Product Description
This unforgettable 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, now grown into a beautiful and courageous young woman.

Cruelly cast out by the new leader of the ancient Clan that adopted her as a child, Ayla leaves those she loves behind and travels alone through a stark, open land filled with dangerous animals but few people, searching for the Others, tall and fair like herself. The short summer gives her little time to look, and when she finds a sheltered valley with a herd of hardy steppe horses, she decides to stay and prepare for the long glacial winter ahead.Living with the Clan has taught Ayla many skills but not real hunting. She finally knows she can survive when she traps a horse, which gives her meat and a warm pelt for the winter, but fate has bestowed a greater gift, an orphaned foal with whom she develops a unique kinship. One winter extends to more; she discovers a way to make fire more quickly and a wounded cave lion cub joins her unusual family, but her beloved animals don’t fulfill her restless need for human companionship. Then she hears the sound of a man screaming in pain. She saves tall, handsome Jondalar, who brings her a language to speak and an awakening of love and desire, but Ayla is torn between her fear of leaving her valley and her hope of living with her own kind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (213)

Lots of typos in the the Kindle edition
First of all, I have to say that I enjoy this book--if you haven't figured it out already from the other reviews, it's light, easy-to-read, entertaining fiction.Auel certainly did her research and there are passages I skim over b/c they go on and on in tedious detail about the grasslands, the glacier, the animals.The book (and her others) can definitely read like an encyclopedia entry.That aside, I do like the stories and have reread them many times.

My rating, though, is for the quality of the Kindle edition...I'm sure they used OCR to convert the printed book to electronic and it appears that they did virtually no spell-checking.Not the end of the world, but it interrupts the flow of the story (even more than the repeated references to Jondalar's "blue eyes" and "prodigious member").

I find it believable.
[...]

In this sequel to Clan of the Cave Bear, Ayla is on her own. To keep her sanity, she has to find something to interact with, even if it's no more than a snowman. Eventually she adopts a foal and then a cave lion cub. Meanwhile two men from what is now France are looking for the end of what is now the Danube.

This book covers several years, and unlike one critic I do not find it unbelievable that Ayla could invent so many things. Inventive people invent things. Desperate people become inventive, if they have any intelligence. Obviously both Ayla and Jondalar are quite intelligent, and they feed each other's imagination. Many inventors have hundreds of patents in their names, and usually they did all the inventing of the item. So what is strange that a desperate, intelligent, woman could invent many things?

I enjoy this book thoroughly. In my continuing attempt to get rid of paper books, to which I am becoming literally allergic, I gave away my Jean Auel books in hopes that they would soon be available online. My confidence was justified. Thank you, Jean Auel, and thank you, Kindle.

Incredible series!
I have read all five books in this series many times and waited eagerly for the Kindle editions.I was very pleased at the reasonable price of all five books. Asother reviewers have given their opinions regarding story lines (worth 5 stars), I will simply add that while it is wonderful to have these huge books on the Kindle, the number of typos is a bit disconcerting(the reason for 4 stars), especially since these are not simply mispelled words.Most of the time context clues can decode the errors but sometimes it is easier to just skip the "wrong" word.Still, I'm thrilled these amazing books are available in e-format.They are well worth the price (errors and all)whether you are an avid fan or someone new to the Earth's Children.The Bonus material is the same in all the volumes and offers a glimpse of the final volume that will make Ayla fans think March is a long way off.

An epic story in a fascinating peroid
The second in a series that brings vivid life to a fascinating stone age culture through the eyes of an orphaned girl.Well researched, this book brings great depth and detail to the intricasies of a stone age society as it follows Ayla through the loss of her family, adoption, isolation and discovery, and subsequent travel through a sparcly populated world.The series outlines what was an alternative view of the period that seems to have become an accepted view by modern anthrapologists.

The story flows beutifully.This is my second reading, and it still keeps me up late.

Although not strictly necessary, it is far better to read the series in sequence, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear.

This is even better than Clan of the Cave Bear
The Valley of Horses is the second book in the Earth Children series which starts with Clan of the Cave Bear.This book is even better than the first.

Ayla has been banished from the Clan, the only home that she can remember.If she were a true Clan member she would accept the banishment as the death sentance it is meant to be, and wander away to slowly fade and die.However, the differences that have caused her problems fitting in now come to save her life.Ayla wanders in search of her people but finally settles in a hidden valley to prepare for winter.While there she befriends animals in order to ease her loneliness.Meanwhile her fated mate, Jondular, begins a 1000 mile journey of discovery with his brother.Eventually they meet and Ayla begins to learn the language, rules and habits of her own kind.Still, her upbringing questioning the Clan cause her to question and evaluate the new rules that she is taught by Jondolar.

