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I loved how she tied up a lot of loose ends in this story. I really thoroughly enjoyed this series and it wasn't hard to imagine the accuracy in her storytelling.
Nope. Couldn't finish. Auel should have stopped years ago, when she was still ahead.
I didn't have high hopes for this last book and in that sense it didn't disappoint. All of the things that made the first 4 books of this series good - rich descriptions and engaging plot lines - were lost or garbled in this addition to the series. Descriptions became tedious minutiae and the plot was crammed into the last 200 pages.
The series was strongest when Ayla was on a journey (it made the repetition of her background and her acquisition of skills logical). Once she became settled in one place this plot device was replaced with a spiritual journey, but Auel missed one crucial aspect of this journey - she never explained Ayla's conversion to Goddess culture. Ayla was brought up (and continued to believe) in an animistic, masculine religion and there is never any explanation of how and why she came to believe in the Goddess - and she not only believes in the Goddess, but becomes a religious leader in that belief system.
The series was strongest when Ayla was on a journey (it made the repetition of her background and her acquisition of skills logical). Once she became settled in one place this plot device was replaced with a spiritual journey, but Auel missed one crucial aspect of this journey - she never explained Ayla's conversion to Goddess culture. Ayla was brought up (and continued to believe) in an animistic, masculine religion and there is never any explanation of how and why she came to believe in the Goddess - and she not only believes in the Goddess, but becomes a religious leader in that belief system.
I have never been this angry about the ending of a series, even if I disagree with the author’s choices. If it had been just parts 1 & 2, I could have dealt with that. They are painfully boring in some ways, but very detailed and researched and okay.
Part 3. Let me tell you about it because I’m still mad. Ayla has been up at all hours marking the astrological bodies’ positions down. Jondalar feels neglected. Summer meeting comes around, and A has to stay back to finish her records, but J goes on ahead. While he’s gone, A gets her “calling” (a sign from the spirit world) and miscarried a child painfully. She has finished her record keeping so she rushes to summer meeting… J is sharing pleasures with MARONA. Yes, boys long underwear prank Marona from book 4. Auel keeps saying “she made herself so available” which is stupid and goes against the feminist spirit of a lot of other stuff in the books. Ayla is heart broken and we have a mini Mammoth Hunters saga where they don’t speak. Ayla finally decides to have sex with Laramar at a festival for revenge AND J BEATS HIS FACE IN. I hate the double standards and I hate Ayla saying repeatedly it’s her fault for provoking J, and no one corrects her. Ayla is upset not because of the violence, but because she feels like she’ll never have J again. She goes on basically a suicide mission to the spirit world, and Zelandoni summons J because he’s the ONLY ONE who can call her back. He calls her back, they reunite lovingly, and go have some pleasures (I assume.) They agree to pay reparations to L’s family. The end.
What in the great sky loving Doni was that?!
These characters are 10 years older. Ayla has discovered her strengths as a healer, priestess, and woman. Jondalar is a successful flint knapper with many trainees. I think what a beautiful, sweet ending it would have been to have them look back on the good times, but sever the knot. Jondalar is like 30 and still beating in faces??? Why would Ayla put up with that?? And Jondalar, like his father, can’t handle a woman who doesn’t have enough time for him. (Which is fine—people have their own needs!!) I hate the ending. No character development. Just a rehash of old books.
Part 3. Let me tell you about it because I’m still mad. Ayla has been up at all hours marking the astrological bodies’ positions down. Jondalar feels neglected. Summer meeting comes around, and A has to stay back to finish her records, but J goes on ahead. While he’s gone, A gets her “calling” (a sign from the spirit world) and miscarried a child painfully. She has finished her record keeping so she rushes to summer meeting… J is sharing pleasures with MARONA. Yes, boys long underwear prank Marona from book 4. Auel keeps saying “she made herself so available” which is stupid and goes against the feminist spirit of a lot of other stuff in the books. Ayla is heart broken and we have a mini Mammoth Hunters saga where they don’t speak. Ayla finally decides to have sex with Laramar at a festival for revenge AND J BEATS HIS FACE IN. I hate the double standards and I hate Ayla saying repeatedly it’s her fault for provoking J, and no one corrects her. Ayla is upset not because of the violence, but because she feels like she’ll never have J again. She goes on basically a suicide mission to the spirit world, and Zelandoni summons J because he’s the ONLY ONE who can call her back. He calls her back, they reunite lovingly, and go have some pleasures (I assume.) They agree to pay reparations to L’s family. The end.
What in the great sky loving Doni was that?!
These characters are 10 years older. Ayla has discovered her strengths as a healer, priestess, and woman. Jondalar is a successful flint knapper with many trainees. I think what a beautiful, sweet ending it would have been to have them look back on the good times, but sever the knot. Jondalar is like 30 and still beating in faces??? Why would Ayla put up with that?? And Jondalar, like his father, can’t handle a woman who doesn’t have enough time for him. (Which is fine—people have their own needs!!) I hate the ending. No character development. Just a rehash of old books.
adventurous
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'd forgotten how much she repeats herself... This book could have been at least one third shorter! Fascinating story of life in the stone age with how they may have subsisted and developed their tools and their communities. If you've read the previous stories you will probably get annoyed about the way she repeats what happened in previous books too many times.
I love her characters and the landscapes she describes but glad this was a library borrow and not a buy!
I love her characters and the landscapes she describes but glad this was a library borrow and not a buy!
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
I think this might be the worst book I've ever read. Is it possible to give this book 0/5stars?? I listened to this book to help me sleep because it's just that boring. About halfway through though, it just made me angry every time I listened to it, because it was JUST THAT BAD. I'm not going to bother pointing out everything terrible about this book because I think others would do a much better job. *spoiler* EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE ABOUT THIS BOOK.* I wil say this though, because it is the thing which infuriated me the most. Jondalar cheats on Ayla and the first thing he says? Not "How could I have been so stupid as to cheat on Ayla?", but instead REPEATEDLY says "WHY DID AYLA HAVE TO FIND OUT?!" This book is so bad, you can't stop reading it, it's like a train wreck in action. I feel sick just looking at the book cover. 10/10 would recommend to absolutely no one
I can honestly say that reading the GoodReads reviews of this book was more entertaining than reading the actual book itself.
Like this review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/151504761
I started to read the review when I was about halfway through the book, and then I was like "Hey, this review has spoilers (that are not marked)! I just found out a major plot point. Curse you, GoodReads." But then I realized that this meant there would actually BE a plot at some point in the book. The spoiler was probably the only thing that kept me reading.
Yes, the book was actually that boring.
Like this review:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/151504761
I started to read the review when I was about halfway through the book, and then I was like "Hey, this review has spoilers (that are not marked)! I just found out a major plot point. Curse you, GoodReads." But then I realized that this meant there would actually BE a plot at some point in the book. The spoiler was probably the only thing that kept me reading.
Yes, the book was actually that boring.