This odyssey into the distant past carries us back to the awesome mysteries of the exotic, primeval world of The Clan of the Cave Bear, and to Ayla...
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Jun 02, 2008
Summer
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Aug 21, 2007
Renee
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This one goes down as my all time, #1, best read. I learned SO many things and gained more strength and independence than I though possible. The story is this, Ayla is cast out from her family, leaving behind her only son, to survive in the ice age and the wilderness alone. She has the knowledge of a medicine woman, and the skills of a sling to assist her survival. But the greatest challenge is the loneliness. She teaches herself to hunt with spears, to make knives, baskets, and implements for c
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Aug 18, 2008
Danielle
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I liked this book for the story of a girl surviving on her own and her learning experiences but I thought the sex was a bit over the top. I guess I just wasn't expecting that much sex and that much detail. I mean, I really don't need to know that Ayla was turned on by watching horses mate or that Jondalar's "woman maker" was too large for most females. I was under the impression that this series of books was for the "young adult" audience, mostly because I knew lots of peo
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Nov 17, 2007
Corbin
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Dad: "So...how's the book?"
Me: "Hmn. Well, I like the first two thirds or so, that's all survivalist nerd stuff. But after that, it kind of turns into caveman porn."
(Later that week...)
Dad: "So...I borrowed your book."
Me: "...Oh."
(Uncomfortable silence)
Me: "So...what did you think of it?"
Dad: "Well, you were right, the first two thirds is for survival nerds. After that, though..."
Me: "Hmn. Well, I like the first two thirds or so, that's all survivalist nerd stuff. But after that, it kind of turns into caveman porn."
(Later that week...)
Dad: "So...I borrowed your book."
Me: "...Oh."
(Uncomfortable silence)
Me: "So...what did you think of it?"
Dad: "Well, you were right, the first two thirds is for survival nerds. After that, though..."
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Feb 27, 2008
Dyana
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Mar 03, 2008
Red
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Dec 03, 2011
Lisa.scott
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4.5 stars: Terrific historical fiction series a lot of romance, adventure, suspense and a touch of the supernatural
I'm re-reading the Clan of the Cave Bear series, and it is just is wonderful today as it was reading it when it was published years ago. The look at prehistoric man is facinating--seeing how they lived, organized into clans, what they believed spiritually, etc.
This book picks up where the first book Clan of the Cave Bear leaves off. It's one of my favorite books in the More...
I'm re-reading the Clan of the Cave Bear series, and it is just is wonderful today as it was reading it when it was published years ago. The look at prehistoric man is facinating--seeing how they lived, organized into clans, what they believed spiritually, etc.
This book picks up where the first book Clan of the Cave Bear leaves off. It's one of my favorite books in the More...
Nov 27, 2011
Jon
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After reading Clan of the Cave Bear I was dying to know what happened to Ayla, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. Most of this book follows two story lines: Ayla and a new character named Jondalar. They're obviously going to converge at some point but I found myself flipping through the Jondalar part paying scant attention so that I could get to the Ayla parts faster. Those bits continued to be a fun read and I cared deeply what happened to her but the other storyline was nothing mor
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Jul 11, 2011
Diane
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I kind of cringe to admit I bought this book with my babysitting money and read it when I was 14 thinking it was about a young woman and a horse. The salesclerk valiantly did try to discreetly inform my mom that it wasn't really YA reading, but failed to stress that it was because of the sex. Fortunately my mom was right in that I was mature enough to realize that while I was mature enough for the G-rated portions of the book, the intimate scenes were for adults. Granted when I read the serie
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Apr 27, 2011
Algernon
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[5/10] If any book can define the term "guilty pleasure" for me it would probably be this one. I am most probably not the target audience for this series, and I could easily pick apart the cheesy writing, so bad it becomes humorous, the bloated infodumps about vegetation and toolmaking, the purple prose towards the end that belong more to a Hustler magazine than to a general public bestseller. Ayla and Jondalar feel like Harper's Bazaar or Vogue supermodels slumming it in the Ice Age
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Apr 05, 2011
Saskia Marijke
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Second book on the saga of the Children of the Earth. Full of detail and interesting trivia of a long time ago era, this ice age story speaks of a time when humans discovered and invented tools for their survival. It mainly focuses on our already established Heroine Ayla and her three years living alone in a cave by a valley with horses, where she rescues and nurtures a horse and a lion and learns to hunt with both. A second strand is brought into this story when two brothers of the "Others
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Feb 03, 2011
Melissa
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This is my favorite book of the series. I'm actually not quite sure why, it has tons of flaws and problems, but be it rational or not, its always been my favorite of the series. It is the 2nd book in the Earth's Children series and while you could probably read it as a stand-alone, I recommend reading the series in order for better understanding of background information.
