I waited anxiously for this book to come out, as I had been following Ayla from the beginning of her journey. Unfortunately, this book was a letdown to me. I understand that Auel did copious amounts of research and it shows. That was a huge part of what kept me reading the series; I loved the historical aspect. This book, however, just seemed to be one cave description after another. Ayla got overwhelmed with them and so did I! Then there was the repetition...one reviewer already touched upon it; Ayla was so beautiful, her prowess with animals, Jondalar was so handsome, it got tiresome. I felt that so much more could have been done with this, the final book in the series. What a disappointing end to what was up until now, a great series.
Denise C. (dscrawford) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 175 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 16
3.0 out of 5 stars The epic journey of Ayla from orphan to Zelandoni concludes., March 13, 2011
The front cover of my ARC states, "Three decades in the telling..." Well, fellow readers, it seems as if it took me nearly that long to read this particular book, the conclusion (book #6) to the Earth's Children Series. I eagerly snapped it up when it was offered in the vine newsletter and started it right away. Now, over a month and a half later, I finally finished. I'm a fast reader, usually can read a book within a day or two. I don't know why this one took so long -- perhaps because it was insufficiently edited, tedious, repetitious, and frankly -- sometimes boring. How often did we need to be reminded that Ayla was a foreigner (her accent), that she was beautiful, that she tamed horses and a wolf, that she was an incredible healer and visionary, or that she was a skilled hunter who could take care of herself? Many other reviewers have already remarked on the tendency of author Jean Auel to be redundant and burden her readers with overkill on detail. How many times did we have to read the "Mother Song" to get the point of the song, for instance? Much of that just took up space in a hefty tome that must weigh about 3 pounds at 757 pages!
Regardless, I am finally finished with Ayla, Jondalar and all the rest of the early "Others" who came to life in the thousands of pages I've read over these years. I was a little disappointed that this last book consisted mostly of traveling to and fro and less about human interplay. The novel only really becomes exciting (somewhat) during the last third of the book as Ayla finally reaches her destiny. Without spoilers, I found the ending a bit anticlimactic and the series ends with a whimper rather than with a bang. I had to suppress a small scoff of disbelief considering how Ayla's "discoveries" during her vision definitely will be changing how the people of this early land live and experience family life!
I won't rehash the plot (there really isn't much of one anyway) but will suggest that all fans of this series will likely spend days and perhaps even weeks wading through this final offering and coming to their own conclusions with the end of a series that was introduced with The Clan Of The Cave Bear - Earth's Children over 31 years ago! This is not a stand alone novel and readers who want the full impact of this monumental epic should start with that first book -- which I consider the best of them all.
All told, I am glad I read it; now I can put Ayla and her escapades aside.
The front cover of my ARC states, "Three decades in the telling..." Well, fellow readers, it seems as if it took me nearly that long to read this particular book, the conclusion (book #6) to the Earth's Children Series. I eagerly snapped it up when it was offered in the vine newsletter and started it right away. Now, over a month and a half later, I finally finished. I'm a fast reader, usually can read a book within a day or two. I don't know why this one took so long -- perhaps because it was insufficiently edited, tedious, repetitious, and frankly -- sometimes boring. How often did we need to be reminded that Ayla was a foreigner (her accent), that she was beautiful, that she tamed horses and a wolf, that she was an incredible healer and visionary, or that she was a skilled hunter who could take care of herself? Many other reviewers have already remarked on the tendency of author Jean Auel to be redundant and burden her readers with overkill on detail. How many times did we have to read the "Mother Song" to get the point of the song, for instance? Much of that just took up space in a hefty tome that must weigh about 3 pounds at 757 pages!
Regardless, I am finally finished with Ayla, Jondalar and all the rest of the early "Others" who came to life in the thousands of pages I've read over these years. I was a little disappointed that this last book consisted mostly of traveling to and fro and less about human interplay. The novel only really becomes exciting (somewhat) during the last third of the book as Ayla finally reaches her destiny. Without spoilers, I found the ending a bit anticlimactic and the series ends with a whimper rather than with a bang. I had to suppress a small scoff of disbelief considering how Ayla's "discoveries" during her vision definitely will be changing how the people of this early land live and experience family life!
I won't rehash the plot (there really isn't much of one anyway) but will suggest that all fans of this series will likely spend days and perhaps even weeks wading through this final offering and coming to their own conclusions with the end of a series that was introduced with The Clan Of The Cave Bear - Earth's Children over 31 years ago! This is not a stand alone novel and readers who want the full impact of this monumental epic should start with that first book -- which I consider the best of them all.
All told, I am glad I read it; now I can put Ayla and her escapades aside.
