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2.92 AVERAGE
2.92 AVERAGE
Despite the negatives reviews, I enjoyed the book. There was less excitement and more repetition of story lines from the previous books then i thought necessary, but overall an entertaining read.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Jonadalr irritates the crap out of me. He’s a giant man-baby who would probably be a dudebro.
The Clan of the Cave Bear was a masterful character driven drama, if slightly plodding, an intensive study of both the nature of characters and relationships. The protagonist, Ayla, was a flawed and vulnerable girl possessed of genuinely admirable determination, existing in a very dangerous, brutal and unfair world which caused her to suffer real hardships and even be threatened with death on more than one occasion. The Land of Painted Caves is a poorly written, repetitive, tedious, unenjoyable mess. The pace of the book moves at a bare crawl, the plot doesn’t even show up until the last third of the novel and even then it’s a half-baked, implausible affair that’s essentially just a rehash of the plot of the third book. The protagonists are overpowered and boring, but even worse, in an attempt to inject some drama into this story, they act inconsistently and out-of-character with their previous incarnations, whilst a veritable tide of thinly-sketched secondary characters are introduced and never heard from again. How could the debut novel of the Earth’s Children series have been so good, whilst its finale is so bad? The Land of Painted Caves was touted by publicity campaigns as "the bestseller of 2011". Instead the negative reaction from fans this time round has been overwhelming, and the word I have seen being thrown out there most often is "disappointing".
Disappointing is the word that comes foremost to my own mind in regards to this final instalment in the Earth’s Children saga, but to be honest I can’t pretend that, after having observed the decline of the series and problems inherent in The Shelters of Stone, I actually expected The Land of Painted Caves to be on a par with The Clan of the Cave Bear. I went into Painted Caves with the strong suspicion of what I would be getting myself into, and the book didn’t prove me wrong in that regards. What I found so disappointing about it was that beyond the mess that this book was, it had the potential to be so much better. Previous books had established a few potential conflicts and hinted at a few intriguing little strands that if these conflicts had been handled better and given any element of risk, or these loose strands picked up on and pursued, Painted Caves could have been a whole lot better. There was potential for a good story somewhere in there, it was simply wasted and the easy option taken instead. Even, with a more severe editor eliminating all the repetition and unnecessary chaff from this book, something could have been produced that would have been half as long and at least concise and acceptable enough to pass muster.
Repetition is a major problem in The Land of Painted Caves. Certain themes or sentences are repeated over and over again, characters would pause right in the middle of a scene to embark upon a lengthy reminisce about an event from one of the previous books, characters would even speak to one another about such prior incidents as if the other person hadn’t been there at the time and didn’t know what had happened. The repetition was so interminable that towards the last third of the novel incidents that had happened earlier in the book were revisited and readers reminded of them. This was probably the single most annoying thing, to me, in this book, the one thing that really got my rubbing my temples and having to simply stop reading because I could only take so much. For fun, and to pass the time a little, whilst I was reading the book I kept an accurate tally of the number of times certain things were repeated.
Number of times Wolf is "introduced" to someone: 4
Number of times Ayla’s baby waits to pass her water on the ground instead of in her blanket: 4
Number of times Ayla’s titles and ties are recited: 12
Number of times the Mother’s Song is either wholly or partially recited: 13
Number of times Ayla’s accent is mentioned: 32
Second to the repetition is the sheer dryness of the descriptions. In The Land of Painted Caves the sheer page space devoted to description alone overwhelms all other aspects – plot, action, characterisations – and as a result those elements really suffer from being sparsely drawn and not nearly developed enough. Had these descriptions been written with skill, vigour, or imagination, it might not have been too bad, but unfortunately the vast majority of descriptions in Painted Caves are dry, dull and technical. This has a knock on effect and drags the pacing down incessantly, turning the book into a tedious, laboured drudge that takes real effort to get through, or even pick up. Most of the description is centred around the eponymous painted caves of the novel’s title, and the heart of the book is simply the main characters visiting cave after cave after cave. The first whiff of a real plot doesn’t even show up until three-quarters of the way into the book, and by that time, clichéd and awful as this last minute contrivance is, you’re desperate for something, anything, to happen in this breeze block of a tome. Auel mentions in the Acknowledgements that she’s particularly grateful for a certain book which told her the exact positioning and placement of every image in the painted caves that Ayla’s visits in this book, and whilst I’d probably say that’s fair enough and it’s a good idea for the author to be sure of such information just in case the need crops up, it is totally unnecessary for her to pass on such level of detail to the readers. Now, as an historian I’m not saying that these details are unimportant – far from it – but if I wanted a coldly factual site report I’d read an academic publication about it – I am not looking for this level of dry detail in a fictional novel which I am reading for personal entertainment. Auel’s done her research, kudos there, I do prefer my historical fiction to be accurate rather than inaccurate, but surely the point is that she wants these historic sites to capture the imagination of her readers the way it’s captured her imagination. If that was the effect she wanted, she should have focused on creating the right impression, conveying how exciting and interesting these cave paintings are, even if that meant using broader brush strokes in her descriptions of them and omitting a few unnecessary details here and there – it shouldn’t be as important for us to know exactly how high up on the cave wall the painting is or whether it’s facing left or right, what we should walk away with is an interest and a general idea. Instead Auel seems to have shoved every last one of her research notes in here, tacked on a lame plot at the end, had it published and called it a fictional novel. Here’s an example of the kind of scintillating stuff I had to read through:
Page 326: "The cave was high above the river valley floor, and reasonably dry inside, but it was calcareous rock, which was naturally porous, and water saturated with calcium carbonate constantly seeped through it."
Painted Caves might still have been salvageable had it had a decent plot, but it doesn’t. There’s very little plot to speak of in the first three-quarters of the book, Ayla and Jondalar go to a Summer Meeting, visit a lot of caves, meet a few people and that’s pretty much it. The timeframe jumps ahead by four years at one point, totally without warning and apparently totally without reason too. When the actual plot does show up it’s so awkward and artificial that it just falls flat. The first strand of the plot, the big revelation, falls flat because it’s not actually a big revelation at all, but something that Ayla has known pretty much since the first book.