Overall, another extraordinary book that simply must be on everyone's reading list. ... Read more

Product Description
The highly anticipated sixth book of Jean Auel's Earth's Children® series, THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES, is the culmination fans have been waiting for. Continuing the story of Ayla and Jondalar, Auel combines her brilliant narrative skills and appealing characters with a remarkable re-creation of the way life was lived more than 25,000 years ago. THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES is an exquisite achievement by one of the world's most beloved authors. ... Read more

Product Description
This novel of awesome beauty and power is a moving saga about people, relationships, and the boundaries of love.Through Jean M. Auel’s magnificent storytelling we are taken back to the dawn of modern humans, and with a girl named Ayla we are swept up in the harsh and beautiful Ice Age world they shared with the ones who called themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. A natural disaster leaves the young girl wandering alone in an unfamiliar and dangerous land until she is found by a woman of the Clan, people very different from her own kind.To them, blond, blue-eyed Ayla looks peculiar and ugly--she is one of the Others, those who have moved into their ancient homeland; but Iza cannot leave the girl to die and takes her with them. Iza and Creb, the old Mog-ur, grow to love her, and as Ayla learns the ways of the Clan and Iza’s way of healing, most come to accept her. But the brutal and proud youth who is destined to become their next leader sees her differences as a threat to his authority.He develops a deep and abiding hatred for the strange girl of the Others who lives in their midst, and is determined to get his revenge.Amazon.com Review
When her parents are killed by an earthquake, 5-year-old Aylawanders through the forest completely alone. Cold, hungry, and badlyinjured by a cave lion, the little girl is as good as gone until sheis discovered by a group who call themselves the Clan of the CaveBear. This clan, left homeless by the same disaster, have littleinterest in the helpless girl who comes from the tribe they refer toas the "Others." Only their medicine woman sees in Ayla a fellowhuman, worthy of care. She painstakingly nurses her back to health--adecision that will forever alter the physical and emotional structureof the clan. Although this story takes place roughly 35,000 years ago,its cast of characters could easily slide into any modern tale. Themembers of the Neanderthal clan, ruled by traditions and taboos, findthemselves challenged by this outsider, who represents the physicallymodern Cro-Magnons. And as Ayla begins to grow and mature, her naturaltendencies emerge, putting her in the middle of a brutal and dangerouspower struggle.

Although JeanAuel obviously takes certain liberties with the actions andmotivations of all our ancestors, her extensive research into the IceAge does shine through--especially in the detailed knowledge of plantsand natural remedies used by the medicine woman and passed down toAyla. Mostly, though, this first in the series of four is a wonderfulstory of survival.Ayla's personal evolution is a compelling andrelevant tale. --Sara Nickerson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (481)

The Cave Bear Comes Online!
[ ... ]

Few writers ever do as much homework as Jean Auel did to produce this book and its sequels. The story of a homo sapiens five-year-old girl's wandering alone in the wilderness after an earthquake killed her family, rescued by a Neandertal band based on real archaeological discoveries, and raised by them, with problems with one bully who ultimately drives her away from the clan and from her son, is famous world-wide and really needs no further reviews, but how could I not review this book? My husband asked me once why all the intelligent women he knows--and he finds women very boring unless their IQ is over 130--love Ayla. I answered, "She's our mother."

He then read it for himself and figured out what I mean.

My brother, who is one of the most brilliant oilpatch engineers of this century, keeps her books in his office rather than in the family library, but he loves them more than his wife does.

Highly recommended for anybody old enough to read it. As my father once told the librarians when I was in junior high, "This is my daughter. She MAY read anything she CAN read." Everybody's daughter, and preferably everybody's son, ought to read at least Clan of the Cave Bear, whether they go on to read the rest of the series or not.

Great Book
It made me look at how our ancestors had to struggle to stay alive and how pitifully pampered we are. It's amazing we are all here.

I'm delightd that the book is about a young girl and her adventures and courage -- it's about time!

Descriptive, Imaginative -- Pulls you into the story.
When I first read "Clan of the Cave Bear", I couldn't put it down. I have read all the books in the series and this is by far my favorite. Don't equate the Movie to the book - there is absolutely no comparison.The book is BY FAR superior!

Jean M. Auel descriptions of the life of these two diverging lines of mankind are fantastic. Auel immerses you into the lives of the Clan members, by way of the daily struggle to survive: hunting, gathering, medicines, landscape and cave life; and Ayla's conflict of staying with her mother and the need for her own kind progresses as she grows until it reaches a climax.Ayla never sways from who she is; she continued to fight for the right to be equal, and although she is banished from the tribe, she leaves with her head held high knowing she can rise above almost any obstacle.

I did find the descriptions of herbs, plants and medicines a tad lengthy - however, it is a great read -- I highly recommend ALL of Jean Auel's books in the series.

(NOTE: There are a few "suggestive" sections that may not be suitable for younger readers.)


** Spoiler Alert **

During the period of the Ice Age, the main character Ayla finds herself orphaned at the age of 5.Wandering, and near death after an attack from a tiger, Ayla awakes in the arms of Iza, a Clan member who has just lost her young daughter. She refuses to leave the young girl behind to die, and eventually becomes the child's "mother."

The Clans' only form of communication is through grunts and hand gestures, which Ayla finds foreign and difficult to understand.The Clan first considers her stupid, but Ayla, is actually of the more advanced tribe called "Others".

Broud, the next in line to become leader abhors Ayla, and habitually abuses her -- physically and mentally.Women are subservient and Ayla does her best to fit in, but her natural curiosity and advanced ability for knowledge eventually rebells and gets her banished from the Clan, but not until she has gained the respect of all the tribes (excluding Broud).

Finally here for Kindle!
I was so excited to get the message on FaceBook today that The Clan of the Cave Bear was available on Kindle!I have been checking about once a month since I got my Kindle last Chanukah for this.And what a great price.