Helpful Score: 13
I have been a loyal reader of the Earth's Children series for years. To say I am disappointed in this book is an understatement. I wish I had never read it, and let the 5th book be the conclusion, rather than to have read this and have it come to such a disappointing end. 2/3rds of the book is descriptions of cave paintings, and the rest is ridiculously awful. Really really disappointed.
Helpful Score: 8
What a completely disappointing end to the "Earth's Children" series. This book consists of 757 pages of never-ending recaps of the previous five novels (what did the author think we hadnt read them all before tackling this enormous doorstop of a book?) and endless (and utterly annoying) repetitions of the "Mother's Song" thrown into every available space and situation. The only redeeming quality of this story is the (THANK YOU) lack of nauseatingly graphic prehistoric sex which was all-pervasive in books 2, 3, 4 and 5. There is no plot whatsoever (if you don't count the obvious "Oh no, Ayla and Jondalar have a misunderstanding and aren't speaking to each other... again" device that Auel used, soap-opera fashion, in books 3 and 5). Seriously, author Jean M. Auel just phoned this one in. Maybe thats too generous its more like she texted it while driving. Thank you, Ms. Auel, for slapping your devoted fans in the face with a dripping, rotting mackerel of a series-ender. Shame on you for wasting our time.
Erica H. (ericah) -
Helpful Score: 5
The worst in a steadily deteriorating series. There is no plot, but only a vague series of disconnected scenes that would work better as short stories than parts of a novel. The cave descriptions are tedious, and the earlier loose ends from the series are mostly ignored. Thankfully, this should be the last book in the series.
Amanda M. (tapcat16) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 150 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
The best way to describe this final entry in the series is that Auel nose-dived off Niagara Falls while holding your favorite kitten. The plot is meandering, pointless, and terrible. The big reveal of Ayla's purpose is the most inane, ridiculous thing I've ever read. The romance is painful. Characters we loved we now loathe. All that was bright and shiny in the pre-historic world of Ayla is now completely covered in dog crap. Really disgusting dog crap. My best advice to fans of the series is to stop the story at whatever entry left them the most happy (for me, that was The Mammoth Hunters) and pretend that Jondalar rode off into the sunset with Ayla. Just pretend this book doesn't exist.
If you want more details as to what, exactly, makes this so awful, check out my full (spoiler-filled) review.
If you want more details as to what, exactly, makes this so awful, check out my full (spoiler-filled) review.
Loretta S. (dovewings) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Very disappointing. It was overlong, repetitive and rambling. After you've seen one cave, you've kinda seen them all. There was no real closing and no mention of the status of the clan.
Helpful Score: 2
I thoroughly enjoyed this 6th book in The Earth's Children series. We certainly waited long enough for it.
There were some things I didn't like so much. There was a tremendous amount of review. Maybe the author thought that since it had been so long since the last book, we needed that. I didn't. I loved those books so much that just a minimal reminder of customs of each tribe would have sufficed. As soon as I started, I was right back into their story.
And, if I never hear or read another description of a cave again, it will be way too soon. I realize the name of the book should have told me to expect that, but so much?! The text could have used a lot more of Ayla and Jondalar and less of cave descriptions.
When I finished the book (I read it on Kindle)I kept trying to turn the page. I checked to be sure my Kindle wasn't frozen, but, no, it wasn't. It felt as if the author just stopped writing. I found it so abrupt. There was so much more she could have given us!
That being said, I did really enjoy this book and grieve the fact that it is the last we'll hear of all these people we've come to love.
There were some things I didn't like so much. There was a tremendous amount of review. Maybe the author thought that since it had been so long since the last book, we needed that. I didn't. I loved those books so much that just a minimal reminder of customs of each tribe would have sufficed. As soon as I started, I was right back into their story.
And, if I never hear or read another description of a cave again, it will be way too soon. I realize the name of the book should have told me to expect that, but so much?! The text could have used a lot more of Ayla and Jondalar and less of cave descriptions.
When I finished the book (I read it on Kindle)I kept trying to turn the page. I checked to be sure my Kindle wasn't frozen, but, no, it wasn't. It felt as if the author just stopped writing. I found it so abrupt. There was so much more she could have given us!
That being said, I did really enjoy this book and grieve the fact that it is the last we'll hear of all these people we've come to love.
Toby D. (bookswapper) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 188 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book had a slow start and had a ton of name-dropping of characters from the previous book. I'd recommend recently reading the immediately previous book "Shelters of Stone" before starting this one.
I agree with the other reviewers, I was not as excited about the descriptions of her foreignness, the cave paintings, etc and the human drama did not start until the second half to last third of the book. Keep reading and you will get there!
According to author interviews, she has lived with these characters a long time and the time period, done a lot of research. You can definitely tell that there was a love of the subject, and I enjoyed reading about some of the animals and plants.