Spoiler
Auel draws thick implications, through Ayla’s later drug-induced hallucinogenic trip, that the revelation that men have a role in creating babies through sex is what actually leads to the downfall of the Zelandonii’s female-dominated goddess-worshipping society and is responsible for the spawning of patriarchal societies that subjugate women and overexploit the planet thus leading to skyscrapers and a ruined Earth, but this implication is so inelegantly drawn that it just comes across as preachy and sweepingly damning.The second strand of the plot is
Spoiler
Jondalar’s affair with Marona, which then provokes Ayla to sleep with Laramar as payback, and finally attempt to commit suicide by taking too much drugs and Jondalar brings her out of it by the sheer power of his love. My guess would be that Auel decided to include some infidelity in Ayla and Jondalar’s relationship because the characters have been criticised in the past for being too perfect, and also it was a chance to inject some drama. The problem is that although I myself in the past have criticised Ayla for being a Mary Sue and having no flaws and have expressed a wish that she have a few more failings, this particular plot point just doesn’t ring true. Although Ayla and Jondalar don’t seem to have any real reason to be together beyond their mutual attraction, it has been established that they’re solid with each other, and it just doesn’t seem plausible that Jondalar would go off with Marona behind Ayla’s back. The discovery of this plot twist comes pretty much out of the blue; if it was set up a bit better, with some real time spent on establishing how Jondalar comes round to that way of thinking, it might be just about believable, but certainly not with Marona, a stock character who has been vicious to Ayla pretty much from day one – Zolena, Joplaya, or any other woman really would have been a more believable choice. The fact that he goes off with Marona only highlights the inherent problems in Jondalar’s character that have been there from the beginning – the fact that he’s pretty-but-thick-as-a-brick and essentially just rather self-absorbed and a bit of a duffer. Similarly, Ayla’s bit of payback does show a nasty side to her character, at least temporarily, but it seems so implausible that she would choose the local drunk, a man she utterly despises. I can’t help thinking that maybe if she had chosen a man she actually found admirable and liked – maybe Danug, one of those male Zelandoni that she met earlier in the book and found handsome, Jondalar’s father Dalanar, or his brother Joharran – it would have actually made for a much better plot point because that would have really stirred the pot and injected some real risk that she might genuinely permanently go off with another man, one that she liked. Without proper development, this particular plot strand just makes Ayla and Jondalar seem strangely out-of-character. The ending, in which Jondalar pulls Ayla out of her drug spiral, is just a complete copy and paste of the same incident in The Mammoth Hunters.If Auel’s objective was to try and show Ayla and Jondalar with some human flaws though, it was pretty pointless, because although they do make big out-of-character mistakes on this one point, the rest of the time they’re back to being the flawlessly perfect power-couple we all know, with about as much humanity and feeling for one another as machines. Heck, even as a baby their daughter has full functioning control over her bowels and bladder and conveniently waits until she’s out of her blankets to go to the toilet. These aren’t real, breathing human beings who bleed when cut, cry, sweat and get dirty. Auel is even contradicting her own canon now to further empower her pet character:
Page 1: "Ayla, too, had extraordinarily sharp vision. She could also pick up sounds above the range of normal hearing and feel the deep tones of those that were below. Her sense of smell and taste were also keen, but she had never compared herself with anyone, and didn’t realise how extraordinary her perceptions were. She was born with heightened acuity in all her senses..."
As long-term readers will know, Ayla has an exceptionally good memory, but that particular talent is given a firm grounding, we buy into it because the whole of the first book plausibly establishes this. However this is the first I’ve ever heard of Ayla having had heightened senses from birth – when was this mentioned in any of the previous novels? This is a complete dart from the blue. Ayla’s character is just getting silly now, she’s way too overpowered. Is there anything she can’t do? Yep – sing. I know that because her inability to sing was mentioned repeatedly throughout the novel, but let’s face it, that’s not a real character flaw. Ayla is such a Mary Sue by this stage that we’re frequently treated to passages like these:
Page 428: "Ayla just looked at her and smiled, but it was the loveliest smile she had ever seen. She really is a beautiful woman, the Watcher thought. I can understand Jondalar’s attraction to her. If I were a man, I would be too."
Page 644: "Stories were already beginning, stories that would be told around hearth fires and campfires for years, about Jondalar’s love, so great it brought his Ayla back from the dead."
Talk about cheesy and clichéd. Perhaps even worse, the few things that continued to make Ayla likable are completely missing in Painted Caves. Her fierce devotion as a healer to those in need is utterly absent – on more than one occasion she’d rather ride off to the next cave than look after someone she’s treated,
Spoiler
and on at least two occasions she’s simply told by Zelandoni that the patient can’t be helped even though there is a small chance she might be able to save them, and Ayla just accepts it and leaves, without even tryingDespite having had nine years to work on this since the release of The Shelters of Stone, the finale which Auel has delivered feels rushed to press and unready for publication. I found typos and strange grammatical errors throughout but they got more frequent and worse towards the end of the book, really giving the impression that the actual plot really was just hastily tacked onto the end. The invented names were fairly unimaginative, all in all, and in the middle of a sentence sometimes the time setting would shift, the tense of the text would change, or a change from third person to first person would occur with not so much as an italicisation to indicate it. This feels sloppy and hurried. Another niggle – frequently Auel broke off from the main story to deliver a totally anachronistic comment about something that occurred long before or after the book’s setting, for example as in the following:
Page 351: "In later times, some would refer to the ozone in the atmosphere before rain as fresh air; others who had the ability to detect it thought it had a metallic tinge."
Page 380: "Some four hundred thousand years before, the force of a subterranean stream carved through the limestone, eventually wearing the calcium carbonate rock away, creating caves and passageways."
This drove me mad. It completely ruined the atmosphere of the Upper Palaeolithic world that Auel was trying to craft and forcefully jarred me out of my immersion in the story.
This brings me back into a neat circle to my initial point. The Land of Painted Caves got it wrong on so many levels, but it could have been so much better. An editor could have tightened up the errors and the repetition, and whilst the description here was unbelievably dry there were glimmers of the kind of vivid, vibrant descriptions that Auel used to write:
Page 64: "The world during the Ice Age with its glittering glaciers, transparently clear rivers, thundering waterfalls, and hordes of animals in vast grasslands was dramatically beautiful, but brutally harsh, and the few people who lived then recognised at a fundamental level the necessity of keeping strong affiliations."
Page 135: "The moon was new, and without its glowing light to moderate their brilliance, the stars filled the night sky with an awe-inspiring profusion."