When we last left Ayla, she had been cursed with death by her Clan and leaving her son behind, set out to find " More...
When we last left Ayla, she had been cursed with death by her Clan and leaving her son behind, set out to find " More...
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Jun 28, 2010
Janet
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I wanted to read this, the second book in the Earth Children series, because I enjoyed the first book in the series. Unfortunately, this book has quite a bit of pornish/explicit stuff in it that I ended up just skipping over to get to the end...
However, there were a couple of passages that I loved:
p. 459: "You beautiful, wild, wonderful woman!"
p. 501: "You are strong, self-reliant, entirely able to take care of yourself and of me... You are fearless, coura More...
However, there were a couple of passages that I loved:
p. 459: "You beautiful, wild, wonderful woman!"
p. 501: "You are strong, self-reliant, entirely able to take care of yourself and of me... You are fearless, coura More...
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Apr 23, 2010
Kemba
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Feb 17, 2010
~M~
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This is the 2nd book in the Earth's Children Series, a series I began reading in high school. As I wrote in my review of The Clan of the Cave Bear, this book and other early exposure to archaeology thanks to my mom led to my getting a BA in anthropology and working in anthropology museums for several years.
Out of the entire series, this is the book I reread most often. I keep it on my bedside table and read bits and pieces of it every few days or weeks. When I do so I always skip ove More...
Out of the entire series, this is the book I reread most often. I keep it on my bedside table and read bits and pieces of it every few days or weeks. When I do so I always skip ove More...
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Feb 16, 2010
Sarah705
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I thought that this was a really interesting and thought provoking book. Watching Ayla discover the nature of the world around her was genuinely exciting.
This book really made me think about the way things are. Although Ayla's world is different from ours, she too has to deal with learning new things. I've always wondered why things are the way they are- why do we speak different languages? Why do we speak at all?
Ayla does consider the first question. When Jondalar tells her that onl More...
This book really made me think about the way things are. Although Ayla's world is different from ours, she too has to deal with learning new things. I've always wondered why things are the way they are- why do we speak different languages? Why do we speak at all?
Ayla does consider the first question. When Jondalar tells her that onl More...
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Jan 12, 2010
Sarah
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Jan 13, 2010
Peacegal
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Here we have the sequel to the Ice Age-set novel, Clan of the Cave Bear. Ayla has been banished from the tribe of Neanderthals, the only community she has ever known. She must learn to live by her wits or perish in the unforgiving Ice Age environment.
Some may wonder why I choose to read these books, as I have expressed in other reviews my dismay about scenes of animal cruelty in novels. I suppose the prehistoric setting has much to do with it; this was a time when early hominids simp More...
Some may wonder why I choose to read these books, as I have expressed in other reviews my dismay about scenes of animal cruelty in novels. I suppose the prehistoric setting has much to do with it; this was a time when early hominids simp More...
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Aug 04, 2009
Tara
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Jondalar is a boring, annoying Gary Stu. Reading about him and Thonolan bored me to tears.
Ayla is still sometimes interesting, but her feats are becoming absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, being the first person to tame a horse, create a cart (without wheels, but still), create fire with stone sparks, tame a cave lion (sure, he was a baby, and close to death, but why wouldn't he have eaten her when he got a little older? Don't believe it), and use stitches on a wound? Her sudden gra More...
Ayla is still sometimes interesting, but her feats are becoming absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, being the first person to tame a horse, create a cart (without wheels, but still), create fire with stone sparks, tame a cave lion (sure, he was a baby, and close to death, but why wouldn't he have eaten her when he got a little older? Don't believe it), and use stitches on a wound? Her sudden gra More...
Jul 27, 2009
Amber
rated it:
I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but this was only partially it. Clan of the Cave Bearcertainly didn't set the bar high, literarily speaking. However, I was taken aback by the shift in tone and emphasis. Whereas Cave Bear seemed genuinely interested in being taken seriously, Valley of the Horses is more interested in titillating housewives whose macrame plant holders still boast spider plants and ferns galore. The whole book smacks of repressed seventies feminism; politics and speculat
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May 14, 2009
Heather
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This book is the second in Jean M Auel's Earth Children series. This is, perhaps, my favorite of all her novels. I've read this book as many times as the first (Clan of the Cave Bear), at least once a year since I was 12.
This is the continued story of Ayla, a young woman who grew up within a Neanderthal community, but who leaves her family in order to find people of her own. Much of this novel takes place with Ayla learning to live on her own in the great, wide world. Throughout More...
This is the continued story of Ayla, a young woman who grew up within a Neanderthal community, but who leaves her family in order to find people of her own. Much of this novel takes place with Ayla learning to live on her own in the great, wide world. Throughout More...