It's such a wonderful series.Everyone really should read it.I know I'll be rereading the whole series before the release of the new book in March.So excited!

You MUST read this Series
To celebrate the upcomming release of Jean M. Auel's new Earth Series release, The Land of Painted Caves, due March 29th, 2011, we have a bargain kindle release of the first book in the series.

If you have not read this series, you are in for a treat.The novels are set 18,000 year ago at a time when the Cromagnon (us) and Neanderthal people coexist.Although certain poetic license is taken with the series, the novels are thouroughly reseached and have received a great deal of praised for their accuracy.

Ayla is a five-year old Cro-Magnon girl who is suddenly orphaned and left homeless by an earthquake that destroys her family's camp. She is found, near death, by a group of Neanderthal people, the "Clan" who are looking for a new home after their cave is destroyed in the same earthquake.A brother and sister, Iza, the medicine woman of the group, and Creb, the "Mog-ur" or shaman, adopt the young girl.The first book in the series focuses on Ayla's experience growing up amoung the Clan where she never quite fits in because of the differences in her nature.She lacks the Clan's strenght and 'memories' but is quicker to learn and to adapt to new circumstances.

If this doesn't sound like your cup of tea - at least try the sample anyway.This is a truely extraordinary series that no one should miss.Fans wait patiently for years as each new book is researched and written, and then savor it as an extraordinary treat.

Other books in the series are:
The Valley of Horses ... Ayla leaves the clan to find others like herself and meets Jondular, the love of her life
The Mammoth Hunters ... Ayla's first experience with a group of her own people
The Plains of Passage ... Ayla's and Jondular's journey back to Jondular's homeland
The Shelters of Stone ... Ayla's and Jondular's experiences when they arive back at his home.


... Read more

Product Description
The Shelters of Stone opens as Ayla and Jondalar, along with their animal friends, Wolf, Whinney, and Racer, complete their epic journey across Europe and are greeted by Jondalar’s people: the Zelandonii. The people of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii fascinate Ayla. Their clothes, customs, artifacts, even their homes—formed in great cliffs of vertical limestone—are a source of wonder to her. And in the woman Zelandoni, the spiritual leader of the Ninth Cave (and the one who initiated Jondalar into the Gift of Pleasure), she meets a fellow healer with whom to share her knowledge and skills.

But as Ayla and Jondalar prepare for the formal mating at the Summer Meeting, there are difficulties. Not all the Zelandonii are welcoming. Some fear Ayla’s unfamiliar ways and abhor her relationship with those they call flatheads and she calls Clan. Some even oppose her mating with Jondalar, and make their displeasure known. Ayla has to call on all her skills, intelligence, knowledge, and instincts to find her way in this complicated society, to prepare for the birth of her child, and to decide whether she will accept new challenges and play a significant role in the destiny of the Zelandonii.

Jean Auel is at her very best in this superbly textured creation of a prehistoric society. The Shelters of Stone is a sweeping story of love and danger, with all the wonderful detail—based on meticulous research— that makes her novels unique. It is a triumphant continuation of the Earth’s Children® saga that began with The Clan of the Cave Bear. And it includes an amazing rhythmic poem that describes the birth of Earth’s Children and plays its own role in the narrative of The Shelters of Stone.Amazon.com Review
Jean Auel's fifth novel about Ayla, the Cro-Magnon cavewoman raised by Neanderthals, is the biggest comeback bestseller in Amazon.com history. In The Shelters of Stone, Ayla meets the Zelandonii tribe of Jondalar, the Cro-Magnon hunk she rescued from Baby, her pet lion. Ayla is pregnant. How will Jondalar's mom react? Or his bitchy jilted fiancée? Ayla wows her future in-laws by striking fire from flint and taming a wild wolf. But most regard her Neanderthal adoptive Clan as subhuman "flatheads." Clan larynxes can't quite manage language, and Ayla must convince the Zelandonii that Clan sign language isn't just arm-flapping. Zelandonii and Clan are skirmishing, and those who interbreed are deemed "abominations." What would Jondalar's tribe think if they knew Ayla had to abandon her half-breed son in Clan country? The plot is slow to unfold, because Auel's first goal is to pack the tale with period Pleistocene detail, provocative speculation, and bits of romance, sex, tribal politics, soap opera, and homicidal wooly rhino-hunting adventure. It's an enveloping fact-based fantasy, a genre-crossing time trip to the Ice Age. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (807)

Jean, where is the plot?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00466HQ1A/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

This book reads as if it were a pastiche of parts of previous books. I came away with the feeling that there was no real plot to this book. My brother, who is a great Auel fan, called me (because I am a writer and have a doctorate in creative writing, and he is an engineer) to ask me what I thought of the book. When I told him that it seemed to lack a plot, he said in a very relieved tone, "Well, I couldn't find one, but I thought maybe it was just me."

I hope the next book, which I gather is the last and which is already somewhat overdue, is better than this.

Kindle edition rife with typos
I was excited to have the Earth's Children series available for my Kindle, but the OCR errors in "Shelters of Stone" make it almost unreadable. Surely SOMEONE must review the copy before the book is made available for sale? The quality of the story notwithstanding (the plot rather drags, as others have noted), it's incredibly distracting to come across so many mistakes in the text when trying to read the story. Publishers need to institute better quality control when issuing Kindle editions of old manuscripts.