Page 218: "Ayla watched the fire sending flickering sparks up into the night as though trying to reach their twinkling brethren far up in the sky above. It was dark; the moon was young and had already set. No clouds obscured the dazzling display of stars that were so thick, they seemed to be strung together on skeins of light."
There were also so many missed opportunities that could have made for a great plot in this book.
Spoiler
What if there had been some real risk in the incident when Ayla is held hostage by the murderer and it hadn’t been resolved so quickly? What if the Zelandonii had established contact with the Clan and either reached a concord or come into conflict with them? I know Auel stated publicly that this would never happen in the series, but what if Ayla had decided to go back in search of Durc, or he had come looking for her? What if Ayla’s original people had come looking for her, or she decided to go looking for them? What if Jondalar’s affair had been with Zolena or Joplaya, someone he truly cared about, or if Ayla’s affair had been with someone she liked such as Danug, Dalanar, Joharran, Echozar, or one of the zelandonia, someone who she might seriously have considered leaving Jondalar for? If we go even further back in the series, what if it had been Thonolan who had survived and mated Ayla instead, or Ayla had stayed with the Mamutoi and mated Ranec, or Vincavec, how might Land of the Painted Caves have turned out? During Ayla’s Donier Tour the travelling group decides to go to the shores of the Southern Sea and trade with people from faraway lands for valuable goods. I actually got pretty excited at that prospect, it sounded like it could be a significant event in the lives of these people, something that might make a good plot point. Auel deals with it in a couple of paragraphs of overview after the lengthiest cave tour yet and then sends all her characters back home without ever really exploring it at all. Same thing again when Danug and Druwez arrive from the Mamutoi, we learn that they are going to be staying with the Zelandonii for the winter and that they want to make a special trip to see the Great Waters of the West. Of course nothing comes of it.0 out of 10
Thirty years after the release of Clan of the Cave Bear, Ayla's story is completed. When Jean Auel stuck to the story, it was compelling, but there was too much filler. The endless description of caves became tedious, and every time a character met another, their name-list was a paragraph long. The book would have been 50 pages shorter if this had been cut out! Worth reading if you're a fan of the series; if you're a fan, you'll read it no matter what I write here!
Excuse me, I have some paint I need to watch dry
Ayla trains to be a Zelandani. Ayla goes to many caves. Ayla unveils the Big Secret (that readers have known about since Book 1). The End.
*****Spoilers Abound Like Mad. Ye Have Been Warned.*****
My God. If I thought the last book was fan fiction, I have no idea what to call this piece of sh!t. “Boring”, “disappointing”, “stupid”, “mindless waste of time and paper”, and “underwhelming” all come to mind. But no words can describe how absolutely horrible this book is.
I don’t like to think I am a person who gives into hyperbole, but this book is probably THE worst book I have EVER read, not to mention THE worst conclusion to a beloved series. It doesn’t wrap up the billion plot threads that have arisen in the previous five books. Characters act largely out of character or like idiots. Two-thirds of the book has no plot, and the last third has a plot that was regurgitated from an earlier book. The writing is horrible. The dialogue is terrible. Whole conversations are dedicated to one character telling another about events the other character should already be aware of. The pacing is all over the place. More time is spent on detailing every cave Ayla visits, but important events are sloppily skimmed over. Several “exciting” events pause to detail Zelandani social norms, the usages of cattail, or recap earlier books/scenes, thus breaking any sense of tension. Large chunks of the book are stories from the previous five books or reiterations of events that occurred earlier in the story. There is no cohesion in the book; it is separated into three parts that have very little to bind them into one work. The sex, though greatly reduced (only two explicit sex scenes and two instances of being interrupted while having sex), are still hilariously over the top and monotonous. The conclusion is mournful and an insult to fans.
About the only laudable quality is the research. It is obvious that Auel has put a lot of effort into the research, which is commendable. But regurgitating research pell-mell into a novel without good characters, a plot, and decent writing does NOT make a story. (And it doesn’t help to have anachronistic info dumps written as if from a technical manual either.)
It is inexcusable how horrible this book is. Auel has had many years to plan her ending to this once great series. In the five previous books, she introduced many interesting plotlines, which she could have explored. Instead, we are given this mammoth piece of Mammoth dung.
Ayla is basically unrecognizable. From Page One, Auel suddenly retcons Ayla’s capabilities:
In every other book, Ayla had plausible reasons for her abilities. She was good at memorizing to compensate for the memories she didn’t have. She had greater strength to be able to keep up with the Clan. As for her vision and smell, never before has it been mentioned that Ayla’s were above-average (and given all the other Mary Sue qualities Ayla has, you can be assured this would have appeared at one point).
Ayla remains the Mary Sue she has been since the beginning. The woman can do pretty much anything and everyone will applaud her. Nearly every man wants to share Pleasures with her; the First Among Those Who Serve the Mother along with all of the Zelandania thinks she is the cat’s meow; even the women want her:
The entirety of her role in this book is to gape at caves, blather about the last five books, which we’ve heard nearly 80 thousand times by now, or listen to people yammer on about counting, sacred colors, or some other such “religious” aspects (and, just to clarify, it’s not the fact it is religious that I don’t like it; it’s the fact that it is BORING). Oh, and she also is “blessed” to find the final verse in that terrible Mother’s Song, a verse that corroborates a view she has held since Book 1 and one that will send the reader’s eyes a’rollin’.
Probably the most amusing part is when Ayla suddenly becomes a vengeful person. When she discovers Jondalar has been pumping Marona with his “essence” because Ayla has been busy training to be a Zelandani, she decides to “share Pleasures” with Laramar of all people. While I appreciate having Ayla actually behave like a normal human being for once, where the hell did this come from? Why the frak did she choose Laramar of all people? Why not Brukaval or Danug or Echozar? You know, the men she thought were super attractive because of the way she was raised but hasn’t done ANYTHING to get them to show her the signal because of her TWOO LURVE for Jondalar? It’s already been established that Jondalar is a jealous pr!ck who doesn’t mind having sex with another woman but who can’t stand it when Ayla chooses another.
Jondalar, besides being said jealous pr!ck, is basically an accessory for the first two parts, and then turns into full-fledged @-hole in the last part. Other than describing his physical attributes (he is a “6'6" tall, well-formed, incredibly handsome man, with an unconscious charisma enhanced by a vividly intense shade of blue eyes”, in case you can't remember from the other 3 billion times it is mentioned), Auel keeps describing him as “charismatic”, but I honestly think that Auel doesn’t know what that word means. It certainly doesn’t describe the man I’ve been reading for five books.
