The Neanderthal (UK: /niˈændərˌtɑːl/; Homo neanderthalensis) is the extinct species we Homo sapiens shouldered out of existence some 40,000 years ago. Melissa Ferguson’s The Shining Wall imagines their re-emergence as a servile class in a bleak future world.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of this extraordinary example of dystopian fiction. Stark, powerful and inventive, Ferguson’s novel questions the nature of humanity and compassion in a world bereft of both. This is a book that challenged my generally-held assumption that science fiction isn’t my jam.

Read the full review at the Newtown Review of Books.