This was phenomenal! In the first two books, "Hominids," and "Humans," Sawyer deftly described the 'alien' in the form of the Neanderthals in such a way as to show us our own failures as human beings, but at the same time, with such a light touch that it did not come across as preachy. Indeed, in this book, one of the characters, Jock, begins to see just how poorly humans have handled their world.

There is much to this book that is easily missed - Sawyer has put gender issues, sexuality issues, racism, violence, criminal systems, enviromental practices - all of it is on display in this series, and in the third book, it is in the character of Mary that we get to explore both worlds with her biased human eye.

As the collapse of our Earth's magnetic field continues (it flips now and then, and is doing so now), Jock, Mary, and the rest of the Synergy group are slowly realizing what it could possibly mean to humanity, while at the same time Mary explores options of potentially creating a hybrid child with Ponter, the neanderthal she has fallen in love with.

Most interesting to me (as a gay reader) was Mary's slow acceptance of the Neanderthal relationship structure (they each have a man-mate and a woman-mate, and live in same-gendered relationships for most of their lives, with about four days a month spent in opposite-gender relationships). As Mary moves towards adopting the Neanderthal way of life, she slowly allows herself to consider the option of a woman-mate, and eventually takes one on. I nearly cheered in my seat!

Just as interesting was the religious debate that has been ongoing in this book. The Neanderthals, very uncurious and entirely unreligious, are shown to be lacking whatever brain components are required for 'faith.' When Mary and Ponter decide to have a child, the Catholic Mary needs to figure out if her child should have the gene for faith, or not. It's an amazingly good thought process for both of them, and again I tip my hat at Sawyer.

Where the story finally goes took me by surprise, and left me satisfied about the trilogy at large. This was superb, and as always, I wait for Sawyer's next great novel.

Pre-numbered label used for registration.

Release planned for Friday, March 05, 2004 at Second Cup at Bank & Slater in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.

Hello!

You've found a birthday release, something that has become an annual event for me here at BookCrossing. See, last year, it was mentioned in a post that one might celebrate a birthday by releasing some books. I, being a bit quirky and anal, decided to release 28 books, as it was my 28th birthday.

Well, this year - do the math - I'm turning 29, and as such, 29 books will be freed, March 5th, 2004, in celebration of what I like to call "the last year of being trustworthy."

So, congratulations, you got a birthday present - a bit of fun, frolic, or maybe even something serious (not likely) in bound form to read, enjoy, hopefully journal, and then release back into the wild. And no matter when it is for you - Happy Birthday.

Left with the cream and sugar.

This was release #10/29 on March 5th, 2004.

It was a dreary Friday morning. I'd just finished reading a book and now I had nothing to read. What was I going to do on the bus ride home? You can only read the bus ads so many times. I was pondering my dilemma as I entered the Second Cup for my usual "Regular Dark" and a few barbs launched in Mila's (the coffee lady) direction. I walked over to the sugar and cream counter to dump the usual refined sugars and cholesterol into the java, when, lo and behold, a BOOK - with an ugly green cover to boot. It has a post-in that says "I'm free". "Thank you [insert deity name of your choice here]", I said. I lifted the cover and quickly glanced inside and found the BookCrossing.com address. To quote Elliott Moose "a-MA-zing". You've just made my bus ride home for the next week livable.

CAUGHT IN OTTAWA ONTARIO CANADA

I'd caught this book last week and left a note about it anonymously. I've since registered (amazing concept) and read the book.

Mixed feelings about the book. The concept is amazing and very well handled and almost believable as a concept (something I look for in a good fiction book). I had not read the first two books of the trilogy, but it only took a few pages to orient myself and that is a plus. The fact that Homo Sapiens tries to destroy Homo Neanderthalensis rings true. Our greed and, worse, our fear of the unknown, are traits that have always prevented us from accepting competition from others, and have been the cause for war throughout the ages.
The book puts forward various concepts alien to us. Homo Neanderthalensis castrate criminals to prevent the genes from propagating into the gene pool. They do not believe in God (a theme central to the book). They do not burn fossil fuels, their population is limited to 198 million on the entire planet, they practice population growth control, on and on and on. The author presents us with concepts that surround us every day, but that many of us have a problem accepting. Bisexuality, for example, is the norm for the Neanderthals. As a social comentary, the book is very good. It forces us to look in a mirror and truly look at ourselves, especially at the warts.
The character development leaves a bit to be desired. I'm not sure how to define it. While we learn enough about the characters to follow their progress, I found that I never really "cared" for the characters. Ponter, the main Neanderthal protagonist, remains somewhat detached throughout the whole book. Perhaps the development was accomplished in other books, but for someone like me who got started on the last book of the trilogy, it left me a little hungry.
The pace of the book is also a little hurried. There are points at which I would have liked much more information about either the characters, or a concept of Neanderthal society. Some of these more fascinating aspects are glossed over. Again, this may be because I got the third book first.
Overall, not a bad read. I'm an inveterate reader, and I usually judge books by how well they kept my attention. Regrettably, I had no problems closing this book at any point in time, or interspersing its reading with other reading material. So 6 out of 10.
I will release this book this morning Saturday March 13, at the Tim Hortons at the corner of 10th Line and Innes roads in Orléabs.

Released on Saturday, March 13, 2004 at Tim Hortons at 10th and Innes in Orleans, Ontario Canada.