He has his own out-of-character moments. He shows little signs of being upset with the decreasing amount of time that Ayla is spending with him, but suddenly, Marona is sucking on his massive dong. Where did this come from? Why Marona? Sure, she “seduced” him (because, remember, she is EVUL and cannot be shown to have a smidgeon of good), but why would Jondalar bother with her? If it’s because she’s a “petal” to be picked, why not pick the dozens of other women, who weren’t discouraged by his previous monogamy and would GLADLY drop their cave panties for him? What about Joplaya or Zolena/Zelandani/First? Oh, right, that would actually make sense, and we can’t have logic in these books!
What really irritates me is that when he is caught, he whines, “Why did Ayla have to find out?” Uh, don’t you mean, WHY THE FRAK DID I SEX UP MARONA, THE WOMAN I RAN OUT ON BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO MARRY HER, AND CHEAT ON THE WOMAN I SUPPOSEDLY LURVE SO MUCH?!!?? You dirty, filthy, scumbag, you are just guilty because Ayla found out, not because you did something wrong, betrayed her trust, and acted like a two-faced d-bag, just like how you behaved 6 years ago in The Mammoth Hunters. You truly haven't grown up, have you, Jondalar?
And why is it that AYLA should be shamed for Jondalar sleeping around with another woman? It’s a WOMAN’S fault if a man sleeps with another woman, because she didn’t Pleasure her mate enough? Has no one heard of control? What about self-Pleasure? How about good old fashioned “talking”? Wasn’t that what they promised to do after the LAST Big Misunderstanding in Hunters? Why the frak are they even so exclusive to begin with? This is supposedly a polyamorous society! There is no reason that either of them should have their cave panties in such a knot.
But what about Jonayla, the child that Ayla wanted so past the last five books? I would hardly have noticed she was even here; every time she could, Ayla dumped Jonayla on someone else so Ayla could do something more interesting. I can’t tell you one remarkable thing about the child…no, wait, I take that back. Jonayla is probably the only baby (only a few months old) that can wait to urinate until her mother removes her from her carrying basket.
I hate to keep saying it, because I sound like a broken record, but every other character is a cardboard cutout. No one has any personality, no identifying attribute to make them stand out of the rest of this crowd. All the good guys love Ayla and Jondalar. All the “bad guys” are so lame and impotent, they might as well have been written for 5 year olds. No, that’s insulting to 5 year olds.
There really is no plot to this book. The first two parts are so boring, I thought I would poke my eye out with a blunt instrument, just to have something exciting to do. Watching paint dry is more exciting than listening/reading to this book. And it's not like the first two parts have any real importance to the last part. In fact, the first two parts are so insignificant to the last part, you could just skip them and move directly to part three. I'll do you a favor: here's the summary:
Part One: Ayla begins to train as Zelandani. EARTHQUAKE!
Part Two: OOOOOOOO LOOKIE CAVES!
In the first part, we ALMOST get a plot. Zelandani is frustrated that Ayla doesn’t spend more time training; everyone is p!ssed that Ayla dumps Jonayla on them (some mother that Ayla has become!) and Jondalar is somewhat pouty that Ayla isn’t always available to suck on him. Welcome to marriage, Jondalar. After an earthquake that goes NOWHERE, this part abruptly stops and lurches into part two.
Part Two is suddenly set four years later for no good reason. Ayla heads off to look at the caves, dragging along Jondalar and Jonayla, again for no good reason. Ayla and gang go to the caves for no good reason (in case you can't tell, a lot happens in this book for no good reason). Auel does absolutely NOTHING to make the caves integral to the story. I thought she might make Ayla draw one of the cave paintings (yeah, Mary Sue-ish and probably not accurate to the time period, but I’m so over that by now), but no, that would be too interesting. Instead, Ayla just gawks at these scratches on the wall, as if she was on a modern day tour (imagine reading a book about a guy playing Tetris), and chat it up with fellow Zelandania about why the “ancients” drew on the walls as if they are art history students (but exceptionally BORING art history students—my sibling has taken art history courses and talked about some art, and it was NOWHERE NEAR as BORING as these discussions, and I don't really get art!!). But wait, do they have interesting conclusions to why the artists drew on the walls? *laughs* It pretty much amounts to: don’t have a clue, but they had a reason! This entire section is POINTLESS and, more importantly, BORING.
Just when things might get interesting, Auel hastily wraps up the journey in two paragraphs and stumbles into Part Three. Part Three is where Ayla trips upon Marona giving Jondalar “a good time” (apparently Ayla did NOT invent oral pleasures!!), and the two decide that not talking worked SO WELL back in Hunters, they ought to do it again. Which they do until Ayla nearly dies from that root drug from Cave Bear, blah, blah, blah...
Oh, yeah, before that happens, Ayla takes that damn drug (yes, she takes the drug TWICE in this book), wanders into a cave, and starts hallucinating. As she does, she is “gifted” with the Big Reveal, hears the complete version of that horrible Mother’s Song, miscarries a child in a senseless, tacky act of “drama”, and then tells everyone about her BIG NEWS. What is that Big Reveal, you ask?
Man + Woman + Sex = Babies!
Are these people really THAT stupid that they can’t figure out sex = babies until Ayla reveals it to them as a dream from the Mother? Do they NOT watch other animals? Ayla put two and two together back in Cave Bear; why can't they? And why the frak did it take Ayla SIX BOOKS to get confirmation of this when she pretty much figured it out back in Cave Bear?
Why was THIS the Big Reveal of the book? Of all the things that Auel could have chosen, the fact that sex makes babies is what she picked? THAT is what she wants to end her series on???
With the way the Three Parts are written, it’s as if Auel wrote two separate stories, couldn’t decide which one to use, and decided she didn’t want to bother writing anymore, so she tossed them together with a travelogue she had of the prehistoric cave paintings. What happens in Parts 1 and 2 aren’t referenced in Part 3; in fact Parts 1 and 2 seem to be an excuse to research the caves and nothing more.
The repetition in this book! All of the books are bad, but this one is painfully repetitious! Don’t bother reading any of the previous books; you won’t need to. In fact, even without reading the previous books, you’ll probably want to shoot yourself in the head by the end with the amount of times you hear people gape at Ayla’s Super Speshul Accent (over 30 separate incidents!), someone introduce themselves with either full or partial introductions, a retelling of an event in previous books, or astonishment over the domesticated animals. And in case you wondered how cavepeople took care of body functions, Auel makes sure her characters let you know as her characters take a whopping 23 times to either “pass water” or talk about bodily functions.
