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2.92 AVERAGE
2.92 AVERAGE
And at last, what was possibly the slowest written series in the English language is over. I read Clan of the Cave Bear in 1982. No spoilers but anyone who has read the series saw the ending coming from 5 books back.. ok, one spoiler – we now know who’s to blame for the rise of the patriarchy.
It's a 3 part book. Part 1 has an earthquake that seemed promising as a plot device but in a foreshadowing of the rest of the book, it was a disappointment & came to nothing much.
Part 2 is the travel part and most of the book. It jumps 4 years ahead in the story for no reason whatsoever, expect possibly to age Jonayla enough so she can pee whenever she wants to rather than waiting for Ayla to take her out of the carrying basket.
Part 3 is where we get what little plot there is, though as was foreshadowed in part 1, this is a disappointment.
This book has the feel of Plains of Passage, lots of travel. So. Much. Travel. So many boring, dry, technical descriptions of landscape, rocks, soil, etc. Ayla is taken by Zelandoni all around France to see all the painted caves as part of her training. Fewer caves would have been fine. Or perhaps less description of them. Detail overload on the cave paintings. Lots of research went in to it but perhaps every last one of those findings did not need to make it into the narrative.
Also? Jondalar was missing much of the time. Oh he was around… in that vague way secondary characters are around & I think the book suffered from that. Especially since we learn in Part 3, last quarter of the book, that he has had this whole subplot of his own running since the beginning without word one mentioned until then. I think dragging that plot out into the light early on would have added some very much needed tension & character development to the story.
I’m glad I read it, I needed the closure after 30 years, but it was such a nonevent I wondered if I had really needed the closure that much.
It's a 3 part book. Part 1 has an earthquake that seemed promising as a plot device but in a foreshadowing of the rest of the book, it was a disappointment & came to nothing much.
Part 2 is the travel part and most of the book. It jumps 4 years ahead in the story for no reason whatsoever, expect possibly to age Jonayla enough so she can pee whenever she wants to rather than waiting for Ayla to take her out of the carrying basket.
Part 3 is where we get what little plot there is, though as was foreshadowed in part 1, this is a disappointment.
This book has the feel of Plains of Passage, lots of travel. So. Much. Travel. So many boring, dry, technical descriptions of landscape, rocks, soil, etc. Ayla is taken by Zelandoni all around France to see all the painted caves as part of her training. Fewer caves would have been fine. Or perhaps less description of them. Detail overload on the cave paintings. Lots of research went in to it but perhaps every last one of those findings did not need to make it into the narrative.
Also? Jondalar was missing much of the time. Oh he was around… in that vague way secondary characters are around & I think the book suffered from that. Especially since we learn in Part 3, last quarter of the book, that he has had this whole subplot of his own running since the beginning without word one mentioned until then. I think dragging that plot out into the light early on would have added some very much needed tension & character development to the story.
I’m glad I read it, I needed the closure after 30 years, but it was such a nonevent I wondered if I had really needed the closure that much.
Not nearly as good as the rest of the series. Very repetitive and, while obviously thoroughly researched, overly obsessive about cave descriptions. Also, I was left wanting at the end. Nothing really felt concluded after the last page was turned for me.
Kinda felt like Auel ran out of gas or interest by the time this book rolled around. Good end to the saga, though.
The Land of Painted Caves is the final instalment in the Earth’s Children series, which started with Clan of the Cave Bear, one of my all time favourite books. In this, the sixth book, Ayla is trying to balance her family life with her training to become a spiritual leader.
For me, this was a typical Earth’s Children book, with the usual characters, and the descriptive passages. It felt like returning to old friends, and for the whole, it’s a comfortable book. It’s a long book, and some of it is repetition, but for those who enjoy the series, this is something to be expected. A large portion of the book is about Ayla’s travels to various caves, which is all part of her training – this is obviously well researched, but maybe went on a little too long.
Before writing this, I went onto amazon.co.uk to check reviews, and I’m surprised by the amount of angry sounding 1 star reviews. I wonder if many people had far too high expectations of this book, especially as it’s been advertised as the final book. I didn’t have any real expectations, and as such I was able to enjoy it for what it was.
There was one final story line with both Jondala and Ayla which didn’t ring true – although the author does explain some of the reactions, it didn’t seem true to their characters.
I also saw an early review which suggested that Ayla had much more to tell, and that there should be further books. For me though, it feels finished. If anything, it may be interesting to hear about their daughter’s story when she’s older, with the others as back characters, but in my opinion, The Land of Painted Caves should be the final word.
For me, this was a typical Earth’s Children book, with the usual characters, and the descriptive passages. It felt like returning to old friends, and for the whole, it’s a comfortable book. It’s a long book, and some of it is repetition, but for those who enjoy the series, this is something to be expected. A large portion of the book is about Ayla’s travels to various caves, which is all part of her training – this is obviously well researched, but maybe went on a little too long.
Before writing this, I went onto amazon.co.uk to check reviews, and I’m surprised by the amount of angry sounding 1 star reviews. I wonder if many people had far too high expectations of this book, especially as it’s been advertised as the final book. I didn’t have any real expectations, and as such I was able to enjoy it for what it was.
There was one final story line with both Jondala and Ayla which didn’t ring true – although the author does explain some of the reactions, it didn’t seem true to their characters.
I also saw an early review which suggested that Ayla had much more to tell, and that there should be further books. For me though, it feels finished. If anything, it may be interesting to hear about their daughter’s story when she’s older, with the others as back characters, but in my opinion, The Land of Painted Caves should be the final word.
I love these books and the continuing saga of Jondalar and Ayla and their families. Some of the repetition of the Mother gets old, but I am especially intrigued by the descriptions of life - the way they hunt and gather and create everything they need in the Ice Age.
Fantastic story! But it did leave me thirsting for more. I know this is the last book in the series, but you never know...
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Does Auel's contract reject editing, 'cause is like nobody edited this book for repetiveness. If I had to listen to that stupid Mother Song again, or all Ayla's formal titles, or another boring cave description, or how good Ayla is at hunting, reading body language, studying animals, cooking Ptarmigan or talks like a foreigner, or how fat Zelandanii is, I'm going to quit. Oh wait, I just did.
slow-paced
slow-paced