Reading order
The Neanderthal Parallax reading order
1
2
3- 7.67.6 / 10102 ratings
- Score
- 3 volumes
- Volumes
- 2002–2003
- Published
- about 23 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Science fiction
- Genre
Quick answer
Publication order
3 volumes2002–2003Completed
- Robert J. Sawyer’s trilogy begins when a Neanderthal physicist from a parallel Earth, where our species died out and his flourished, falls into a Canadian neutrino detector.
- Hominids, which won the Hugo Award, uses the contrast between the two worlds to examine religion, crime, sex and family; Humans and Hybrids follow his relationship with a human geneticist.
- Ideas count for more than plot.
- Only Hominids has enough ratings here.
- Read in order.
A plan for the whole series
3 volumes, 1,228 pages, about 23 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 weeks.
Stages
2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 2, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.
- Stage 115 h20 daysby November 18, 2026
- 1. Hominids
- 2. Humans
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 27 h10 daysby December 2, 2026
- 3. Hybrids
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Which The Neanderthal Parallax book is the longest?
“Hominids” is the longest at 448 pages; the shortest is “Humans” with 384 pages.
What should I read after The Neanderthal Parallax?
Other series by Robert J. Sawyer: WWW Trilogy, Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy.