The writing! It’s almost as if Auel is getting worse. There were many instances, but here is one sentence that stood out to me as particularly horrible:
“It’s uncanny, but mysterious.”
Uncanny: a: seeming to have a supernatural character or origin: eerie, mysterious; b: being beyond what is normal or expected: suggesting superhuman or supernatural powers
Mysterious: a: of, relating to, or constituting mystery; b: exciting wonder, curiosity, or surprise while baffling efforts to comprehend or identify: mystifying
“It’s mysterious, but mysterious?” Huh? What is this supposed to MEAN?
The research! It is so awkward and analytical; you’d probably get more enjoyment out of reading a non-fiction book than this. Actually, the entire Part Two feels like a non-fiction wrok. There is no sense of awe or excitement to see these cave drawings; in fact, I’ve never before been so bored and uninspired to see them.
Earlier this year, I got the chance to read an extraordinary novel. The setting was rich and detailed. The characters were warm and inviting. The story was gripping and made me want to read more. I tore through it quickly, and when I got to the end, I immediately felt bereft.
What amazing, unputdownable book am I talking about? That was none other than Clan of the Cave Bear. I truly fell in love with that book, with Creb, Iza, and Ayla, with a wide, wonderful new world set in the prehistoric age. I had heard so many things about the books (particularly the latter ones), but I had such hope for the series. I was really eager to learn about what happened to Ayla. Would she ever see her son again? Would she ever find her family? How could she survive by herself? Would Ayla ever find love, family, belonging or would she constantly wander alone?
Well, this book answered absolutely NONE of my questions. It took the characters I loved and twisted them beyond recognition. It is an execrable excuse for a novel. But what’s worse is that this is the final book of the series (unless Auel changes her mind and decides to milk the cash cow a bit more). And that means there are no more books. There is no hope of learning what happens to Durc, to Uba, to the Clan. I won’t see Ranec, and Nezzie, and Deejee again. My last memory of these people is destined to be Jondalar screaming (Reb Brown-style) “He’s making my baby!”
And that is what makes me honestly sad.
NOT recommended.
Ayla trains to be a Zelandani. Ayla goes to many caves. Ayla unveils the Big Secret (that readers have known about since Book 1). The End.
*****Spoilers Abound Like Mad. Ye Have Been Warned.*****
My God. If I thought the last book was fan fiction, I have no idea what to call this piece of sh!t. “Boring”, “disappointing”, “stupid”, “mindless waste of time and paper”, and “underwhelming” all come to mind. But no words can describe how absolutely horrible this book is.
I don’t like to think I am a person who gives into hyperbole, but this book is probably THE worst book I have EVER read, not to mention THE worst conclusion to a beloved series. It doesn’t wrap up the billion plot threads that have arisen in the previous five books. Characters act largely out of character or like idiots. Two-thirds of the book has no plot, and the last third has a plot that was regurgitated from an earlier book. The writing is horrible. The dialogue is terrible. Whole conversations are dedicated to one character telling another about events the other character should already be aware of. The pacing is all over the place. More time is spent on detailing every cave Ayla visits, but important events are sloppily skimmed over. Several “exciting” events pause to detail Zelandani social norms, the usages of cattail, or recap earlier books/scenes, thus breaking any sense of tension. Large chunks of the book are stories from the previous five books or reiterations of events that occurred earlier in the story. There is no cohesion in the book; it is separated into three parts that have very little to bind them into one work. The sex, though greatly reduced (only two explicit sex scenes and two instances of being interrupted while having sex), are still hilariously over the top and monotonous. The conclusion is mournful and an insult to fans.
About the only laudable quality is the research. It is obvious that Auel has put a lot of effort into the research, which is commendable. But regurgitating research pell-mell into a novel without good characters, a plot, and decent writing does NOT make a story. (And it doesn’t help to have anachronistic info dumps written as if from a technical manual either.)
It is inexcusable how horrible this book is. Auel has had many years to plan her ending to this once great series. In the five previous books, she introduced many interesting plotlines, which she could have explored.
Spoiler
The relationship between Zelandani and the Clan. What happened to Durc. Jonayla’s growth and how it was different than Ayla’s. A legitimate struggle between Ayla’s duties as a Zelandania and a wife and mother. Real marital strife—maybe Ayla wanting to be with Brukeval or Ranec or one of the many men who drools over her, or Jondalar struggling with wanting to perform First Rites and maybe wanting to be with Joplaya.Ayla is basically unrecognizable. From Page One, Auel suddenly retcons Ayla’s capabilities:
Ayla, too, had extraordinarily sharp vision. She could also pick up sounds above the range of normal hearing and feel the deep tones of those that were below. Her sense of smell and taste were also keen, but she had never compared herself with anyone, and didn’t realise how extraordinary her perceptions were. She was born with heightened acuity in all her senses.
In every other book, Ayla had plausible reasons for her abilities. She was good at memorizing to compensate for the memories she didn’t have. She had greater strength to be able to keep up with the Clan. As for her vision and smell, never before has it been mentioned that Ayla’s were above-average (and given all the other Mary Sue qualities Ayla has, you can be assured this would have appeared at one point).
Ayla remains the Mary Sue she has been since the beginning. The woman can do pretty much anything and everyone will applaud her. Nearly every man wants to share Pleasures with her; the First Among Those Who Serve the Mother along with all of the Zelandania thinks she is the cat’s meow; even the women want her:
"Ayla just looked at [the Watcher] and smiled, but it was the loveliest smile [the Watcher] had ever seen. 'She really is a beautiful woman. I can understand Jondalar's attraction to her. If I were a man, I would be too.'"
The entirety of her role in this book is to gape at caves, blather about the last five books, which we’ve heard nearly 80 thousand times by now, or listen to people yammer on about counting, sacred colors, or some other such “religious” aspects (and, just to clarify, it’s not the fact it is religious that I don’t like it; it’s the fact that it is BORING). Oh, and she also is “blessed” to find the final verse in that terrible Mother’s Song, a verse that corroborates a view she has held since Book 1 and one that will send the reader’s eyes a’rollin’.
