Hominids by Robert Sawyer

I really liked Rollback by Sawyer earlier this year, so I decided to try the "Neanderthal Parallax" series by him. Hominids is the first book in the series.

The premise is that while doing quantum experiments, a man from a parallel universe ends up in our universe unexpectedly. He is a Neanderthal, and comes from a world where they survived evolution and we (homo sapiens) didn't. He is also a scientist, and he is befriended by a small group of scientists in our universe who get to know him.

The book read quickly, and the characters were well-developed and likable. I am always pleasantly surprised at how good science-fiction character development can be. As the book goes on, we learn more about his world, and are brought into a classical science-fiction universe where things have their own language and concepts are taught to the reader through observation. I was a little disappointed that the world he came from was different from ours in a classical science-fiction/social commentary way, but not in a way directly related to their being Neanderthals. However, other than that I really enjoyed the story.

I look forward to the two other books in the series, Humans and Hybrids. Perhaps some of his decisions about the Neanderthal universe will become clearer.