The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children (Paperback))
by Jean M. Auel
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Read in May, 2008
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Read in November, 2006
"Ayla of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, formerly of the Lion Camp of the Matmutoi, Daughter of the Mammoth Hearth. Chosen by the Spirit of the Cave Lion. Protected by the Cave Bear. Friend of horses and Wolf . . and mated to Jondalar of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandoni. If my name gets much longer, I won't be able to remember it all." Don't worry Ayla, anyone who has trudged through this book will have memorized this by sheer repetition. If I would have known that she was going to re...more
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recommends it for:
lovers of redundancy and detail
Auel has written a beautiful saga about prehistoric man, and if I weren't so attached to her characters and their fate, I would have chucked this book long ago. Sadly, this is the worst of the five--mainly because it lacks plot and interest. Auel spends 200 pages on their first day with the Zelandoni, about 600 on the first month or so, then suddenly the last months whizz by in, maybe, 100 pages. She is redundant not only from her previous books, but within the book itself. She makes the sam...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
ages 21 and up or high maturity level
contains sex scene, high maturity level required. this entire series in not a porn type book series.
the reason i didnt type a review for the series so far was because it would take alot of time and effort. the time i dont have the effort in plenty lol. so far i have learned that sometimes you have to think and not follow "thats how its been done" to make progress in the world. It has also taught me that alot about the history and how people lived back in that time. (jean m auel is r...more
the reason i didnt type a review for the series so far was because it would take alot of time and effort. the time i dont have the effort in plenty lol. so far i have learned that sometimes you have to think and not follow "thats how its been done" to make progress in the world. It has also taught me that alot about the history and how people lived back in that time. (jean m auel is r...more
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Read in January, 2001
recommends it for:
only those people who have read the first four and are really committed to this series
I can't believe we had to wait 12 years for this book. It is a far cry from The Clan of the Cave Bear, which was captivating in its detail and character development. This book is in sore need of an editor. There is too much detailed description, and the pace moves incredibly slowly. Ayla is too perfect of a character, and the characters who don't like her are inevitably drunks or jealous bitches.
I feel really committed to this series, since I really loved the first two books, and lik...more
I feel really committed to this series, since I really loved the first two books, and lik...more
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Read in January, 2002
Total Crap. Enough of "Pleasures" and discriptive scenes of ice age Europe. Some new information and a plot would have been great. The series has gone from one of my favorite books (Clan of the Cave Bear) to something I almost didn't finish. The series started crashing with "Plains of Passage" where Jondalar and Ayla "Pleasured" themselves across the continent while righing wrongs, curing injustice and improving life styles in their spare time. "Shelter&qu...more
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Read in August, 2007
It's taken me many years, but I've finally finished all of The Earths Children Series.
There's almost a sadness to it. You get pretty attached to the characters, even though at times, they seem so poorly depicted you think no one could be that much of an idiot. But they are fun and interesting when taken lightly.
The one thing that did bother me throughout the series was how often things were repeated, in detail, when they didnt need to be. Or how "background" story would come up i...more
There's almost a sadness to it. You get pretty attached to the characters, even though at times, they seem so poorly depicted you think no one could be that much of an idiot. But they are fun and interesting when taken lightly.
The one thing that did bother me throughout the series was how often things were repeated, in detail, when they didnt need to be. Or how "background" story would come up i...more
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recommends it for:
only to people who are devoted to the series
This book is not worth reading unless you fell in love with Ayla in Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of the Horses and are desperate to find out how her story continues. Each installment in this series is weighted down with the retelling of all of the previous books in the series, plus all the description that Jean Auel heaps into her books, to the point that this monster advances Ayla's story by barely a year. Typically, the description of technology, biology, and landscape in the Earth's Chi...more
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I really enjoyed this book, not only for the content of the story, but also in anticipation of the next book in the series. The connection between Ayla and Jondalar is so compelling, that this book has made me both laugh and cry.
After reading this book, I went online to see if there was another in the series and/or if Jean Auel is in the process of writing the next installment. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any overwhelming evidence supporting this "theory". It's been man...more
After reading this book, I went online to see if there was another in the series and/or if Jean Auel is in the process of writing the next installment. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find any overwhelming evidence supporting this "theory". It's been man...more
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Read in November, 2007
Meh. What can I say. The series certainly continued on a horrible downward spiral. But why oh why did I read all of it? It couldn;t have been simply compulsion to finish.. And why do I find myself thinking about the story and the setting so much, could it have been because I have read nearly 3,000 pages of it over two months of my life? Hmmm, perhaps I liked it a little bit, if only for the familiarity of characters i have gotten to know (and hate!) so well. I wouldnt recommend anyone ...more
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Read in March, 2003
recommends it for:
Anyone who's read one of the others first.