Probably the most amusing part is when Ayla suddenly becomes a vengeful person. When she discovers Jondalar has been pumping Marona with his “essence” because Ayla has been busy training to be a Zelandani, she decides to “share Pleasures” with Laramar of all people. While I appreciate having Ayla actually behave like a normal human being for once, where the hell did this come from? Why the frak did she choose Laramar of all people? Why not Brukaval or Danug or Echozar? You know, the men she thought were super attractive because of the way she was raised but hasn’t done ANYTHING to get them to show her the signal because of her TWOO LURVE for Jondalar? It’s already been established that Jondalar is a jealous pr!ck who doesn’t mind having sex with another woman but who can’t stand it when Ayla chooses another.
Jondalar, besides being said jealous pr!ck, is basically an accessory for the first two parts, and then turns into full-fledged @-hole in the last part. Other than describing his physical attributes (he is a “6'6" tall, well-formed, incredibly handsome man, with an unconscious charisma enhanced by a vividly intense shade of blue eyes”, in case you can't remember from the other 3 billion times it is mentioned), Auel keeps describing him as “charismatic”, but I honestly think that Auel doesn’t know what that word means. It certainly doesn’t describe the man I’ve been reading for five books.
He has his own out-of-character moments. He shows little signs of being upset with the decreasing amount of time that Ayla is spending with him, but suddenly, Marona is sucking on his massive dong. Where did this come from? Why Marona? Sure, she “seduced” him (because, remember, she is EVUL and cannot be shown to have a smidgeon of good), but why would Jondalar bother with her? If it’s because she’s a “petal” to be picked, why not pick the dozens of other women, who weren’t discouraged by his previous monogamy and would GLADLY drop their cave panties for him? What about Joplaya or Zolena/Zelandani/First? Oh, right, that would actually make sense, and we can’t have logic in these books!
What really irritates me is that when he is caught, he whines, “Why did Ayla have to find out?” Uh, don’t you mean, WHY THE FRAK DID I SEX UP MARONA, THE WOMAN I RAN OUT ON BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO MARRY HER, AND CHEAT ON THE WOMAN I SUPPOSEDLY LURVE SO MUCH?!!?? You dirty, filthy, scumbag, you are just guilty because Ayla found out, not because you did something wrong, betrayed her trust, and acted like a two-faced d-bag, just like how you behaved 6 years ago in The Mammoth Hunters. You truly haven't grown up, have you, Jondalar?
And why is it that AYLA should be shamed for Jondalar sleeping around with another woman? It’s a WOMAN’S fault if a man sleeps with another woman, because she didn’t Pleasure her mate enough? Has no one heard of control? What about self-Pleasure? How about good old fashioned “talking”? Wasn’t that what they promised to do after the LAST Big Misunderstanding in Hunters? Why the frak are they even so exclusive to begin with? This is supposedly a polyamorous society! There is no reason that either of them should have their cave panties in such a knot.
But what about Jonayla, the child that Ayla wanted so past the last five books? I would hardly have noticed she was even here; every time she could, Ayla dumped Jonayla on someone else so Ayla could do something more interesting. I can’t tell you one remarkable thing about the child…no, wait, I take that back. Jonayla is probably the only baby (only a few months old) that can wait to urinate until her mother removes her from her carrying basket.
I hate to keep saying it, because I sound like a broken record, but every other character is a cardboard cutout. No one has any personality, no identifying attribute to make them stand out of the rest of this crowd. All the good guys love Ayla and Jondalar. All the “bad guys” are so lame and impotent, they might as well have been written for 5 year olds. No, that’s insulting to 5 year olds.
There really is no plot to this book. The first two parts are so boring, I thought I would poke my eye out with a blunt instrument, just to have something exciting to do. Watching paint dry is more exciting than listening/reading to this book. And it's not like the first two parts have any real importance to the last part. In fact, the first two parts are so insignificant to the last part, you could just skip them and move directly to part three. I'll do you a favor: here's the summary:
Part One: Ayla begins to train as Zelandani. EARTHQUAKE!
Part Two: OOOOOOOO LOOKIE CAVES!
In the first part, we ALMOST get a plot. Zelandani is frustrated that Ayla doesn’t spend more time training; everyone is p!ssed that Ayla dumps Jonayla on them (some mother that Ayla has become!) and Jondalar is somewhat pouty that Ayla isn’t always available to suck on him. Welcome to marriage, Jondalar. After an earthquake that goes NOWHERE, this part abruptly stops and lurches into part two.
Part Two is suddenly set four years later for no good reason. Ayla heads off to look at the caves, dragging along Jondalar and Jonayla, again for no good reason. Ayla and gang go to the caves for no good reason (in case you can't tell, a lot happens in this book for no good reason). Auel does absolutely NOTHING to make the caves integral to the story. I thought she might make Ayla draw one of the cave paintings (yeah, Mary Sue-ish and probably not accurate to the time period, but I’m so over that by now), but no, that would be too interesting. Instead, Ayla just gawks at these scratches on the wall, as if she was on a modern day tour (imagine reading a book about a guy playing Tetris), and chat it up with fellow Zelandania about why the “ancients” drew on the walls as if they are art history students (but exceptionally BORING art history students—my sibling has taken art history courses and talked about some art, and it was NOWHERE NEAR as BORING as these discussions, and I don't really get art!!). But wait, do they have interesting conclusions to why the artists drew on the walls? *laughs* It pretty much amounts to: don’t have a clue, but they had a reason! This entire section is POINTLESS and, more importantly, BORING.
Just when things might get interesting, Auel hastily wraps up the journey in two paragraphs and stumbles into Part Three. Part Three is where Ayla trips upon Marona giving Jondalar “a good time” (apparently Ayla did NOT invent oral pleasures!!), and the two decide that not talking worked SO WELL back in Hunters, they ought to do it again. Which they do until Ayla nearly dies from that root drug from Cave Bear, blah, blah, blah...
Oh, yeah, before that happens, Ayla takes that damn drug (yes, she takes the drug TWICE in this book), wanders into a cave, and starts hallucinating. As she does, she is “gifted” with the Big Reveal, hears the complete version of that horrible Mother’s Song, miscarries a child in a senseless, tacky act of “drama”, and then tells everyone about her BIG NEWS. What is that Big Reveal, you ask?
Spoiler
The Mother’s Song finishes and the big reveal is…Man + Woman + Sex = Babies!
