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I'm just finishing Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson. While he usually writes sci-fi, this one is about a group of very early humans. It is absolutely riveting, fa

I'm just finishing Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson. While he usually writes sci-fi, this one is about a group of very early humans. It is absolutely riveting, fascinating, and beautiful. I absolutely recommend this book for anyone who is curious about how early humans might have lived.

pavel_lishin 3y ago
Stephen Baxter's "Manifold: Origin" novel also describes the potential lives of non-Sapiens hominins, including their inner thoughts. I'm not sure how well researched it was, and the whole thing definitely has a more science fiction than historical fiction background, but it was an interesting (albeit not a very happy†) read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_(Baxter_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_(Baxter_novel) † None of his books are. But they're still very good.
- dilippkumar 3y ago
  This doesn’t fit into the rest of the discussion above, but the Malazan series absolutely blew me away with a subplot (!!) about ancient hominids making epic sacrifices to allow modern humans to exist. This is (a) set in a fantasy world (b) has zero bearing in any real archeological or anthropological evidence and (c) is meant to be entertaining fiction more than an investigation into how early hominids might have lived. And yes, there are lots of magic and dragons involved. However, the creators of this world were field archaeologists and anthropologists and their instincts for telling stories spanning evolutionary time scales is absolutely unrivaled.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    One of my favorite scifi/fantasy series as a child was set in our world, but in which things like magic & Baba Yaga were real, historical entities. I forget how their eventual disappearance was justified, but I loved it as a kid. I think it was this series here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisa_Selezneva https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisa_Selezneva One of the stories was turned into a great piece of animation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_the_Third_Planet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_the_Third_Plane... And apparently this movie is also set in the same continuity?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_from_the_Future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_from_the_Future

pavel_lishin 3y ago

Stephen Baxter's "Manifold: Origin" novel also describes the potential lives of non-Sapiens hominins, including their inner thoughts. I'm not sure how well researched it was, and the whole thing definitely has a more science fiction than historical fiction background, but it was an interesting (albeit not a very happy†) read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_(Baxter_novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_(Baxter_novel) † None of his books are. But they're still very good.

dilippkumar 3y ago
This doesn’t fit into the rest of the discussion above, but the Malazan series absolutely blew me away with a subplot (!!) about ancient hominids making epic sacrifices to allow modern humans to exist. This is (a) set in a fantasy world (b) has zero bearing in any real archeological or anthropological evidence and (c) is meant to be entertaining fiction more than an investigation into how early hominids might have lived. And yes, there are lots of magic and dragons involved. However, the creators of this world were field archaeologists and anthropologists and their instincts for telling stories spanning evolutionary time scales is absolutely unrivaled.
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  One of my favorite scifi/fantasy series as a child was set in our world, but in which things like magic & Baba Yaga were real, historical entities. I forget how their eventual disappearance was justified, but I loved it as a kid. I think it was this series here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisa_Selezneva https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisa_Selezneva One of the stories was turned into a great piece of animation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_the_Third_Planet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystery_of_the_Third_Plane... And apparently this movie is also set in the same continuity?: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_from_the_Future https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guest_from_the_Future