Did Neanderthals interact with our ancient ancestors? What would contact be like? What would be the results? How would that have been like from the Neanderthals point of view? The impossibility of ever having actual verifiable answers to these questions does not deter William Golding from tackling them all.

The most interesting aspect of this book is that it is mostly and almost entirely told from the perspective of a Neanderthal. Golding's Neanderthals have a different culture, different speech, and different thought pattern from us. They are unable to recognize human inventions for what the different tools they are and can only describe them in the world of nature that they live in. As a result, our Neanderthal guide, Lok, through this encounter is mostly confused throughout the entire novel. This requires the reader to pick up on subtle clues and translate these clues and Lok's observations into a coherent narrative.

This was Golding's second novel, written after the Lord of the Flies. All ready, we see him honing his writing skills and stepping out of a writer's comfort zone while at the same time inviting the reader to do so as well. Together, writer and reader are embarking to understand the perspective of a cognizant being that they could never hope to understand. Of course, such an exercise prepares us to tackle the more practical exercise of understanding and emphasizing with other human cultures. And upon further reflection, we will find that the conflict between cultures is probably not that different from Golding's fiction of pre-historic men coming into contact with our genetic ancestors.