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Robert Sawyer concludes his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy with this book. Contact between a world where humans were the dominant evolutionary path, and a world where Neanderthals survived instead continues to heat up, as the two worlds share aspects of science, culture, history, and more. Ponter Boddit, the first Neanderthal to cross over to our world, continues his growing love affair with human geneticist Mary Vaughan, and the two begin to plan ways to be together permanently, and ways to signify their union with a child of both races. Meanwhile, a shadowy faction sees the world of the Neanderthals as a valuable resource, virgin territory that could be used for so much... if only there weren't those pesky inhabitants already there. Another group of researchers seeks to answer the ultimate question concerning the nature of religion and the existence of God. Finally, one man's search for revenge and redemption could save, or destroy, both worlds. All of these stories intertwine as the story moves to a fateful climax.

Let's face it. While there is an underlying plot to the trilogy, The Neanderthal Parallax is clearly Sawyer's way of exploring a whole host of questions, and postulating the "what ifs?" of history, society, and technology. His fondness for the imagined world of the Neanderthals is evident in the near-Utopian society he's devised, though even that society proves to have some dark clouds to it in the name of the greater good. Thought-provoking and intricately-suggested, the alternate world is almost wistful in its portrayal, especially compared to our own messed-up one. Sawyer uses the alien presence of Ponter to explore a number of issues, including religion and morality, sometimes to the detriment of the story. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed Hybrids. Sawyer rarely disappoints, and this is certainly no exception.

Michael M Jones enjoys an addiction to books, for which he's glad there is no cure. He lives with his very patient wife (who doesn't complain about books taking over the house... much), eight cats, and a large plaster penguin that once tasted blood and enjoyed it. A prophecy states that when Michael finishes reading everything on his list, he'll finally die. He aims to be immortal.