Excellent book
Jean Auel's book "The Shelters of Stone" is another milestone contribution by the master of prehistoric novels. We look forward to next one.

Shelters of Stone - Kindle edition
This is another case of a manuscript bieng scanned and run through OCR software and then not bothering with so much as aspell check program. Still a lot of wrong words which will stop you dead in your tracks as you try to figure out what the word should actually be and a lot of not words that you get to puzzle out what ought to be. Not so bad as to be unreadable but annoying in the extreme. What ever happened to publishers actually proofing work before it is released? If they had released a paper edition in this condition they would be getting returns by the case load!

book review
The service was great and the book is superb.I think Jean Auel is the best at this type book. It is a top hit with me. HJ ... Read more

Product Description
Jean M. Auel’s enthralling Earth’s Children series has become a literary phenomenon, beloved by readers around the world.In a brilliant novel as vividly authentic and entertaining as those that came before, Jean M. Auel returns us to the earliest days of humankind and to the captivating adventures of the courageous woman called Ayla.

With her companion, Jondalar, Ayla sets out on her most dangerous and daring journey--away from the welcoming hearths of the Mammoth Hunters and into the unknown. Their odyssey spans a beautiful but sparsely populated and treacherous continent, the windswept grasslands of Ice Age Europe, casting the pair among strangers.Some will be intrigued by Ayla and Jondalar, with their many innovative skills, including the taming of wild horses and a wolf; others will avoid them, threatened by what they cannot understand; and some will threaten them. But Ayla, with no memory of her own people, and Jondalar, with a hunger to return to his, are impelled by their own deep drives to continue their trek across the spectacular heart of an unmapped world to find that place they can both call home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (276)

Too much sex for too little story.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00466HQ0G/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

This book gives me the feeling that Auel didn't have enough story to fill out the number of words she contracted for, so she inserts sex scenes everywhere she can think of. Really, they get highly boring after a while. Most of her readers are adults who have had their own sexual experience, and don't need graphic details on every third page. This book could have been much better if it were about two thirds of its actual length.

Can't hold my interest
I read the first 3 books many years ago and loved them. I simply could not get into this book. The characters seemed much too modern day to be set in a story about the stone age. Very repetitive information, reiterating thoughts and occurrences multiple times chapter to chapter. I was profoundly disappointed. I'm almost halfway through the book and have simply moved on to other reading entertainment.

BookReview
I was impressed with the service and really enjoyed the book. I would recommend them to anyone.HJ

Mostly okay
I enjoyed this book for the most part.Until Jondalar got captured by the "Wolf Women".Then I was embarrassed for the author.I thought that part was lifted from a really bad B-movie from the 1950's.But I would still recommend this book.

no pleasures here
Jean Auel has done it again...written the same book for the fourth time.

I know books in a series usually begin with exposition detailing key developments from the preceding episodes, but come on. I KNOW how Ayla controls her horse with subtle body movements, I KNOW that shamans "speak with a shadow on the tongue", that Ayla believes babies come from a mans essence, and how she raised horses, wolves and lions.Yeah, yeah, you were marked by the cave lion, never knew your own people, and are terrified by earthquakes. We KNOW.So sorry you had a bad trip with Creb, Ayla, but do we need to hear about it every damn time you meet a new mog ur or mamutoi?

In fact I am 1/2 way through the book with little more than incidents repeated (often verbatim) from all the previousbooks.Ayla and Jondular are the party guests who just keep telling the same anecdotes over and over. The story might be interesting the 1st time but it gets old really fast. ... Read more

Product Description
Once again Jean M. Auel opens the door of a time long past to reveal an age of wonder and danger at the dawn of the modern human race.With all the consummate storytelling artistry and vivid authenticity she brought to The Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequel, The Valley of Horses, Jean M. Auel continues the breathtaking epic journey of the woman called Ayla.

Riding Whinney with Jondalar, the man she loves, and followed by the mare’s colt, Ayla ventures into the land of the Mamutoi--the Mammoth Hunters.She has finally found the Others she has been seeking.Though Ayla must learn their different customs and language, she is adopted because of her remarkable hunting ability, singular healing skills, and uncanny fire-making technique.Bringing back the single pup of a lone wolf she has killed, Ayla shows the way she tames animals.She finds women friends and painful memories of the Clan she left behind, and meets Ranec, the dark-skinned, magnetic master carver of ivory, whom she cannot refuse--inciting Jondalar to a fierce jealousy that he tries to control by avoiding her.Unfamiliar with the ways of the Others, Ayla misunderstands, and thinking Jondalar no longer loves her, she turns more to Ranec.Throughout the icy winter the tension mounts, but warming weather will bring the great mammoth hunt and the mating rituals of the Summer Meeting, when Ayla must choose to remain with Ranec and the Mamutoi, or to follow Jondalar on a long journey into an unknown future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (146)

Misunderstandings damage romance.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00466HQ5G/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

This is the last of the really supergood books in this series. Cultural differences cause serious problems. It is painful to read because Ayla is following what she thinks are the rules, and Jondalar expects her to follow his rules, which she doesn't know. It takes the wisdom of one of the greatest shamans to help them to find love again, after he helps Ayla to learn how to use the psi powers she displayed in Clan of the Cave Bears.

Problems of prejudice are explored; a black man is not shunned by anyone, but a child who is half Neandertal causes great dissension in the annual gathering. The gathering together of the people of the tribe defend the truth, and justice is finally done.

