BOOK REVIEW: "The Shelters of Stone"

The Shelters of Stone
By Jean M. Auel
Copyright 2002
Crown Publishers
Adult Fiction
4 Bookmarks

Book Five of the Earth's Children Series takes the main characters, Ayla and Jondalar, back to Jondalar's home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. Ayla is nervous to meet Jondalar's family but after more than a year of traveling to get there, she is ready.

As has been the case with all the groups of people they've encountered on the way, Jondalar's people are startled by the woman with the horses and wolf as traveling companions. But because they remember Jondalar, some of them are more willing to accept her at face value, including Jondalar's family, although some members of the community hold grudges against Jondalar and take it out on Ayla.

Once again, Ayla comes to the rescue of various individuals in her new community, including a baby who is being neglected and a boy who gets gored by a wooly rhinoceros. Ayla struggles with her innate ability to heal and faces some tough choices.

In The Shelters of Stone, Ayla and Jondalar finally become officially "mated" and have a baby to expand their family as they start this new life.

This is not my favorite book in the series. Partially because it is so dang long (753 pages, in case you were wondering why I haven't posted anything in awhile). Partially because now that they're "back home", they have to re-tell their story several times (and the author includes these retellings in the book), which gets a little redundant. However, it does have some interesting plot twists and new adventures for the pair, as well as some very novel characters.

Once again, I do really love Auel's ability to tell a story and capture the feeling of a situation through her words (although the "adult" portions of the book are pretty over-the-top graphic). And this is the last "old" book in the series (one that I have read before). Next will be the last book in the series that was just published this year, The Land of Painted Caves (watch for my review as soon as it comes up in my library queue!)

BOOK REVIEW: "The Plains of Passage"

The Plains of Passage
By Jean M. Auel
Copyright 1990
Crown Publishers, Inc.
Adult Fiction
5 Bookmarks

Book four of the Earth's Children Series by Jean M. Auel, follows Ayla and Jondalar's journey from the end of the Great Mother River back to his homeland far to the west. It takes them nearly one year to complete the journey and they have many adventures along the way.

With two horses and a wolf for companions, the travelers are not welcomed easily anywhere they encounter other humans. The groups they meet are very wary of the newcomers and some even hide. But the pair do visit with some groups that remember Jondalar from his trip to the east.

With dangerous river crossings and changing weather chasing them down, the two face a perilous journey. They survive some near misses that leave your heart pounding! Some of the groups they encounter appreciate Ayla's skill as a medicine woman and she puts those skills to use frequently. A few places along the way are tempting to Ayla, who is tired of traveling. But she knows that Jondalar wants to go home and so they keep moving.

I suppose the most notable section of this book deals with Jondalar being captured by a group called the Wolf Women. He is held captive in a society where women run the show and the men are mere prisoners (I wish!) With Ayla's help, Jondalar finally escapes and the two work together to help free the other men who have been held captive by the Wolf Women.

As usual, I loved this book (who wouldn't love a book about a man, a woman, two horses and a wolf traveling together during caveman times?) I really am enjoying re-reading this series, despite the over-the-top "adult" scenes (again, don't let your kiddos read these!)

I'm getting close to the end! One more book to go before the new one in the series! I've only read Shelters of Stone (book five) once, so I'm looking forward to re-reading it! Review for that one coming soon!

BOOK REVIEW: "The Mammoth Hunters"

The Mammoth Hunters
Earth's Children Series
By Jean M. Auel
Copyright 1985
Crown Publishers
Adult Fiction/ PaleoFiction
4 Bookmarks

And again we are on to the next book in my favorite book series, Earth's Children, by Jean M. Auel. The Mammoth Hunters, book three of the series, is my least favorite (at least, so far.....I still haven't read book six, but I'm working my way that direction!) The entire storyline of this book always causes me great anxiety and nail-biting suspense whenever I read it (even though I already know how it ends).

In The Mammoth Hunters, the main characters Jondalar and Ayla finally leave their magical valley and go exploring. Lo and behold! They run into other Others, a tribe (or cave or clan or whatever you'd like to call it) of mammoth-hunting humans. They invite the pair to stay with them for the upcoming winter and they agree.

There's a problem, though. Jondalar and Ayla still have a little trouble communicating (in that her first language is the language of The Clan and his first language is of a people who live more than a year away), which leads to problems actually quite typical of those in a relationship defined by poor communication. One thing leads to another, and soon both Jondalar and Ayla think the other one doesn't love them anymore. Of course, this is exacerbated by a handsome member of the mammoth hunters tribe named Ranec who does everything he can to rip the lovers apart so he can have Alya himself.

And so as this yo-yo of Alya being tugged between Jondalar and Ranec continues for page after page after page.....after page......I always get to a point when reading this book where I just want to skip to the end! But not really. Because it is very well-written. And entertaining. And enjoyable. And I do love the full story. And, really, would they have truly known that they loved each other without having this tormented episode right in the middle of the series? Perhaps not. *sigh*

Just a little warning again, though. It does still have some of those "adult-ish" scenes with words like "his manhood" and "her supple flesh", so no, I would not recommend reading this one aloud to the kiddos.

And I can only give it four bookmarks instead of five, just simply because of the torment I felt the entire time I was reading it! (Seriously. I do not do well with suspense novels. I've read this book five times, obviously I know how it ends and yet it still causes me grief!)

BOOK REVIEW: "The Valley of Horses"

The Valley of Horses
By Jean M. Auel
Copyright 1982
Crown Publishers
Adult Fiction
5 Bookmarks
Exceptional!

And this is Book 2 of the Earth's Children series by Jean Auel. I previously reviewed Book 1, Clan of the Cave Bear. This is the continuation of Ayla's journey.

As The Valley of Horses begins, Ayla is traveling alone to find people like herself, The Others. She travels far and for many days but doesn't find anyone. Instead, she finds herself in a beautiful valley where resides a herd of horses. Ayla finds a perfect cave and decides to stay for a few days, which turns into a few more, then eventually into an entire summer. As she plans for her winter stores, she faces the reality that she is still alone.

Auel, again, does a great job of explaining the intricacies of pre-historic chores like fire-starting, leather-scraping, and flint-knapping. Ayla is eventually joined in her cave by a baby horse and a baby lion. Auel creates a strong sense of family amongst the three cave dwellers.

Interspersed between the events occuring in Ayla's existence, Auel begins to tell a tale of two young men on a journey of their own. As they travel to new and exciting territories, Jondolar, and his brother Thonolan, experience adventure, love and hardship. As the days pass, they draw nearer and nearer to the valley of horses.

And, as I'm sure you can guess, Ayla finally has her first opportunity to meet someone of The Others: people like her.

This is my favorite book in the entire series. There is not a dull moment in this book as Auel does an incredible job of keeping the reader interested and anticipating what's going to happen next. I am always sorry when I get to the end of this one.

Again, this book has adult content and is not for young readers (there's a particularly "interesting" scene that starts on about page 470......*ahem*), so keep out of reach of children please!