Are these people really THAT stupid that they can’t figure out sex = babies until Ayla reveals it to them as a dream from the Mother? Do they NOT watch other animals? Ayla put two and two together back in Cave Bear; why can't they? And why the frak did it take Ayla SIX BOOKS to get confirmation of this when she pretty much figured it out back in Cave Bear?
Why was THIS the Big Reveal of the book? Of all the things that Auel could have chosen, the fact that sex makes babies is what she picked? THAT is what she wants to end her series on???
With the way the Three Parts are written, it’s as if Auel wrote two separate stories, couldn’t decide which one to use, and decided she didn’t want to bother writing anymore, so she tossed them together with a travelogue she had of the prehistoric cave paintings. What happens in Parts 1 and 2 aren’t referenced in Part 3; in fact Parts 1 and 2 seem to be an excuse to research the caves and nothing more.
The repetition in this book! All of the books are bad, but this one is painfully repetitious! Don’t bother reading any of the previous books; you won’t need to. In fact, even without reading the previous books, you’ll probably want to shoot yourself in the head by the end with the amount of times you hear people gape at Ayla’s Super Speshul Accent (over 30 separate incidents!), someone introduce themselves with either full or partial introductions, a retelling of an event in previous books, or astonishment over the domesticated animals. And in case you wondered how cavepeople took care of body functions, Auel makes sure her characters let you know as her characters take a whopping 23 times to either “pass water” or talk about bodily functions.
The writing! It’s almost as if Auel is getting worse. There were many instances, but here is one sentence that stood out to me as particularly horrible:
“It’s uncanny, but mysterious.”
Uncanny: a: seeming to have a supernatural character or origin: eerie, mysterious; b: being beyond what is normal or expected: suggesting superhuman or supernatural powers
Mysterious: a: of, relating to, or constituting mystery; b: exciting wonder, curiosity, or surprise while baffling efforts to comprehend or identify: mystifying
“It’s mysterious, but mysterious?” Huh? What is this supposed to MEAN?
The research! It is so awkward and analytical; you’d probably get more enjoyment out of reading a non-fiction book than this. Actually, the entire Part Two feels like a non-fiction wrok. There is no sense of awe or excitement to see these cave drawings; in fact, I’ve never before been so bored and uninspired to see them.
Earlier this year, I got the chance to read an extraordinary novel. The setting was rich and detailed. The characters were warm and inviting. The story was gripping and made me want to read more. I tore through it quickly, and when I got to the end, I immediately felt bereft.
What amazing, unputdownable book am I talking about? That was none other than Clan of the Cave Bear. I truly fell in love with that book, with Creb, Iza, and Ayla, with a wide, wonderful new world set in the prehistoric age. I had heard so many things about the books (particularly the latter ones), but I had such hope for the series. I was really eager to learn about what happened to Ayla. Would she ever see her son again? Would she ever find her family? How could she survive by herself? Would Ayla ever find love, family, belonging or would she constantly wander alone?
Well, this book answered absolutely NONE of my questions. It took the characters I loved and twisted them beyond recognition. It is an execrable excuse for a novel. But what’s worse is that this is the final book of the series (unless Auel changes her mind and decides to milk the cash cow a bit more). And that means there are no more books. There is no hope of learning what happens to Durc, to Uba, to the Clan. I won’t see Ranec, and Nezzie, and Deejee again. My last memory of these people is destined to be Jondalar screaming (Reb Brown-style) “He’s making my baby!”
And that is what makes me honestly sad.
NOT recommended.
OMG, could the last book have been more disappointing? Waited forever for the final saga and then it was a big let down. Auel must have been tired of writing and her efforts were waning massively for this final book. I recommend stopping at the last book and making your own assumptions about the ending. Sad ending to a series that I loved so much at the start.
I have not anticipated a book as much as I did this one. Now that I'm finished, all I can say is... meh.
I have read the entire Earth's Children series many, many times in the past 20+ years. So many times that my husband refers to them as "your caveman books." I have been anxious for the conclusion to the series for some time, and while the book does tie up a few loose ends, I do not feel that is is a satisfactory conclusion to the series. I kind of want to write my own Book #7 to give us fans what we hoped this book would be!
I am familiar with the characters and stories and do actually enjoy reading about the prehistoric history and the mundane daily life in the Ice Age. HOWEVER...
As many reviewers have said, there are far too many chapters spent on repeating what has already happened in previous books, and too many pages spent describing Ayla's Donier Tour and the painted caves she visits. While somewhat important to the story, I guess, that entire trek could have been skipped over or summarized in just one of the sections, instead of taking up the majority of the book.
One huge pro for me is the major reduction in the number of sex scenes. My biggest complaint from [b:The Plains of Passage|74389|The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children, #4)|Jean M. Auel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1282962812s/74389.jpg|1377315] on is how many pages are "wasted" describing Ayla and Jondalar's Pleasures. While a well-written coupling can be a welcome distraction, I was happy there was just a single scene I had get through. Yet those extra pages should have been utilized in wrapping up a storyline instead of describing yet another painted cave.
All said, I will most likely re-read the book again, as I do with the entire series. Another read will be needed to determine if this is named as my least-favorite of the series.
I have read the entire Earth's Children series many, many times in the past 20+ years. So many times that my husband refers to them as "your caveman books." I have been anxious for the conclusion to the series for some time, and while the book does tie up a few loose ends, I do not feel that is is a satisfactory conclusion to the series. I kind of want to write my own Book #7 to give us fans what we hoped this book would be!
I am familiar with the characters and stories and do actually enjoy reading about the prehistoric history and the mundane daily life in the Ice Age. HOWEVER...
Spoiler
this final book (IMO) is not the place to drone on about it!As many reviewers have said, there are far too many chapters spent on repeating what has already happened in previous books, and too many pages spent describing Ayla's Donier Tour and the painted caves she visits. While somewhat important to the story, I guess, that entire trek could have been skipped over or summarized in just one of the sections, instead of taking up the majority of the book.
One huge pro for me is the major reduction in the number of sex scenes. My biggest complaint from [b:The Plains of Passage|74389|The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children, #4)|Jean M. Auel|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1282962812s/74389.jpg|1377315] on is how many pages are "wasted" describing Ayla and Jondalar's Pleasures. While a well-written coupling can be a welcome distraction, I was happy there was just a single scene I had get through. Yet those extra pages should have been utilized in wrapping up a storyline instead of describing yet another painted cave.