The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
This book is an excellent continuation of the Earth Children's Series by Jean M. Auel. Her stories are very vivid in detail and descriptions of the environment, tools, animals, etc. during this time period.The Story is made even more interesting by all the emotions and each persons view of events as the journey continues.
The steamy love-making is a little graphic in the book, definitely rated R in some sections....

Mammoth Stew
With the upcoming 2011 publication of Jean M. Auel's sixth and final Earth's Children book, "The Land of Painted Caves," I found my interest in this series rekindled. I discovered the first book, "The Clan of the Cave Bear," while in high school, swept away into a fully realized, meticulously researched tale of prehistoric times. Auel made those settings and characters seem so fanciful and faraway, yet so familiar.

"The Mammoth Hunters" starts off where "The Valley of Horses" ended. This third in the series finds indomitable Ayla and tall Jondalar meeting up with the Mamutoi, a camp of mammoth-hunters. Soon, Ayla and Jondalar are part of the Mamutoi activities, and Ayla makes a name for herself through her knowledge of healing plants and her ability with animals, particularly the horses she tamed in the previous book. Here on the steppes of modern-day Russia, the camp carves out a good life for themselves, dealing with domestic squabbles, illness, and relational woes.

Once again, Auel paints the scenery of an ancient time in such a way that it feels believable. The details of cooking, hunting, sewing, and so on are testaments to her research. The story is wordy, sometimes slow, but her writing carries us along, and we meet new characters, both human and animal. The plot becomes more of a stew, though, when Jondalar finds himself competing with swarthy Ranec for Ayla's affections. By the end of the story, we can only hope these three lovestruck characters will overcome their juvenile fidgeting and speak honestly. Along with this--and apparently to divert our attention from their pubescent thoughts--Auel provides four or five explicit lovemaking scenes. While often tender, they are not for a young audience, to be sure.

Despite the drawbacks, "The Mammoth Hunters" provides some unforgettable scenes. Ayla continues to be one of my favorite female characters in fiction, sturdy, beautiful, humble, yet growing in confidence. We ache with her as she longs to see her long-lost son Durc, and we cheer for her when her newly adopted camp members stand alongside her against those who would mock. Auel has some fun with her subject matter, too. She not only hints at the origin of sewing needles and canines as pets, but shows us a man on one knee, proposing, in what would become a tradition for ages to come.

This is grand storytelling, slow, patient, memorable, sometimes exciting, and always conjuring images of fur-clad families seated around a fire and sharing episodes from their recent hunts.

Great book, great series!
I love this book series! I have read the series over and over again. I love her details and description of, well, everything. She sometimes goes overboard with some descriptions of flora and fauna, but with these books it seems right. Some of the parts are pretty graphic and not the best for younger kids. I started reading her books when I was 13 and eagerly anticipate each one. I never want the saga of Ayla to end.

Love the book & the series
I'm a true Jean M. Auel fan. I recommend this book, and the entire Earth's Children series to any one that enjoy's sagas, well-researched history, romance and adventure.
***Parents warning*** There are some instances of intimate relations that may not be appropriate for your teen or pre-teen. I suggest parents read first and judge whether it is suitable for their child. ... Read more

Product Description
A matching set of all five "Earth's Children" books in mass-market paperback editions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Jean Auel books
Thank you for the timely mailing of the books. They arrived and were all that I hoped for.Great condition.Again Thank you

Will I live to see the last book
I have read all 5 "Earth Childres" books many many times as have my 4 daughters. Jean is not a very proficient writer and I have joked in the past that I hope to live long enough to read the last one. Now is is getting quite critical. I an now in my 70's. I just got up to see when the copyright date is on the firs one. It is 1980. Reading these books had been a 30 year saga for me. This is really ridiculous. Get with it Jean!

all five books in the earth children's series
This is to say that the five books of the earth's children series is fantastic.Jean explores and annunciates the splendor of the ice age times.As you read you are drawn to the majesty of the people, the animals, and the landscape.You feel the breeze on your face as they do.
The only thing lacking in in the series is the sixth book which i have been waiting for and can not find any information about when it will come out. Also would have been nice to have had a another movie made of the series such as combining valley of the horses and the mammoth hunters together.But thats just my take on it.

This series is the best I've ever read!
These books have the power to take us back in time to where our ancestors were millions of years ago.Please Jean, when's the next book going to be printed?I've waited for almost 6 years.

Romantically raw nature!
I'm waiting patiently for the next book in the Earth's Children series. I have read all four books numerous times. I love being drawn into the romantically raw nature that Auel so vividly describes. Each page, each book leaves you longing, breathless and on the edge of your seat. Please continue your excellent work Jean! I canhardly wait. ... Read more

