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2.92 AVERAGE
2.92 AVERAGE
This book should have been about half the length and could have used some fresh themes instead of the repeats from previous books in the series. I wish more emphasis had been put on the societal implications of the Big Secret being revealed, instead of three hundred pages of donier tours and moon phases. Seeing Ayla's new role as Zelandoni fleshed out a little more would have been nice too instead of the angst she lives through in excruciating detail after her "calling" and the whole Marona thing. I barely finished this book, and being a huge fan of the first 5 this was a disappointment.
adventurous
slow-paced
I was reading this book purely to complete the series. It is utter rubbish! I didn't finish it!
I'm sorry to say that i only made it about 250 pages into this due to boredom and disinterest, and even getting that far was a fight. She really should have ended the series, which is one of my favorite, with the last book.
I found a lot of the conflicts in the book (there was not much "plot" -- I love the cave paintings too, but hearing them described repeatedly and vaguely is stultifying) recycled from previous novels in the series. It was dull. I understand the point Auel is making about the origins of the modem world/gender politics/religion, but making that point overshadowed the story to an inappropriate degree.
Perhaps this sixth part was not really necessary, but I enjoyed it none the less.
This could have been half the length without losing any of the story.
Two weeks of my life I will never get back. I swear - what is up with all the 700 page books with absolutely zero plot? I was so excited about this book - I read Clan of the Cave Bear in high school and re-read the first three books in the series multiple times. The fourth book wasn't as good, but I still enjoyed it. I didn't really like the fifth. However, since I've given Laurell Hamilton 500 million chances, I thought I'd show Jean Auel the same courtesy with her sixth and final book in the Earth's Children series.
I should have just read the Goodreads reviews for a plot summary. Actually, I should have just read the title of the book -- The Land of Painted Caves.
In this doorstop, Ayla and Ms. Zelandonii visit a lot of caves and examine in great detail (some detail lasting for five pages) all the drawings in the caves. That's pretty much it. Oh and Ayla "discovers" that men play a role in childbearing. That was it. For 700 pages. Caves and sperm...excuse me...Essence.
Honestly, if I knew Ayla in real life, I'd probably want to smack her. She's flawlessly beautiful and fluent in every language and gifted with animals and a fabulous mother/daughter in law and an accomplished healer and a fantastic spiritual leader and a human lie detector test and wonderful in bed. Give me at least one tiny flaw -- bad breath, a disorganized cave, a catty moment amongst friends. No one is that perfect.
I should have just read the Goodreads reviews for a plot summary. Actually, I should have just read the title of the book -- The Land of Painted Caves.
In this doorstop, Ayla and Ms. Zelandonii visit a lot of caves and examine in great detail (some detail lasting for five pages) all the drawings in the caves. That's pretty much it. Oh and Ayla "discovers" that men play a role in childbearing. That was it. For 700 pages. Caves and sperm...excuse me...Essence.
Honestly, if I knew Ayla in real life, I'd probably want to smack her. She's flawlessly beautiful and fluent in every language and gifted with animals and a fabulous mother/daughter in law and an accomplished healer and a fantastic spiritual leader and a human lie detector test and wonderful in bed. Give me at least one tiny flaw -- bad breath, a disorganized cave, a catty moment amongst friends. No one is that perfect.
I really enjoyed the earlier books in the series. If I read this one as a stand alone, it would have made less sense and been less interesting. It did get repetitive at times, but I was still interested enough to focus on the book instead of other things I could have been doing.
Nope. Not what I hoped it would be. Nothing new or interesting happens- not one single thing. I read 700 odd pages to find out... that Ayla's life is now a rehash of everything shes done before. She takes too many drugs, spends some time astonishing people with her control of animals, captures a criminal, fights with Jondalar, exactly like she did in the other five books. What a waste.