Sometimes I wish I could be thrown into the woods with only a flint and a firestone. I know, LAME. But it's true. I wanna see if I can figure out my own way. Could I hunt? Hell ya I could! Could I find plants to eat and heal? I have no doubt. But the reality of the situation is, that the changes the world has taken also changed the landscape. And the even harsher reality is that it would be more bleek than my dreams of it would be. But I still appreciate this book for encouraging me to fantasize...more
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Read in April, 2007
This is another from the Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean M. Auel. It is the most recent of the series. There should be one more coming out in the next few years. I like that the author spends years studying and researching relevant subjects before she undertakes a new book. There is mention in this series about those famous cave paintings in France and she ties those into her stories. They are written so that someone unfamiliar with the story line can jump in and keep up, although some...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in September, 2007
There will be one more book in the The Clan of the Cave Bear series. Every book is excellent. The characters in some ways have become my mentors. I even can ride a horse now. The detailed information can be tedious, however interesting.
The only complaint as when the main Character Ayla continues to meet new after new villages of people, she has to repeat EVERYTHING that she accomplished in the second book. Valley of the Horses. I almost can close my eyes and recite was will be writen i...more
The only complaint as when the main Character Ayla continues to meet new after new villages of people, she has to repeat EVERYTHING that she accomplished in the second book. Valley of the Horses. I almost can close my eyes and recite was will be writen i...more
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At this point in the series, I just want to know what becomes of Ayla and Jondalar.
This series is addicting. I've followed them this far, I need a fix. I did really enjoy the description of ice age Europe. I guess that's what keeps me interested.. time vested in the two main characters and the historic descriptions. She really did some amazing research for this series.
If Ayles ever gets around to writing the next book, I know I will be first in line, no matter how bad the book is. I guess...more
This series is addicting. I've followed them this far, I need a fix. I did really enjoy the description of ice age Europe. I guess that's what keeps me interested.. time vested in the two main characters and the historic descriptions. She really did some amazing research for this series.
If Ayles ever gets around to writing the next book, I know I will be first in line, no matter how bad the book is. I guess...more
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This is Fifth in the Earth Children Series. A facinating read. Ayla and Jondalar finally reach Jondalars home. The people are just as unsure of her as she is of them. At the end of this book...Ayla comes into her own. She is powerful, but it is difficult for her to comes to terms with her power. She does not know if she wants it or not. She may not have a choice. As with the others, a could not put down book it was so good. Did not want to miss anything.
Leads in to a yet unknown book. Yet to b...more
Leads in to a yet unknown book. Yet to b...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommended to Lara by:
my mom!recommends it for: survival junkies, history nerds who enjoy fiction on their day off
If you don't like books with long, drawn out descriptions, you probably won't like this or any other book by Jean Auel. I sometimes get annoyed with the length of the descriptions. But I grew up reading this series, and I couldn't imagine not completing it.
Albeit long, her descriptions are meticulously crafted. I suggest this book/series to anyone interested in the life and times of the Cro-Magnon as they came tromping down into the lands of the Neanderthals in the area that is now western E...more
Albeit long, her descriptions are meticulously crafted. I suggest this book/series to anyone interested in the life and times of the Cro-Magnon as they came tromping down into the lands of the Neanderthals in the area that is now western E...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who likes early human historical fiction :o)
01/20
Incredibly well-researched, detailed book. I admit I didn't read every single word of it, and some scenes *ahem* weren't all that necessary. Overall though, I love reading about the main character (Ayla) because she's so damn badass. It's even more interesting now that I'm taking a class that covers human evolution, and I can see the meticulous details that go into a book like this and how much fact checking there has to be for it to be even somewhat credible. Am looking forward to her ...more
Incredibly well-researched, detailed book. I admit I didn't read every single word of it, and some scenes *ahem* weren't all that necessary. Overall though, I love reading about the main character (Ayla) because she's so damn badass. It's even more interesting now that I'm taking a class that covers human evolution, and I can see the meticulous details that go into a book like this and how much fact checking there has to be for it to be even somewhat credible. Am looking forward to her ...more
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Wow! What a disappointment! Jean Auel seems to have either gotten tired of writing this series and just wanted to finish it or she ran out of interesting adventures or stories to add. She seems to get bogged down over explaining, in detail, how things are made and built. I liked learning about these thing in the earlier books, but this time Jean went into way too much detail and lost me along the way. I knew this was her last book and was looking forward to a great ending, but for me it fel...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Meg by:
no onerecommends it for: no one
It is painful getting through this book. The author continuously repeats herself...and the main character, Ayla, can do no wrong... I find myself skimming...which I NEVER do. The only reason I have not thrown this book into my donation pile is I lived through the last four (which were not that good either) and I want to know what will happen. The idea behind the book and plot were good...the only thing missing is a red pen to correct and delete at least 200 pages from the book.
And done....th...more
And done....th...more
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I loved, loved, loved the first few books in this series. I though Auel's ideas about man's early discovery of, well, everything, were clever and convincing. But as the series moved along, I became bored with the constant review of events in the previous books and just wanted the story to MOVE ALONG. Shelters of Stone falls into the same trap, but I enjoy Ayla's adventures enough to wade through the nonesense. I do wish Auel would write faster and develop the plot more quickly.
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