Product Description
Ayla and Jondalar have reached home: the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, the old stone age settlement in the region known today as south-west France. Ayla has much to learn from the Zelandonii as well as much to teach them. Jondalar's family are initially wary of the beautiful young woman he has brought back, with her strange accent and her tame wolf and horses. She is delighted when she meets Zelandoni, the spiritual leader of her people, a fellow healer with whom she can share her medicinal skills. After the rigours and dangers that have characterised her extraordinary life, Ayla yearns for peace and tranquillity; to be Jondalar's mate and to have children. But her unique spiritual gifts cannot be ignored, and even as she gives birth to their eagerly-awaited child, she is coming to accept that she has a greater role to play in the destiny of the Zelandonii. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Island girl
I appreciate all the amazing research that has gone into this series of books and how they bring to light that there was more than one species of hominid living on earth in the early days. I am very pleased that these books are not only entertaining (many such discussions are so dry they are BORING) but that they bring to everyman that once Homo Sapiens Sapiens appeared on earth they are us-not just like us but US. Ayla gets to be a bit monotonous as superwoman except that Auel makes her somewhat psychic. I did get bored with the endless descriptions of sex-you do your things and we'll do ours and let's not compare notes. Sex isn't a competition however it was an integral part of the story in some places, otherwise ... I was also pleased that these books show early humans as intelligent. I just wish she'd get her next book to the publisher. Get it in gear girl!

Jean Auel's books
I have really enjoyed each of Jean Auel's books, including The Shelters of Stone.She does an incredible amount of research before writing each book, so that each one reads like an historical novel.I can hardly wait for her next book to come out.

Repetitive and boring
I was so desperate to buy this book when it first appeared. I didn't like "Plains...", I found it quite repetitive and without a real catching plot so I have all my hopes put in this one.
What a disappointment!
The dialogues between Ayla and the different zelandoni are not only repetitive but are also the same dialogues we get tired of in "Plains...". Ayla and Jondalar explain over and over again about why the horses don't run away in front of people, why the wolf doesn't attack people, how did they discover the "fire stones", etc.
About the plot? Just when it starts to get interesting (the possibility for Ayla to become Zelandoni), the end! As to keep us waiting for the 6th.
It's such a shame that a saga that started so amazingly with "Clan..." has to end this way.

the shields of stone
have enjoyed all of ms auel's current books and can hardly wait for the next one.have recommended this series to many ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

More fantastic reading from Jean Auel
if you have read the others in this series, clan of the cave bear, valley of horses, mammoth hunters, and plains of passage; then you just have to get this one too. Jean's writing is like non other. her depth of research of the period she writes of is phenomenol, and it draws you in from the first page and makes you want to call in sick until you finish. extremely thoughtful, intelligent,and detailed style of writing. if you havent read any of her books, please start with book one and relish your way through. it is so very worth it.

A Bridge to Nowhere?
This is the 5th book (2002) in the Earth's Children series.After an extensive gap (12 years) between the 4th and 5th installments in the series, Auel offers up a very long, somewhat repetitive book with no real plot. The main characters finally arrive at their destination after the endless but interesting trip related in The Plains of Passage, we meet a boatload of new characters (to whom the same explanatory stories about all of Ayla's "oddities" must be told over and over, almost word for word, which is where a lot of the repetition comes in), and we get a lot of information about everyday life in this new place and about the structure of this new society. But nothing . . . ever . . . really . . . happens.

This book seems to be an extensive stage-setting device, with Ayla's intellect and other powers coming to be recognized over time by Those Who Count in this new society (and, of course, resented by Those Who Don't), positioning her to do Big Things (and, of course, have Big Problems) in the next installment -- if it ever comes. It's almost been 5 years since this one was published, and the next book still isn't out. Without it, all of this stage setting is pretty much for nothing, in my view. If I were making the decision now to read the 750 sometimes repetitive pages of this doorstop, knowing what I know now, I'd wait to make the investment until Auel gets around to publishing the 6th book. Until then, the enjoyment you think you might derive from spending time with Ayla and Co. again won't really balance the fact that the book is repetitive and contains nothing you really need to know for its own sake.
... Read more

Product Description
Three titles from the "Earth's Children" series. A matching set of mass-market paperback editions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

LOVE THIS BOOK
I got this book to continue the series and i love it. Its a great read. i cant wait to finish the series!

Ayla continues her journey
Jean Auel spellbinds you into Ayla's young developing world.Love this book and can't wait to read the next book in the series.

The Third Novel In This Awesome Series!
I loved this book too, the third installment in the "Clan of the Cave Bear" series.I read this in the 80's & still own the books.I'll never be able to part with them, as with many others, I can only hope that when my time comes, my beloved books will fall into the hands of similar hands such as mine that will read them & love them as I have!I recommend this bookto all that have started this series.This book wasn't quite as spectacular as "Valley of the Horses", as nothing can equate to the period when Ayla first encounters Jondular, but, as with most series of books that you love, it is a must read in this continuing saga of Ayla & Jondular.

Love the book & the series
I'm a true Jean M. Auel fan. I recommend this book, and the entire Earth's Children series to any one that enjoy's sagas, well-researched history, romance and adventure.
***Parents warning*** There are some instances of intimate relations that may not be appropriate for your teen or pre-teen. I suggest parents read first and judge whether it is suitable for their child.

AuelReview Earths Childres
Its hard to believe I started reading this in the 80's. I heard recently that Auel is planning to release the next in the series this year. That said I wanted to revist Earths Children.I ordered this book and was DELIGHTED to get a hardcover with dust jacket in very good condition.Altho used it would have cost me 3x's more if I would have bought it new.THANKS Amazon and bookseller!!! ... Read more

Product Description
The complete Jean M. Auel Earth's Children series, volumes 1-5: Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of Horses, Mammoth Hunters, Plains of Passage and Shelters of Stone.All five volumes are a matching set of Bantam mass-market paperbacks, as shown in the photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Very dissatisfied
I ordered this book as a gift to finish a collection.The photo shows the book with the jacket cover, but when I received it, the cover is not on it.I can't give this as a gift due to the this fact.

