanderthals have developed a highly artistic, ethical, and scientific culture without ever inventing farming - they're still hunters and gatherers - and this allows the author to make some interesting and generally unrecognized points about the downside of the discovery of agriculture.

3 editions

reviewed Humans (Volume Two of The Neanderthal Parallax) by Robert J. Sawyer (Neanderthal Parallax (2))

Review of 'Humans (Volume Two of The Neanderthal Parallax)' on 'Goodreads'

Throughout the first book and this one, I often found myself struggling to accept Mary’s thoughts and actions. She seems like a forced character who feels what she feels and does what she does just to move the plot along.
But… I did manage to overcome this by looking at her a different way. We all know people who seem to do things out of character, or with no logical reason for their actions, and Mary is no exception. Is she a weakly written character? Maybe (but I’m no expert). Is she a believable character? Well I think so, she’s just not what I expected her to be.

Overall, the themes and subject matter of this series outweigh those potential shortcomings too much for any of that to have any bearing on my enjoyment. On to book three!

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