Review: The Earth's Children Series, books 3-5, By Jean M. Auel

The Mammoth Hunters is book three in Auel's Earths' Children series, and it makes a rather sudden jump to perpetually racy. For a people who existed before internet, TV, books, or games of any kind, I guess it would make sense that s-e-x was the only form of entertainment available to them, but I think she overdid it a little in this book. I may have spent more time cringing than reading. The story between all the spicy goings on is a good one, though. Auel moves a little away from the focus the time period and enters the realm of human relationships. She started this with the second book, of course, but this one takes it a step further. Cattiness, religious idiosyncrasies, power struggles, intolerance, it's not all that different from modern day society (not to forget that this is pre-historical fiction), except that, while men tend to be relied on for jobs that require strength and size, the groups are nearly matriarchal in form; they worship a feminine god and it's the women, and their lines, that bring status to families and even whole groups. It's an understandable arrangement since they have no means of knowing that men have anything to do with the creation of new life. Women are honored, revered.

The fourth book in the series is The Plains of Passage, and thankfully this was a return to the traveling and descriptions of the Paleolithic landscape and its flora and fauna, that I love so much. The fifth book, Shelters of Stone, is a little lighter on the sex, but heavier on the cattiness. It's a series, and each book builds well on the previous one, but reading them in quick succession like this has made it painfully obvious how repetitive Auel's writing can be, not just between the books, but within them. She phrases and rephrases feelings, memories, and actions all through the book, and I think each book got a little longer than the previous one because she recaps so much, and so often. That worked in my favor. I couldn't have finished all five books in one week, in time for the new release tomorrow, if I hadn't been able to skim so many pages of recap. But the characters are true and well defined, and the descriptions of life and land so well studied that these books are pure joy for me. Tomorrow Calvin and I will travel to Borders to pick up the sixth book, The Land of Painted Caves.

Books 4-7 on my way to 52 2011

Review: The Valley of the Horses, by Jean M. Auel

In the ten years since last I read this book I had entirely forgotten about its rather racy last few chapters. If it weren't for the rest of the book and its vivid descriptions of the life and times of the Upper Paleolithic I'd be embarrassed to admit to reading it. On the other hand, while racy isn't my cup of tea, I do like a good love story.

This is a beautifully romanticized and vibrant depiction of prehistoric human life. It's long-winded at times, but I love the descriptions of the land and the animals that roamed it. My only complaint is amount of time spent on memories and on recapping what happened in the first book. If I'd never read the first book, or if there had been more than 3 minutes between when I finished the first book and started this one, I'd probably have been glad for the recaps, as it was I was able to skip over a lot of writing and finish the book sooner, which is good since I have about a week to finish the three remaining books before the new one comes out.

Book 3 on my way to 52 in 2011

Review: Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel

It had been about ten years since I first, and last, read this book. I picked up the series, The Earth's Children series, in my college years when it was an appropriate companion to my beloved anthropology and biology classes. I loved it then, and I love it just as much now. It was like meeting with a good friend after a long absence. This is the first book in Auel's series, and also the most pivotal. It's not as thick with beautiful descriptions of landscape and epoch as her other books because it is more of a character study, one that is crucial to the entire rest of the series. That's not to say that it isn't heavy on the long winded descriptions, and I know many find the book tedious, but it's her ability to draw the Paleolithic world and its inhabitants that draws me to the series.
Auel's sixth and supposedly last installment of the series is to be released on March 29th and I'm racing the calendar to see if I can re-read all five of the existing books before it arrives.
Book 2 on my way to 52 in 2011