Captivating Series
Valley of the Horses is second of the series written by Jean M. Auel.The first is The Clan of the Cave Bear which is fabulous.Valley of the Horses is good, definitely worth the time spent reading, but Cave Bear is better.I loved reading the author's view of how horses could have been domesticated early in human history and the weight they took off of everyday living. Good Read!

What A Unique Book!
If you find yourself looking for a different kind of book, this is the series I recommend!This is the second book in the Jean Auel series, starting with "The Clan of the Cave Bear".I still have these books & this was my favorite of the series.In this second book, Ayla is expelled from her caveman clan for unfounded & false reasons & she then sets off to find the ones that look like herself, referred to as the "Others".She meets a handsome young Other named Jondular & they fall in love."The Valley of the Horses" is their quest at all they encounter & endure on their journey together.This is the book where they meet "Baby", the lion cub that saves their lives many years later in a different book. I loved this book & have read it twice since it's birth in the 80's. I recommend this series highly!Out of all the too many to count books I have read in my lifetime, this series was one of my utter favorites!

Great Series
I ordered all the 5 books that have been published so far in this series. The author writes very well and has done her homework on this era of history. Great love story also.

My favorite of the Ayla books
I've read the whole series and this is my favorite, maybe because so much of the story involves animals and I am an animal lover.Ayla's time alone was really interesting, and the various cultures Jondalar & his brother encountered were engaging, as well.It's almost like two different books until the point where Ayla and Jondalar's lives intersect.I loved the first book, but it was so sad at the end.This book has some sad parts, but overall, it has a theme of making progress, anticipating good things, etc.Jondalar's character is kind of dense sometimes, emotionally, for someone who is otherwise so intelligent, but those moments are forgivable, in light of the overall quality of the story.You get to see what a real dummy he can be in the next book, The Mammoth Hunters. A lot of Ayla's use of plants for medicine, etc. is believable, but it does get a bit over the top sometimes...I find it hard to believe people with so much at stake just to survive take the time to make tea flavored with multiple herbs! Anyway, this is a great story, and I have read it over again many times. ... Read more

Product Description
The genre of prehistoric fiction contains a surprisingly large and diverse group of fictional works by American, British, and French writers from the late nineteenth century to the present that describe prehistoric humans. Nicholas Ruddick explains why prehistoric fiction could not come into being until after the acceptance of Charles Darwin's theories, and argues that many early prehistoric fiction works are still worth reading even though the science upon which they are based is now outdated. Exploring the history and evolution of the genre, Ruddick shows how prehistoric fiction can offer fascinating insights into the possible origins of human nature, sexuality, racial distinctions, language, religion, and art. The book includes discussions of well-known prehistoric fiction by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, J.-H. Rosny Aine, Jack London, William Golding, Arthur C. Clarke, and Jean M. Auel and reminds us of some unjustly forgotten landmarks of prehistoric fiction. It also briefly covers such topics as the recent boom in prehistoric romance, notable prehistoric fiction for children and young adults, and the most entertaining movies featuring prehistoric humans. The book includes illustrations that trace the changing popular images of cave men and women over the past 150 years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

As I write this, the book is already on back order--for a reason
My favourite line comes in the second, thematic half of the book's discussion of prehistoric fiction. The author says that blaming (Darwin's bulldog) Huxley for sexism making as little sense as blaming Orville and Wilbur for 9/11. It's a brilliant, wickedly funny non sequitur that well summarized the charm, eloquence and sensibility of this study. The author must have read an astounding amount of fiction for that book. My interest was piqued by seeing numerous well-researched references to all matters Darwinian from the turn of the 19-20th centuries. One critical comment: the abbreviation of prehistoric fiction to "pf" did not work for me, detracted from the flow of highly polished prose and jarred stylistically. Otherwise, it was a pleasure to read learn something from almost every page. And the back-cover endorsements from the science fiction community could hardly be better. ... Read more

Product Description
Matching set of mass-market paperback editions for the complete Jean M. Auel "Earth's Children" Clan of the Cave Bear series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (53)

Amazing & totally fascinating saga!
I have read the 5 books of the series at least 10 times each, in German and in English, I am so fascinated with the story. The characters are absolutely captivating, and there is so much suspense and drama, you seriously can't put the books down when you start reading them. In the very first book, the little girl Ayla will capture your heart, as you go on this journey with her when she is growing up, and she turns into this beautiful and intelligent woman - i bet about every male reader would love to be with her and get to know her, whereas female readers will envy her and want to be like her. But it's not just her, all the characters have so much depth to them, and it is so easy to picture them in your mind, as they come across as very real. I grew to love each and every one of them, including all the animals as well. This is a great story about love and friendships among people & animals, and a story about survival in harsh conditions and encountering and fighting enemies. A story about a time when great discoveries and inventions were made, a truly fascinating era.
This is my favorite story of all times, and I know I will read all the books again someday. So if you are just bored and are looking for something very good to read - this is it! Too bad the fourth and fifth books - The Plains of Passage & Shelters of Stone - aren't included with this package, but I guarantee most people who pick up those books and read them will probably read them as well, since it is an ongoing story, and you can't wait to see what is going to happen next. I can't wait for the last book to come out... hopefully that is going to happen soon.