The second book in the series had the worst cliffhanger ending, with them meeting the Mammoth Hunters and then suddenly ending the Valley of the Horses book. This one left some strings untied which are not cliffhanger unsatisfying/angering, but could have a sequel or not. I'm inclined to think there are at least two more books in the series. Do not let the size of this book make you think it finishes the series, all the books are about this size.
Regarding ARCs, I avoid them. I've encountered several books that I read as ARCs that had issues fixed in the general release and I was not happy enough at getting the bad book early to make up for the tainted publication. I did not see the types of errors the other reviewer mentioned that read an ARC. As an editor, I would have eased into all the names and maybe included a lookup guide for names, maybe started out more in a smaller cave etc instead of diving into a summer meeting with hundreds of people from previous books.
Good luck with all your reading! If you are a fan of the series, you'll hear some recaps from the first 5 books at various parts but you'll be best off if you have read the 3rd, 4th, and 5th books recently. I find that the poems and mystical stuff are much more enjoyable in the audiobook format. You may want to try and get this book in audiobook and see what that adds to the cave painting tour.
I agree with the other reviewers, I was not as excited about the descriptions of her foreignness, the cave paintings, etc and the human drama did not start until the second half to last third of the book. Keep reading and you will get there!
According to author interviews, she has lived with these characters a long time and the time period, done a lot of research. You can definitely tell that there was a love of the subject, and I enjoyed reading about some of the animals and plants.
The second book in the series had the worst cliffhanger ending, with them meeting the Mammoth Hunters and then suddenly ending the Valley of the Horses book. This one left some strings untied which are not cliffhanger unsatisfying/angering, but could have a sequel or not. I'm inclined to think there are at least two more books in the series. Do not let the size of this book make you think it finishes the series, all the books are about this size.
Regarding ARCs, I avoid them. I've encountered several books that I read as ARCs that had issues fixed in the general release and I was not happy enough at getting the bad book early to make up for the tainted publication. I did not see the types of errors the other reviewer mentioned that read an ARC. As an editor, I would have eased into all the names and maybe included a lookup guide for names, maybe started out more in a smaller cave etc instead of diving into a summer meeting with hundreds of people from previous books.
Good luck with all your reading! If you are a fan of the series, you'll hear some recaps from the first 5 books at various parts but you'll be best off if you have read the 3rd, 4th, and 5th books recently. I find that the poems and mystical stuff are much more enjoyable in the audiobook format. You may want to try and get this book in audiobook and see what that adds to the cave painting tour.
Helpful Score: 2
There is nothing new in this book. Everything in it we've read before in the other books. No new concepts, no new issues with the characters, no advancement of the characters, just a few years passed. Sadly I paid full Amazon price for a book that I want to throw at a wall. however since it is sooooooo bloated, over 700 pages, it would likely leave a hole in the wall or break a window if I missed the wall I controlled myself. If you really want to read it wait until it comes up on the wish list, don't waste your money like I did.
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoyed reading these books when there was actual story taking place. I like the premise and the educative read this book provides. Auel writes with alot of explanation about glaciers and the prehistoric era which does help set the tone and the scene, but for me it was imagery-overload. I really wasnt interested in 15 pages about how the glacier formed. My preference is always a book that helps create a vidid picture but not on this scale. It is not a smooth-flowing easy read if thats what you are looking for. It requires paying attention to for all the different titles, explanations, clans, ect. just to keep up. But don't worry if you forget. Auel will remind you. I felt alot of things were constantly being repeated to the reader about Ayla's "foreign way of speaking", or "miraculous control of the horses or wolves" every 50 pages. I wanted to throw my hands up and yell "I know already! I've read the other 3000 pages worth of books!" But don't let my review deter you. I hope you are able to enjoy this series as I did after ignoring all the historical geography.
I was excited, after 9 years, to finally be able to dive into the last book of this series. However, I must say that this book could have been one third it's size. Such a disappointing read. Lots of repetition and how many caves can you go into and how much of the land, that we already have read described in the previous books, and the Mother's Song must we have to wade though to get to the plot? I ended up skimming pages because there just seemed to be so much filler description of caves and landscapes. This book, sadly was boring for me. I still love the series and Valley of the Horses is my favorite, so it is worth the read. It's just disappointing to wait so long and then have a dud concluding book, I would suggest just ending with book 5.
Peggy S. (magicquilter) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Boring, boring, boring. I waded through this book, although I'm not sure why because it was worse than the last one, which I didn't enjoy either. This one does get a plot of sorts near the end, so if you really want to read it, I suggest you skip the first 510 pages and start with Part Three. You won't miss anything.