Jan 03, 2011
Jerelyn
rated it:
This is the second book in the saga of The Children of the Earth, I was warned that I would end up reading them all when I started Clan of the Cave Bear one of my 2011 reading challenge books.
The Valley of Horses, it the continuing story of Ayla, the Cro Magnon child raise then cast out by the Neanderthals after her protectors have died. Leaving behind her child she takes all the skills she has learned and sets out on a trek to find "the others" whom her Neanderthal foster More...
The Valley of Horses, it the continuing story of Ayla, the Cro Magnon child raise then cast out by the Neanderthals after her protectors have died. Leaving behind her child she takes all the skills she has learned and sets out on a trek to find "the others" whom her Neanderthal foster More...
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Sep 27, 2007
Darth
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In the second installment of the Earths Children series, Ayla continues her adventures and discovery in a prehistoric world.
In this volume I found the story and personal character development even better than the first book of the series (Clan of the Cave Bear) but the historical aspects devolve even more so into a Superwoman invents everything singlehandedly account too far fetched to be even remotely realistic. Still a good read for the story and characters.
In this volume I found the story and personal character development even better than the first book of the series (Clan of the Cave Bear) but the historical aspects devolve even more so into a Superwoman invents everything singlehandedly account too far fetched to be even remotely realistic. Still a good read for the story and characters.
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Jan 09, 2012
Kara
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I didn’t mind that it devolved (devolved, get it? hehehe) anyway, I didn't mind that the book turned out to be porn-for-women-who-pretend-they-don’t-like-that-sort-of-thing-because-its-soooo-low-brow, but what I DID mind was that it became CLICHÉ porn.
Oooo he’s a man whose been with tons of women but never felt True Love!
Oooo she’s a woman who’s been raped in a way sanctioned by her culture and never had an orgasm!
Ahhhhh he’s a man who yearns to love More...
Jan 06, 2012
Josh
rated it:
I really enjoyed The Valley of Horses, although not as much as book one I think. CotCB was so rich with facts and customs of the Clan and all of that came to an end at the end of the book, with Ayla's departure. The introduction of Jondalar and the humans provided for an almost equally interesting setting, but I suddenly felt it lacked the uniqueness from the first book. It was one of the only books I've read where humans were not the protagonists and it was so well researched and written that I
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Feb 18, 2012
Julie
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Dec 29, 2011
Dylan
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pros: strong female protagonist, obviously well researched paleo-anthropology (in some areas), wilderness survival skills, cool animals (woolly rhinos & cave lions!)
cons: the narrative perspective oscillates wildly between 1st person and 3rd person omniscient typically jumping immediately from things like "I wonder if I should eat this berry" to "These mighty glaciers would recede in the coming millenia, and the bare steppe would become heavily forested." it's clumsy (those aren't More...
Mar 13, 2008
Ellen
rated it:
I have a huge Love hate relationship with these books. The author repeats herself over and over again; she treats the reader like they're stupid and cannot remember a thing. In fact I believe any good editor could cut these books down by hundreds of pages. Yet, this series is addicting. The first one is by far the best but be prepared to be sucked in - if you read the first you will want to read them all.
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Jan 10, 2012
essjay
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More Trashy Tuesday posts available here: http://wp.me/p1Zgyz-aE
So, when last we saw Ayla, she'd been given the Death Curse and was off on her own. The Valley of Horses picks up immediately after leavingBrun's Broud's clan and starts Ayla's hunt for the mysterious Others.
<spoiler>While Ayla is travelling, the narrative splits, and we're also following the travels of Jondalar and Thonolan. They are brothers on a Journey (yes, always capitalized). They started ou More...
So, when last we saw Ayla, she'd been given the Death Curse and was off on her own. The Valley of Horses picks up immediately after leaving
<spoiler>While Ayla is travelling, the narrative splits, and we're also following the travels of Jondalar and Thonolan. They are brothers on a Journey (yes, always capitalized). They started ou More...
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Nov 07, 2011
Shannon
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The unforgettable story of Ayla continues and held me hostage to the sweet and sudden end. You know how the story wil go, but getting there is an emotional, frustrating, and clever ride.
I realize things slip into the story just for the sake of teaching the reader things about prehistory, discoveries are made too often and Ayla seems a litle too invincible at times, but forgive it all for the sake of a tale that captivates and, more, speaks loudly to the human condition. Our need for belong More...
I realize things slip into the story just for the sake of teaching the reader things about prehistory, discoveries are made too often and Ayla seems a litle too invincible at times, but forgive it all for the sake of a tale that captivates and, more, speaks loudly to the human condition. Our need for belong More...