please finesh the series soon
the clan of the cave bear lay around our house for several years. i passed it by many times thinking it would not be my kind of book. at last due to the urging of my wifei began to read clan of the cave bear! from that time until i had completed all five of the books in the earths children series,i absolutly could not put them down.i have read many book series. but never have i been carried away so by an author.the depth of auels research will pull at a very primitive and forgotin place in your being.however i must warn you! when you have completed the series thus far the knowledge of the as yet unwriten or at least unpublished climax to this series will leave you feeling incomplete!! so please Miss Auel finesh the series soon

The Earth's Children series
Each book does as promised, stand alone, and also as part of the larger story it melds into a great whole. I waited impatiently for each book as it came out, and because of the many years wait for The Shelters Of Stone, I was somewhat dissappointed in the book, because in my opinion all it really did was do a further buildup for the final book in the series, and I am so afraid that there will be another extended waiting period and let-down, but over-all I have to give the series a huge thumbs up and say that this series is definately part of my "Keeper" and "Re-readable" list and is now part of my personal Library.

Fifth book!
The author planned to write six books in the Earth's Children series, and I hope she sticks with the plan.However, I wanted to answer the question about which everyone seems to be confused--the fifth book.Its title is **SHELTERS OF STONE** ... .Anyway, the first four books are not only completely absorbing plotwise, but Ms. Auel's obvious research into the history of the periods about which she writes adds to the value of reading her books.Don't wait!Read the first four as soon as possible--at least in time to get a copy of her unpublished paperback.

earths children
I read clan of the cave bear when I went to college in 1988 and I've been an avid fan since.I have all 4 books and I read them several times a year. Each time a read them I get the same thrill. ... ... Read more

Product Description
Jean Auel's epic works, The Clan of the Cave Bear, The Valley of Horses, and The Mammoth Hunters, are now available in a rich, brown bonded leather edition with an embossed matching leather slipcase. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (65)

Fantastic viewpoint of a world we can only dream of
I thoroughly have enjoyed all five of the current books and I can not wait for the conclusions in number 6.

If you enjoy reading fictionalised history with a romatic flair these books are for you.

Steadily declining literary value
I think this collection of reviews needs another voice of reason to balance out the gushing hyperbole coming from the average reader. Either my standards (and the standards of the few other reasoning online reviewers) are way too high, or the standards of the average online reviewer are way too low. At any rate, I found the first book in this series to be quite good, and would agree with the other reviewers in that it deserves considerable praise for its detailed research and the obvious effort and care that the author invested in its content. The second book was good as well, although it lacked the originality and fresh appeal of the first one. From that point on, however, the series entered a steady and dramatic decline in literary content, finally falling to the point of being nothing more than an exploration into the sexual and emotional neurosis of imaginary primitive peoples. The later books contain more emotional dysfunction than you would see in a textbook on abnormal psychology, and more sexual situations than you'd see in a cheesy porn novel. In fact, I would agree with a previous reviewer in describing the later books as being comparable to thinly veiled pornography. I knew this series was doomed (in terms of redeeming literary value; these are successful books despite their obvious flaws...or perhaps because of them) when I picked up a copy of The Plains of Passage in a bookstore, and found that when I picked a number of random pages throughout the book, there were sex/love scenes in virtually every one. I found it almost embarrassing to read the later books because I felt as though I was intruding into the private sexual fantasies of the author. Aficionados of lurid romance novels will find these books highly gratifying, but people with even a mariginal appreciation for balanced and well-written books will find the psychological and sexual tangents to be quite distracting. The other major flaw in this series is the highly improbable and thoroughly unbelievable premise that one woman was responsible for all those amazing and revolutionary inventions, which in realistic historical terms probably took millenia to be discovered. It is a shame, even tragic, that these books had to take the route of cheap thrills to entertain the masses when the first installment embodied so much promise of a great series of substantial and well-executed historical novels. I gave this series two stars instead of just one because the first book (and the second one to a lesser extent) was good and deserves some praise. But the rest of them....highly disappointing and not worth serious reading.

A Beautiful Collector's Edition.Truly Special!!
I must admit, I didn't purchase this set to read.I purchased this set out of my great revernce and awe for the impact that these novels by Jean M. Auel have had on my life, both as a human and a woman.They are a beautiful and worthy tribute to the greatness and impact of these novels on the women of the United States and all over the world.Read the paperback editions.Look at this collector's edition with the eyes of remembrance for the girl Ayla in all of us.

Collectors
The writer has done an excellent job writing those books, because you can read them as a series but you can also start in the middle, with second, or thirth book of the series. I am fascinating about the writer's knowledge about plants and use of them, but especially in the ability of making you fill like you were part of action.

Excellent series with something for everyone
I have read all of the Earth's Children series, and found each of them immensely enjoyable.The author has incorporated elements of many genres, creating books that are part romance, part suspense, part historical and 100% her own style.

The only downside is some fairly repetative scenarios to do with the inventing of various things and the sex scenes, although even these, put into historical context can be forgiven.

However, the spellbinding story, the richness of the setting and the characterisation more than make up for any repetition in scenes.

Thoroughly recommended. ... Read more