All said, I will most likely re-read the book again, as I do with the entire series. Another read will be needed to determine if this is named as my least-favorite of the series.
Sixth in the Earths' Children series, a fictional account of life in prehistory.
I have all the previous books in my library. In hardcover. In fact, I can see them right now as I type. And I don't know if I'll be adding this book to that collection. As eager as I've been for Auel to get this book done, I'd have gladly waited another few years if she had spent some time on it and crafted it to the quality of those earlier books.
There is so little of the fire and action in Land of Painted Caves as in her other novels instead we receive a humdrum account of life and Ayla's slow progression through the tests of becoming a Zelondoni. Even that was pretty obscure and innocuous. Even the manner in which Auel divided up the book into three parts was vague. Why not provide a quick summary of the intervening years before continuing with the meat of this next "part"?
Then the title. You'd think with a title like Land of Painted Caves that we'd get a tour of those painted caves…and, actually, you'd be right, we do. There were very brief accounts of some amazing cave paintings interspersed amongst the tedious tours of so many others as Zelandoni takes Ayla on a tour of the sacred caves in their lands as part of her acolyte's training and to introduce Ayla to everyone. An excellent opportunity for conflict over Ayla's foreign ways and her indecent upbringing with Ayla winning everyone over through her abilities and decency. Oh well. What was Auel thinking? Was she writing in her sleep? We know she can do so much better than this mundane text.
I know people have complained that there was too much sex in the earlier books. It doesn't mean she had to practically eliminate it in this one. But, more important, there was hardly any conflict in Caves. Sure there were hints and suggestions upon which Auel couldn't be bothered to act until I was about three-fourths of the way through the book.
The dialog will make you gag it is so incredibly simplistic. I almost expected to hear Jondalar say "ugh". As for Jondalar's drifting. Well, it's a good thing she finally indicated it in the last little bit of the 768 pages. There was no teasing, no buildup, no tension in this story. Then what's the deal with the Mother and Son? It appears that Auel is promoting their future son or Durc as a Jesus figure but then how does the Mother fit in? So far, the Mother has been Gaia, now she's turning into the Virgin Mary?
The best I can recall from Land of Painted Caves was an insight by Ayla in one of the caves: "…the animals painted on the walls were just hints in the darkness more like the fleeting glimpses that most people see in the world outside."
I really, really hope that the little hints and unresolved issues in Caves indicate that there will be a seventh over which Auel will lovingly craft a good story.
The Cover
I'm unimpressed with the cover. I feel as though I'm back in the Valley of Horses. The teeny bit of cave painting allowed to almost show in the top half of the front belies its title.
I have all the previous books in my library. In hardcover. In fact, I can see them right now as I type. And I don't know if I'll be adding this book to that collection. As eager as I've been for Auel to get this book done, I'd have gladly waited another few years if she had spent some time on it and crafted it to the quality of those earlier books.
There is so little of the fire and action in Land of Painted Caves as in her other novels instead we receive a humdrum account of life and Ayla's slow progression through the tests of becoming a Zelondoni. Even that was pretty obscure and innocuous. Even the manner in which Auel divided up the book into three parts was vague. Why not provide a quick summary of the intervening years before continuing with the meat of this next "part"?
Then the title. You'd think with a title like Land of Painted Caves that we'd get a tour of those painted caves…and, actually, you'd be right, we do. There were very brief accounts of some amazing cave paintings interspersed amongst the tedious tours of so many others as Zelandoni takes Ayla on a tour of the sacred caves in their lands as part of her acolyte's training and to introduce Ayla to everyone. An excellent opportunity for conflict over Ayla's foreign ways and her indecent upbringing with Ayla winning everyone over through her abilities and decency. Oh well. What was Auel thinking? Was she writing in her sleep? We know she can do so much better than this mundane text.
I know people have complained that there was too much sex in the earlier books. It doesn't mean she had to practically eliminate it in this one. But, more important, there was hardly any conflict in Caves. Sure there were hints and suggestions upon which Auel couldn't be bothered to act until I was about three-fourths of the way through the book.
The dialog will make you gag it is so incredibly simplistic. I almost expected to hear Jondalar say "ugh". As for Jondalar's drifting. Well, it's a good thing she finally indicated it in the last little bit of the 768 pages. There was no teasing, no buildup, no tension in this story. Then what's the deal with the Mother and Son? It appears that Auel is promoting their future son or Durc as a Jesus figure but then how does the Mother fit in? So far, the Mother has been Gaia, now she's turning into the Virgin Mary?
The best I can recall from Land of Painted Caves was an insight by Ayla in one of the caves: "…the animals painted on the walls were just hints in the darkness more like the fleeting glimpses that most people see in the world outside."
I really, really hope that the little hints and unresolved issues in Caves indicate that there will be a seventh over which Auel will lovingly craft a good story.
The Cover
I'm unimpressed with the cover. I feel as though I'm back in the Valley of Horses. The teeny bit of cave painting allowed to almost show in the top half of the front belies its title.
I loved Ayla and Jondalar's story. However, I found a few frustrating things with the last book.
Spoilers ahead
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....
I already knew Auel repeats herself...a lot. So, that didn't surprise me. What surprised me is that Jondalar was not loyal to Ayla after all these years of her being loyal to him. Yes, she was busy with training, but all he had to do was ask. This was very frustrating that it was such a large part of the last book. When the opposite happened in the 2nd book.
I wished we new more of what happens to them after this last book. We don't know if they conceive again. Probably. If they keep the horses. Probably. But none of that is even hinted at. Auel just repeats what we already know about conception and that they're relationship is good again. Not where their relationship is going...
Very frustrating for the end of a very long series. I needed it tied up into a bow a little bit better. So that I would have closure as a reader.
Spoilers ahead
....
....
I already knew Auel repeats herself...a lot. So, that didn't surprise me. What surprised me is that Jondalar was not loyal to Ayla after all these years of her being loyal to him. Yes, she was busy with training, but all he had to do was ask. This was very frustrating that it was such a large part of the last book. When the opposite happened in the 2nd book.
I wished we new more of what happens to them after this last book. We don't know if they conceive again. Probably. If they keep the horses. Probably. But none of that is even hinted at. Auel just repeats what we already know about conception and that they're relationship is good again. Not where their relationship is going...
Very frustrating for the end of a very long series. I needed it tied up into a bow a little bit better. So that I would have closure as a reader.