The Neanderthal Parallax/YMMV


 * Mary Suetopia: The Neanderthal world has very little crime, hasn't had a war in hundreds of years, and lives in harmony with nature.
 * Deconstructed in later books. The Neanderthal society deliberately chose to breed violence out of its population because due to the size and strength of an average individual, a minor dispute could easily end with someone getting killed. (One such scene is depicted in the first book; a fight between two main characters ends with the losing party getting most of his face caved in with one punch.) The problem arose when they started sterilizing anyone sharing half or more of the violent person's genome as well. It's implied that the sterilization policy has actually created a pretty significant problem with domestic violence, since the victim can't report the crime without condemning any children they might have to the same fate as the abuser.
 * Unfortunate Implications: The Neanderthals have a perfect society, they live in harmony with nature, haven't had a war in hundreds of years, have an omnipresent big brother government, a Eugenics program to stop crime, and most people can't vote. Does This Remind You of Anything??
 * Values Dissonance: See above.