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A review by book_concierge
The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel
2.0
Book on CD performed by Sandra Burr
NOTE – if you have NOT read at least the first three books in the Earth’s Children series, this review might be considered a spoiler.
Book number five in the Earth’s Children series continues the adventures of Ayla and Jondalar. They have finally arrived back at Jondalar’s home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. The people of the Ninth Cave readily welcome Jondalar back from his five-year journey, and they even welcome his foreign companion. Ayla controls animals (two horses and a wolf), was raised by “flatheads,” and is a healer. She has also invented a new, faster way to start a fire, and pioneered the use of a thread puller (needle), including using it to stitch serious wounds together. All these elements were explained in detail in previous books.
Not much really happens in this novel. Ayla gets to know Jondalar’s family and the others in the Ninth Cave. A few people are suspicious and angry about her meteoric rise to a prominent position in the group. And while she makes a few enemies, there aren’t any obvious repercussions. By the end of the novel, when she has to make a serious decision about her future within the Ninth Cave, I was just eager for something to finally happen. But I guess I’d have to read the sixth book to find out.
The novel is incredibly repetitious. From the long, detailed introductions (which are repeated numerous times throughout the novel), to the multiple references to how she trained the horses, found the firestones, was raised by the Clan, gained her knowledge of healing herbs, etc the book is just a long litany of what has occurred in the previous books. Additionally, Auel doesn’t trust her readers to figure out the undercurrents of emotion from context. After showing us a confrontation between Ayla and a member of the Ninth cave, she proceeds to tell us that Ayla has made an enemy. Duh. The author does this repeatedly, telling us that a character is conflicted, disturbed, angry, loving, gentle, etc. She should trust her readers to be at least half as smart at Ayla.
The novel is mostly padding, however there is some interesting information about the painted caves in this region of current-day France and about basic survival tools that these ancient humans used. Auel has clearly done a lot of research in writing the series and I appreciate that. Those sections where she is describing the landscape or the process for tanning hides, or the many uses of various parts of an animal were vivid and interesting to me. I just wish there was more plot and substance to this book.
I started out listening to the audio version, capably performed by Sandra Burr. The unique voice she gave Ayla truly differentiated her from other characters. However, I was growing bored with the writing and so I started reading, because I could finish must faster, skimming or skipping the long introductions for example, or the second (or third) recitations of the Mother’s Song.
NOTE – if you have NOT read at least the first three books in the Earth’s Children series, this review might be considered a spoiler.
Book number five in the Earth’s Children series continues the adventures of Ayla and Jondalar. They have finally arrived back at Jondalar’s home, the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. The people of the Ninth Cave readily welcome Jondalar back from his five-year journey, and they even welcome his foreign companion. Ayla controls animals (two horses and a wolf), was raised by “flatheads,” and is a healer. She has also invented a new, faster way to start a fire, and pioneered the use of a thread puller (needle), including using it to stitch serious wounds together. All these elements were explained in detail in previous books.
Not much really happens in this novel. Ayla gets to know Jondalar’s family and the others in the Ninth Cave. A few people are suspicious and angry about her meteoric rise to a prominent position in the group. And while she makes a few enemies, there aren’t any obvious repercussions. By the end of the novel, when she has to make a serious decision about her future within the Ninth Cave, I was just eager for something to finally happen. But I guess I’d have to read the sixth book to find out.
The novel is incredibly repetitious. From the long, detailed introductions (which are repeated numerous times throughout the novel), to the multiple references to how she trained the horses, found the firestones, was raised by the Clan, gained her knowledge of healing herbs, etc the book is just a long litany of what has occurred in the previous books. Additionally, Auel doesn’t trust her readers to figure out the undercurrents of emotion from context. After showing us a confrontation between Ayla and a member of the Ninth cave, she proceeds to tell us that Ayla has made an enemy. Duh. The author does this repeatedly, telling us that a character is conflicted, disturbed, angry, loving, gentle, etc. She should trust her readers to be at least half as smart at Ayla.
The novel is mostly padding, however there is some interesting information about the painted caves in this region of current-day France and about basic survival tools that these ancient humans used. Auel has clearly done a lot of research in writing the series and I appreciate that. Those sections where she is describing the landscape or the process for tanning hides, or the many uses of various parts of an animal were vivid and interesting to me. I just wish there was more plot and substance to this book.
I started out listening to the audio version, capably performed by Sandra Burr. The unique voice she gave Ayla truly differentiated her from other characters. However, I was growing bored with the writing and so I started reading, because I could finish must faster, skimming or skipping the long introductions for example, or the second (or third) recitations of the Mother’s Song.