Best Pre-History Fiction
52 books |
12 voters
book data
2830 ratings, 3.64 average rating, 117 reviews
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published
September 24th 1990
by Crown
binding
Hardcover, 760 pages
isbn
0517580497
(isbn13: 9780517580493)
description
The best-selling author of the Earth's Children series continues the epic story of Ayla, the mythical heroine of Ice Age Europe. The Plains of Passage ...more
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avg 3.64
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topshelf
Read in February, 2002
recommends it for:
Botanists & Anthropologists
I get it. The struggle of the longest journey. The challenge came once I read it for the 3rd time... yes I love the series that much....then I realized I had to skip over 10 chapters, #13 - #23 as I flipped and scanned it was all a tedious and meticulous description of the landscape. The same animals that roamed the stepps, from mammoths, to horses/onagers, aurochs, deer, and mouflon, etc. I enjoyed the natural geographic studies of these sections, as I would any...but I'd already read it in the...more
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Read in October, 2007
Okay, good. I liked this one slightly better than the last one. Ayla and Jondalar have kissed and made up and are on their way back to his home in Zelandonii. They meet some people, have some laughs, do it in the bushes, and show everyone they meet how awesome they are.
Also Ayla's superwoman transformation is complete. The girl can learn languages almost immediately, control horses and wolves, she practically invented fire, sewing needles, is a master at her weapons of choice- the slin...more
Also Ayla's superwoman transformation is complete. The girl can learn languages almost immediately, control horses and wolves, she practically invented fire, sewing needles, is a master at her weapons of choice- the slin...more
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2 comments
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auel,
will-not-finish
Read in January, 1990
I'm about 1/3 of the way through this book, but I will be setting it down for awhile. First off, it's not as good as the other 3. I have been able to skip pages and pages of material. She covers so much stuff and gives the background story to everything that happened in the last 3 books. I'm sorry, but I really don't know why anyone would read this who hadn't already read the first 3 - enough with the background into, already! Plus, after 3 full books, I've had enough of the sex scenes. An...more
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Oh my God . . . the most boring book I've ever read! and i must give credit to jean auel because i read about how much work and research and time she puts into these novels and i know how accurate her descriptions are of everything . . . but she easily devotes 4 pages (atleast) to describing the terrain, the flora and fauna, the animals . . . and picture this . . . the story is about two people crossing ice age europe from one end to the other . . . and the book is 865 pages . . . the longest...more
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i love how the main character is so sure of herself, and what she wants in life... but the repetition of what she learned in the books that came before this get a little annoying, but it doesnt happen that often in this book, so i skipped a few paragraphs.
over all, in this book, the author creates a strengthened, comfortable relationship[between the main characters:] with new adventures, and has that same rich-in-detail that i love so much.
over all, in this book, the author creates a strengthened, comfortable relationship[between the main characters:] with new adventures, and has that same rich-in-detail that i love so much.
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This is worth reading if you've read all the previous books in this series. Unfortunately it doesn't deliver as the other books have but it's a nice continuation of Ayla's journey and begins some closure to her story. I am not as excited about this book as I am about Auel's previous novels. I haven't heard a lot of good things about the next book in this series, so I think this is a good book to end with.
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Read in January, 2007
I'm still at the very, very beginning of the book, but see that one little star? That's because the book essentially opens with an extremely graphic mammoth sex scene.
Oh, Jean...what am I going to do with you?
Oh, Jean...what am I going to do with you?
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Read in April, 2008
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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Read in August, 2007
There's something about these books that I love even though, if I were to pick them apart, the would drive me crazy.
The characters never change. Not even their reactions to things or eachother. It's almost the same scene, played out in 15 different ways.
The author draaags you through the landscape and wildlife, and hurries you through the interactions with people. I found myself actually skipping over whole pages, and what I didnt skip over, I had to force myself to read, just waiting f...more
The characters never change. Not even their reactions to things or eachother. It's almost the same scene, played out in 15 different ways.
The author draaags you through the landscape and wildlife, and hurries you through the interactions with people. I found myself actually skipping over whole pages, and what I didnt skip over, I had to force myself to read, just waiting f...more
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Read in September, 2008
I had read Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of Horses and The Mammoth Hunters before attempting to plow through the fourth in a series of 6 books regarding the "adventures" of Ayla. I am very anal and I was determined to get through the series. Couldn't do it. I gave this book away on a flight home. I just couldn't take it anymore. The first book was ok and the rest have been DULL.
Every now and then Auel throws in some soft core porn passages but this book was brutal. Ayla and...more
Every now and then Auel throws in some soft core porn passages but this book was brutal. Ayla and...more
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This is probably one of my least favorite books in the series but only because I felt that Auel's descriptions of the Plains that Ayla and her companion are traveling becomes a bit to tedious. Also, all the "Pleasures" throughout the book I don't feel were all that necessary. Where I enjoyed the full descriptions of the various lands and the medicinal lore in the other books, sometimes I felt in this book that Auel was concentrating on the details from her research a bit too much. T...more
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bookshelves:
educational,
educationalcultural,
fantasy
Read in January, 1991
The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
Ayla and Jondalar travel along the Great Mother River, from The Mammoth Hunters to Jondalar's homeland. They encounter every type of person, animal and plant (of that time period) that one can imagine along the way.
A long book with interesting characters and adventures. NOT my favorite "story" in the Earth's Children series.
However, personally having strong archaeological interest, I very much enjoyed the lengthy environmental des...more
Ayla and Jondalar travel along the Great Mother River, from The Mammoth Hunters to Jondalar's homeland. They encounter every type of person, animal and plant (of that time period) that one can imagine along the way.
A long book with interesting characters and adventures. NOT my favorite "story" in the Earth's Children series.
However, personally having strong archaeological interest, I very much enjoyed the lengthy environmental des...more
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If there was one book in the series that I didn't enjoy as much as the others, it would be the Plains of Passage. To me, I feel like this book went a little slower, as I was so eager for Ayla and Jondalar to get to where they were traveling. There is a lot of description of the land they were traveling over, which is quite detailed. Auel did a wonderful job in her research in writing all of the books, but this one was a little "drier" for lack of a better term. However, even if it ...more
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if i wasn't so attached to the characters i wouldn't have made it through this book
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Read in September, 2008
This book was better than the last one but I would have liked it a whole lot more if it were condensed into about half the size. There weren't as many but still way too many of the same old sex scenes and the author describes everything repeatedly. The same plants and animals are described in several places as well as every time they meet new people they go through almost identical events and re-telling of their adventures. I listened to this as an audiobook but I would have probably preferre...more
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historical-fiction
Read in May, 2008
I really like the Earth Children series but out of all the books this is my least favorite. This is probably the 3rd time I have read this book. I think that if I really stopped and thought about the series too much - I would get picky. So I just try to enjoy the story of Ayla. Okay one picky thing she is a little too perfect for me. But again I enjoy seeing where life takes her. I know some people doesn't like the long drawn out details of the land, animals and plants but I personally have a...more
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Better than The Mammoth Hunters; I found the storyline more compelling. I still found myself frustrated with the lack of communication between the two main characters (you only have each other to talk to,can't you figure each other out alrady?!?!?!) There were times when Auel's descriptions of plants and animals went a little too far and became to much of a focus, but overall there was enough interaction with other characters, friendly and hostile, that made it a more interesting story.
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Read in June, 2008
the final in the series, this is a great read. I think it's my favorite of all of them. It killed me at the end that we didn't get to see Ayla give Jondalar his matrimonial tunic, but oh well.
The story is of their trek back across iceage Europe, basically from almost Turkey back to Spain. on foot. They meet new people, fight against the elements and fall in love with each other all over again. It is a great story of an incredible journey. Wish she had written just ONE more....
The story is of their trek back across iceage Europe, basically from almost Turkey back to Spain. on foot. They meet new people, fight against the elements and fall in love with each other all over again. It is a great story of an incredible journey. Wish she had written just ONE more....
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Read in October, 2007
Oh man...
What a lump of coal....
I guess I realize now why I had never heard about the latter 2 additions to the Earths Children series until I started running a bookstore and came face to face with them...
This effort is so boringly written it made me wish I was a guy who could not finish something that I start, but I cant... So I struggled through and now it is done, but if anyone out there is trying to decide - save yourself the time, and just take a few sleeping pills instead...
What a lump of coal....
I guess I realize now why I had never heard about the latter 2 additions to the Earths Children series until I started running a bookstore and came face to face with them...
This effort is so boringly written it made me wish I was a guy who could not finish something that I start, but I cant... So I struggled through and now it is done, but if anyone out there is trying to decide - save yourself the time, and just take a few sleeping pills instead...
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Read in January, 1996
Here is the book in a nutshell:
Travel, fight, sex, encounter some people, travel, fight, sex, rinse repeat over 800+ pages. I started out liking this series okay but this one put me over the edge. It is incredibly boring and Auel has really run out of plot for these characters. Not that there was much depth to begin with. Ayla is superwoman who can do everything better than anyone else. Jondalar is only good at sex---but that is enough for Ayla apparently.
Travel, fight, sex, encounter some people, travel, fight, sex, rinse repeat over 800+ pages. I started out liking this series okay but this one put me over the edge. It is incredibly boring and Auel has really run out of plot for these characters. Not that there was much depth to begin with. Ayla is superwoman who can do everything better than anyone else. Jondalar is only good at sex---but that is enough for Ayla apparently.
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