The Neanderthal Parallax

A Sci Fi trilogy created by the Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer, set In a World (actually, a quantum parallel reality) where Neanderthals (H. sapiens neandertalensis) survived and Cro-Magnon man (H. sapiens sapiens) went extinct. This alternate Earth accidentally makes contact with modern Earth, and the rest of the series attempts to deconstruct the parallel societies.

The series consists of:

• Hominids (2002)
• Humans (2003)
• Hybrids (2003)

Tropes used in The Neanderthal Parallax include:

• Author Tract: Hybrids spends a lot of time talking about how evil human males are, and how they've done nothing but bring evil into the world.
• Big Brother Is Watching: With the Companion implants. Subverted, in that Neanderthals see this as a good thing.
• Canada, Eh?: The book takes place in Canada (specifically Ontario) on this Earth, as well as its geological analogue on the Neanderthals' Earth.
• Can't Argue with Elves: The interactions between Neanderthal and human society start to look like this by about halfway through the first book, and continue throughout the series, with the Neanderthals taking the part of the "elves."
• Everyone Is Bi: Every Neanderthal has a male and a female mate. There may be aversions, but they aren't discussed in the books. Enforced by virtue of living in a segregated society (females all live in the city center, males all live on the rim; the two meet for four days out of every month, which can be timed to avoid or encourage fertility). May also invoke Sitch Sexuality and/or If It's You It's Okay.
• Fish Out Of Quantum Water: Ponter on Human Earth, in spades. Mary later has similar troubles on Neanderthal Earth.
• Half-Human Hybrid: One of the major subplots is Mary and Ponter's struggle to have a child together.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: and how!
• Interdimensional Travel Device: Decoherence caused by a quantum computer allows for travel between Human Earth and Neanderthal Earth.
• Lady Land: Any Neanderthal city's center will be entirely populated and run by women.
  • No Periods, Period: Averted. Ponter is very surprised to note that one of the women from the Sudbury team is menstruating, but not all of them; coming from a society with an isolated female population, he's used to everyone being on a synchronized cycle. Back on Neanderthal Earth, Adikor is repeatedly accused of insanity for going downtown to talk to a female colleague during "Last Five," the last five days before the full moon. Apparently Neanderthal women get truly spectacular PMS, and all at once...
• Love Triangle: Mary, Ponter, and Adikor. Partially subverted, in that Neanderthals all have two lovers, but that Adikor wants Mary to follow the Neanderthal rules, and Mary wants Ponter to follow human rules. Eventually solved by Mary going bi and taking a Neanderthal woman-mate.
• Mary Suetopia: The Neanderthal society in the first book.
• Meaningful Name: In-universe. Due to Neanderthal jaw anatomy, Ponter can't pronounce the "ee" syllable. Therefore, he prounces Mary's name as "Mare," which happens to mean "beloved" in the barast language
• Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions: The Neanderthals didn't have to outgrow them, because they never had them. Because of the different structure of their brains, they are biologically incapable of believing in an afterlife, or a god.
• Rape as Drama: Mary
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: When Ponter hears that Cornelius Ruskin raped Mary and Qaiser, he goes over to Ruskin's house and castrates him so that he can't pass on his genes or repeat the act on another woman.
• Shown Their Work: Robert J. Sawyer knows quite a bit about physics, chemistry, and biology and shows it off frequently throughout the books.
• Strawman Political
• Superior Species: The Neanderthals tend to fall into this. One of the main points in their favor is that they themselves have a hard time accepting the idea that they may be significantly better than their Homo sapiens cousins.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Neanderthals are quite militant in the view that they can breed social harmony into their species by eliminating violent individuals from their gene pool - a policy enforced by surgically sterilizing not only the offender, but also anyone sharing more than half of his/her genome.
  • Utopia Justifies the Means: Deconstructed; the reason behind the policy has to do with the fact that Neanderthals are, on the whole, very physically strong (hint: they routinely hunt mammoth bare-handed), and a simple dispute could easily end up with someone getting killed. (One major plot piece in the first book involves the fallout from a fistfight between two characters; the loser gets his jaw essentially destroyed with one punch, and even that was a pulled punch; if the other party had taken a full swing and he hadn't pulled away it would have been fatal.)