Hominids    by Robert J. Sawyer Order:  USA  Can Tor, 2003 (2002) Hardcover, Paperback Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by David Pitt Ontario's Robert Sawyer returns with another original, intelligent, compassionate, thought-provoking science fiction novel. I've interviewed Sawyer twice (once in person, once by email), and reviewed as many of his novels as I could, and I'm a big fan, so forgive me if what follows sounds a little, well, enthusiastic. I used to read science fiction, and nothing but science fiction, while I was in high school, and right through my first couple of years of university. Then I started noticing, once I had read all the classics (Heinlein, Asimov, Pohl, Bester, etc - you know, writers from the early years who established science fiction as a legitimate genre), that most of the modern writers were doing one of two things. They were either repeating what other writers had already done, or they were getting so bogged-down in realism that they were forgetting science fiction was also fantasy. Science fiction, for me, got downright boring. I first read Sawyer when I was assigned the review of Starplex, a novel which, as they say, blew me away. So did the stuff he wrote before Starplex, which I hungrily sought out; so did Starplex's successors, like Frameshift and Illegal Alien and Flashforward. Sawyer made science fiction exciting for me, again - he took brain-bustingly evocative ideas (Calculating God, for example, is a rumination on the existence of God) and combined them with colourful characters, extraterrestrials, and just plain fine writing. All of which needed to be said before I say this: Hominids is more of the same. More brain-busting ideas (what if a doorway appeared between this universe and an alternate one in which Neanderthal Man evolved on Earth instead of Homo Sapiens), more lively characters (Mary Vaughan, a geneticist; Reuben Montego, a physician; and Ponder Boddit, the Neanderthal physicist who finds himself plunked down in our world); more splendid writing. Sawyer tells two stories here, simultaneously. In our world, there's Ponter's fish-out-of-water story, as the Neanderthal tries to adjust to the idea that he might be stuck here forever; in the alternate world, there's a courtroom drama, as Ponter's partner, unable to explain how his colleague seems to have vanished, is brought to trial for his murder. (This isn't Sawyer's first courtroom drama; check out Illegal Alien.) Sawyer's won a whole bunch of awards, but that's not really important here. What's important is this: he is, quite simply, an excellent writer. Not merely an excellent science fiction writer, not merely one of the genre's best, but a first-class, top-notch novelist. Even if you absolutely, positively hate science fiction, I urge you to read Hominids. It'll change your mind. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more SF books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews