I reread this book after first joining Library Thing. Adding books to the list, I forgot whether I had read it before, so I started reading to see if I remembered it. I did, but kept reading anyway. The series continues to be a fascinating dramatization of what is known about prehistoric people. Even the relentless female centric orientation of the fiction is not off putting; the characters bring their daily routines to life and the author is skillful enough to make us interested in what becomes of them. That one woman should have learned how to start fire, tame animals, prevent conception, invented the sling, invented the sewing needle and figured out that sex causes pregnancy may seem a little much but the context is presented convincingly enough to make it all seem possible. The book is an enjoyable read for everyone, especially those interested in how we got here. I'm rooting for the author to write another in the series but I do wonder how she will handle the recent findings of genetic research that seem to rule out Neanderthals as ancestors of living humans and therefore, one of the significant story lines. Perhaps we'll see. ( )

A great book, a great finish to the series, she doesn't disappoint! Found it believable and rather sad that humans have really not evolved culturally or emphatically very much. In fact, we are probably less tolerant and more fractured. ( )

The Shelters of Stone continues the story of Ayla who lost her family to an earthquake and was raised by the people who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. She arrives in the land of the man she loves, but his people are wary of her and think of the Clan who cared for her as animals that resemble people and who are not much smarter than beasts. Ayla has brought with her two horses and a wolf over which she has uncanny control. Ayla vows to learn from the Zelandonii and hopes, in turn, to teach them. She is particularly pleased to meet the spiritual leader of the tribe, a fellow healer with whom she is able to share medical skills and knowledge. But Ayla's greatest problem is to convince her new hosts that she is from a tribe of human beings, not the subhumans they are regarded as. And when she gives birth to her eagerly awaited child, she is forced to accept that she and her child will have to play a very significant role in the clouded destiny of the Zelandon.

Auel is particularly sharp in her characterisation of Ayla, the woman who is foreign and strange in this new land, and her heroine's clashes with her new-found people are handled skilfully. The reader is immersed in another world, one whose every detail is skilfully evoked, while the writing has all the colour and vividness of Auel's previous books

After their epic journey across Europe, Ayla and Jondalar have reached his home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, the old stone age settlement in the region known today as southwest France. Jondalar's family greet him warmly, but they are initially wary of the beautiful young woman he has brought back, with her strange accent and her tame wolf and horses.

Ayla has much to learn from the Zelandonii and much to teach them. She is intrigued by their clothes, their crafts, and their home, and wants to learn their customs and the ways that they live, so that she will fit in. She is delighted when she meets Zelandoni, the spiritual leader of her people, a fellow healer with whom she can share medicinal skills and knowledge. The Zelandonii are surprised to learn she was found and raised by the Clan, the ones that they call flatheads and think of as animals, and are skeptical when she tells them they are people.

After the rigors and dangers that have characterized her extraordinary life so far, Ayla yearns for peace and tranquility, to be Jondalar's mate and to have children. But her unique spiritual gifts cannot be ignored, and even as she gives birth to her eagerly-awaited child, she is coming to accept that she has a greater role to play in the destiny of the Zelandonii. ( )

I loved this new book and it's continuation to this beautiful story.

too long, too many repetitions, no action. nothing is happening, no plot, out of 700 pages, I really enjoyed 100. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't my favorite in the series. Ms. Auel ends this book with hopes for another installment of Ayla and Jondalar's story. ( )

Les deux héros arrivent dans ce qui sera des miliers d'années plus tard le Périgord, et Ayla doit intégrer la tribu de Jondalar, et là, c'est Harlequin chez Cro magnon ! Quel dommage ! il y a toujours le fond de recherche, mais les scènes d'amour que je qualifierai de "sexe soft" détonnent de plus en plus; ( )

Eindelijk, na een reis vol gevaren over de grote gletsjer, arriveren Ayla en Jondalar bij het volk van de Zelandoniërs. Marthona, de moeder van Jondalar, ontvangt hen met open armen.

Ook Zelandoni, de geestelijke leidster van het volk en de vrouw die Jondalar inwijdde in de liefde, is onder de indruk van Ayla en wil haar tot haar leerling maken.

Maar behalve bewondering dwingt Ayla ook afgunst en wantrouwen onder de grotbewoners af. Het doet haar beseffen dat ze nog een lange weg te gaan heeft voordat Jondalars volk haar zal accepteren. Maar wil ze dat ook werkelijk? En zal de geest van de holenleeuw het toestaan? ( )

ESTA ES LA QUINTA ENTREGA DE AUEL DE LA SERIE LOS HIJOS DE LA TIERRA. DESPUÉS DE SU ÉPICO VIAJE A TRAVÉS DE EUROPA, AYLA Y JONDALAR LLEGAN POR FIN A SU HOGAR, LA NOVENA CAVERNA DE LOS ZELANDONII, AL SUROESTE DE FRANCIA, ANTIGUO EMPLAZAMIENTO DE LA EDAD DE PIEDRA. LA FAMILIA DE JONDALAR SE MUESTRA CAUTA CON AYLA, LA BELLA Y JOVEN MUJER QUE LE ACOMPAÑA, CRIADA EN SU INFANCIA CON EL CLAN. PRONTO SE VERÁ SORPRENDIDA POR SUS COSTUMBRES Y FORMA DE VIDA, ASÍ COMO POR SUS ROPAS, CASAS Y DIFERENTES FORMAS DE INTERPRETAR EL ARTE. AYLA QUEDA ENCANTADA CUANDO ENCUENTRA A ZELANDONI, LA LÍDER ESPIRITUAL DE LA NOVENA CAVERNA, JUNTO CON LA QUE PODRÁ COMPARTIR SUS CONOCIMIENTOS Y PRÁCTICAS MEDICINALES DE CURACIÓN. TRAS LAS DIFICULTADES Y LOS PELIGROS QUE HASTA AHORA LES HAN ACECHADO, AYLA ANHELA PAZ Y TRANQUILIDAD JUNTO A JONDALAR, A QUIEN DESEA UNIRSE EN LA INMINENTE CEREMONIA MATRIMONIAL. SIN EMBARGO, SUS SINGULARES DOTES ESPIRITUALES NO PASAN INADVERTIDAS A LOS INTEGRANTES DE SU NUEVA COMUNIDAD.

First off, I'm very glad that I got this from the library and didn't waste my money.

This book hardly justifies a 12 year wait for some fans. It's boring, repetitive, and doesn't even offer anything significant to justify its incredible length.

What about all the buildup, the incredible conflict we expected? What about Zolena, Jondalar's former lover, being a possible factor between Ayla and Jondalar? Nope, she has to be incredibly fat and thus sexually undesirable, an effectively neutered woman. Jondalar's former fiancee is portrayed as completely rabid and malicious, when she's more than entitled to a little resentment of Ayla and Jondalar. Her dislike is somewhat warranted as the man jilted her, but she's depicted as a nasty, malicious evil witch.

The Zelandoni prejudice against the people of the Clan that we were all so afraid of? Dealt with in one tiny scene wherein all Zelandoni are ooing and ahhing over Ayla's sign language. Give me a break. That's disgustingly unreal, and a disgrace after all the hype about it for the past three books.

The "villains" are cardboard stereotypes. Those who aren't immediately enthralled by Ayla we surprisingly find are bad, evil people. I'm in mind of Frebec from "Mammoth" here...he was a fully developed quasi-villain whose transformation was within the realms of belief. No such luck here. They're totally bad and have the utter gall to try and humiliate or hurt dear Ayla.

Ayla makes no faux pas, saves every situation with perfect panache, enchants everybody despite her having been raised by (and having mated with) "animal flatheads"...which everybody conveniently accepts despite long-standing prejudice that's been harped on for the past three books. There is a word in fandom for a beautiful, incredibly talented, and universally liked perfect young woman. It's a "Mary Sue", and it is not a complimentary term.

Ayla's lost all depth she had in "Cave Bear" to become the original Cro-Magnon Mary Sue, perfect in every way. Every Paleolithic (and some Neolithic!) innovation can apparently be traced to her somehow: the atlatl (spear thrower), iron pyrite as a fire striker, animal domestication, the needle, the concept of conception via sexual intercourse being just a few.

I'm just waiting for her to invent the wheel. Though she probably will as First Among Those Who Serve the Mother (as she inevitably will get that position.) I much prefer the uncertain, definitely flawed and definitely human Ayla of "Cave Bear" instead of this prissy, power-hungry, perfect and boring woman. Give us a normal woman with fears, flaws, and all, instead of this laughable, inane Super-Ayla.

Jondalar is also disgustingly perfect, though he's basically just Ayla's stud and bodyguard. I'm also amused by the fact that the copious, purple-prosed love scenes seem to portray him as merely a one-trick pony. (So much for his prowess in the furs). This increasing trend towards nauseating perfection has annoyed me slightly since it began in "Horses" and has increased steadily with every book.

The characters have become cardboard, mere shadows of what they could have been, should have been. What they were promised to be when we first met them and they enchanted us. Ayla might well have been better served by being left as a somewhat tragic but hopeful heroine at the end of "Cave Bear", and Ms. Auel should have been remembered for that splendid masterpiece instead of cranking out ever worsening tripe ad nauseum, justifying it by, "It continues the storyline."

How about Ayla being an outcast from Zelandoni society because of her past? How about that causing strife with Jondalar, torn between love and his people? That was the book we should have received, the book that previous volumes promised us. Instead we find the couple happily married and accepted, with unquestioned incredibly high status, showering benevolence and help upon all who are needy. Is this supposed to be a parody, a farce?

This book has no conflict. This book has no action. This book has positively no character development. This book practically deconstructs any good done in "Cave Bear" and "Horses" In fact, this book has basically nothing to justify its length, its cost, or the time fans spent waiting for it. "SoS", the acronym for the book, is indeed very apt. Send out the distress call and load the lifeboats, because this one plummets to the bottom fast under the weight of its own bloated self-importance. ( )

I really enjoyed the previous books but found this one slow and plodding. Not much seemed to happen. ( )

Ayla tries to fit in with Jondalar's people. She participates in the yearly festival and is recognized as having shaman powers. ( )

I may be behind the times,
But please let there be another one!!!!!!!!! ( )

Ayla meets Jondalar's Zelandonii. Sticks to Auel's style. Now where did my Clan of the Cave Bear book go? I got that one in Gardiner, Montana, from the bed and breakfast on the hill.

Very disappointed with the content and wrap-up. With the time it took to write and research, it seems that Jeal Auel was quick to add content that took away from not only this book, but the entire collection. Maybe to add pages or get more readers - I was really put off by the, lets say, pornographic genre scenes scattered within the pages of what could have been a great follow-up to the Plains of Passage.

3 STARS is stretching it ... But I've read worse than this. ( )

This has all the strengths and weaknesses of the earlier post-Clan of the Cave Bear novels in the series. There is a beauty and purity about the story that is moving and touches something deep within me; and the author's research is impresssive and has re-boosted my youthful interest in human pre-history (this is really historical fiction, though it is wrongly categorised as fantasy in many UK bookshops). There are some interesting philosophical discussions, such as the one between Ayla and Zelandoni about the nature of life, procreation and the role of the sexes, and the many conversations and arguments about the relations between the Cro-Magnon peoples (though the term is not used here, of course) and the Clan. But on the downside, there is just too much repetition, the author both telling the reader background details and then showing them through dialogue again later, e.g. the role of the fa'lodges. A good bit of this could have been edited out; the book weighs in at 780 pages in a small typeface. Also the romance between the ridiculously perfect main characters borders on the Mills and Boon at times, and they have perfect earth-moving sex every time, "She was so ready. He was so ready. They were both so ready" - We should be so lucky all the time! ;).

Despite these flaws, this is a brilliant series of novels, one that I will undoubtedly return to throughout my life. But I can understand the point of view of those who gave up after the first book or two thinking it was all too much just about "beautiful heroine saves life of handsome hero and they travel together across the known world meeting people who tell them how wonderful they are". Those who think that should persevere, but I can see why they probably won't. ( )

This is for Ayla lovers only. You need love to wade through this much description. ( )

Ayla and Jondalar have finally reached the Zeladonii. Auel has put such an incredible emphasis on detail throughout her Earth's Children series, it was a nice change of pace having the pair settled down in mostly the same area. There was a great deal of repetition where the couple (re)acquainted themselves with people and started teaching what they knew, to the point I had to put the book down a few times. But Auel does not disappoint, and as ever, a superb book. ( )

Yup. We waited all this time for _this_. Sheesh.

Cave Barbie discovers something. Check.
Cave Barbie shags Cave Ken. Check. Check. Check...
Cave Barbie talks to flatheads. Check.
Cave Rover defends cave Barbie.
Cave Barbie Shags Cave Ken. Check.
Far too much description of the landscape. Check.

Did I mention that Ayla and Jondalar shag?

You get the picture.

Take a look at the rest of my library that you may understand why I came away with the mental image of 'Captain Ayla of the 9th Superdreadnought of the Zelandonii'. ( )

This book is a mixed bag - if you've read the previous four, you will probably want to read this one and you'll enjoy at least some part of it, if nothing else than Ayla and Jondalar's long awaited mating ritual.

But it's not as enjoyable as any of the previous books, nor would it be accessible or enjoyable at all if you haven't read them. Despite the fact that a lot of space is devoted to rehashing stuff from the previous books to try to make it accessible.

This is a very descriptive book, and it bogs down in the description of the minutiae of prehistoric life, but what really bogs it down further is the simple talky-ness of it. I mean, really, how many times do we have to sit through reading Ayla being introduced to another Zelandonni with all of her attached titles or demonstrating her discoveries. The action, at least what there is of it, moves very slowly, revelations come very early and are easily accepted by most of the other characters (in contrast to what you've been lead to believe in previous books) - yet a lot of time is still spent talking about those same, accepted, revelations.

To sum up - for fans of the previous books ONLY. ( )

Unfortunately the book was pretty much a fictional description of prehistorical people and not so much a novel with an interesting plot. ( )

Caveman porn. ( )

Owwwwwww! The awfulness -- it burns!

YYYYYYYUCK. This is an atrocious book. Let's leave out the paleo-pornography and the unholy number of patents owed to heroïne Ayla. This is a chronicle of the most astonishingly mundane details of daily life in the Périgord during the late Paleolithic: the glances people exchange on the way to and from the toilet, the endless variations on names and ties people use during formal introductions, I could go on. It's an 800 pg. book. The first 300 pages cover three days. The first 500 cover a week. The whole book covers less than nine months. And at the end, nothing has happened. Oh, sure, some people got married and kids were born and people were hurt and died or were healed. But the book ends in the same place, geographically and socially, where it began.

Interpersonal interaction accounts for about 1/2 of the book. The other 1/2 describes the setting: technology, culture, environment, social structure. It's almost like a fictional ethnography, to the point where it includes a multi-page list of characters at the end, and I actually had to draw out some kinship diagrams to follow the action. (It's never good news when a genuine ethnography requires that, let alone a novel.) And what's particularly striking is how American the people of the book, and their culture, are, sometimes in ways that clash strongly with well-established characteristics of hunting and gathering, or even early agricultural, communities. The houses have living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms. Most of the people in the community are solidly middle class, in outlook and lifestyle, but of course there are a few white-trash troublemakers to keep life from becoming too blissful. And I say white trash advisedly, because the paleolithic analogue of racism and miscegenation rears its ugly head.

And the style: oh, the style. It's bad. Really bad. At least every other chapter ends in a cliffhanger. Conversations are repetitious, to the point where I began to wonder about the intelligence of certain characters (well, really, the attention of the author and editor). Certain critical points come up repeatedly for discussion amongst the characters, but they only rehash the initial discussion rather than expanding and clarifying it. Also, rumor is that one of the reasons for the really long hiatus between this book and its predecessor was the composition of the Great Earth Mother poem, which appears several times in the narrative and then is printed as a sort of appendix. It's embarrassingly bad. It's a cloying, cliché-ridden composite of cultural convictions, real and made-up, from around the world over the last 20K years.

Having said all of that, I've choked my way through five of these things and I'll be d@mned if I'll let terrible wordsmithing stop me from seeing the series out -- even if she has reneged on her promise of a six-book series, now claiming it'll be seven. (Oh dear god in heaven...two more of these....) ( )

A series to enjoy. ( )