Bonnie F. (harmony85) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 982 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Book Six about the life and adventures of Jondalar and Ayla. For the most part, I enjoyed this book. You can tell Auel did a great deal of research. On the down side, there are MANY characters to try to remember and some parts are repetitive (how many times does Ayla have to introduce herself and all her ties? How many times does the Earth Mother song need to be repeated? How many times do we need to hear about how wonderful Ayla is with animals?) These parts were a bit annoying, but not enough to detract me too much from enjoying the main storyline. Looking forward to no. 7!
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
Helpful Score: 1
First of all, I must say that this book is very different from the rest of the series. The first five books chronicle Ayla (and eventually Jondalar's) journey from the Clan of the Cave Bear to the Zelandonii. The story revolves around Ayla and Jondalar's trials and tribulations on this journey across the entire continent. The Shelter of Stones (book 5) ends with them finally arriving where Jondalar's people reside. They had some spectacular adventures along the way involving many different tribes, cultures, animals, etc. where they were almost always welcomed and eventually asked to remain. This shows that they are a very likable couple with many talents to share.
Unfortunately, we go from this wonderfully detailed experience to the rather boring live at the cove of the Zelanonii. Ayla has always been interested in healing and spirituality so her being an acolyte to the Zelandoni (the great spiritual leader) is no surprise. However, her training is beyond boring. She is required to visit all the sacred (painted) caves in the Zelandonii territory. This requires lengthy travel between caves across the lands. The meeting of other tribes and their Zelandonii requires a repetition of Ayla's history and various stories as well as formal introductions. This is the most boring aspect of the book except for the actual visiting of caves which after the first or second was unbearable. You can only ooh and aah over a painting of a cave bear or mammoth so many times before you want to scream.
It wasn't until Part 3 of the story (I listened to the audiobook so I'm not positive pagewise but I think around 450 of 757), when the traveling was done and they finally returned to the shelter of stones that the book focused singularly on Ayla and Jondalar. The last third of the book saved the rating from being a 2 (or less). I know that if I had been actually reading this book, I most certainly would have given up on it within the first 50 pages or so but as this is the conclusion to the Earth's Children series, I needed to know the ending to Ayla and Jondalar's story.
Unfortunately, we go from this wonderfully detailed experience to the rather boring live at the cove of the Zelanonii. Ayla has always been interested in healing and spirituality so her being an acolyte to the Zelandoni (the great spiritual leader) is no surprise. However, her training is beyond boring. She is required to visit all the sacred (painted) caves in the Zelandonii territory. This requires lengthy travel between caves across the lands. The meeting of other tribes and their Zelandonii requires a repetition of Ayla's history and various stories as well as formal introductions. This is the most boring aspect of the book except for the actual visiting of caves which after the first or second was unbearable. You can only ooh and aah over a painting of a cave bear or mammoth so many times before you want to scream.
It wasn't until Part 3 of the story (I listened to the audiobook so I'm not positive pagewise but I think around 450 of 757), when the traveling was done and they finally returned to the shelter of stones that the book focused singularly on Ayla and Jondalar. The last third of the book saved the rating from being a 2 (or less). I know that if I had been actually reading this book, I most certainly would have given up on it within the first 50 pages or so but as this is the conclusion to the Earth's Children series, I needed to know the ending to Ayla and Jondalar's story.
Helpful Score: 1
I have anxiously awaited the next chapter in Ayla's story but I must say that this was a bitter disappointment. It was tedious and repetitive, I had to force myself to continue reading.
Kristin T. (wyldfairy) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I started reading the series just last year and went from clan of the cave bears all the way through to this one. I just finished this book last night and I must say I'm really disappointed.
For starters, the land of the painted caves repeats a TON of the same things that were in the previous books. I'm sorry, I don't need you to tell me what you have already told me. I'd say a good 1/3 of the book is retelling of previous books.
Next, the first 2/3 of the book is very dry and boring as other readers have suggested. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It didn't. The last 1/3 is really the best part; and the ending was the biggest letdown. It left nothing answered and so many questions are to be had.
**spoilers** What happened to Brukeval and where did he go? Is Ayla ever the First and how is her life as Zelandoni? Does she have any more children? Does that rat Jondalar mess up again? What becomes of Laramar's children? How long does the First live? and what about Marthona. What is the future for Folara? Does Ayla's daughter follow in her footsteps? Why can't Ayla do a return journey to the Mamutoi with the 2? I mean really. I need some answers here. I read 5 books and this is how it ends????
For starters, the land of the painted caves repeats a TON of the same things that were in the previous books. I'm sorry, I don't need you to tell me what you have already told me. I'd say a good 1/3 of the book is retelling of previous books.
Next, the first 2/3 of the book is very dry and boring as other readers have suggested. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. It didn't. The last 1/3 is really the best part; and the ending was the biggest letdown. It left nothing answered and so many questions are to be had.
**spoilers** What happened to Brukeval and where did he go? Is Ayla ever the First and how is her life as Zelandoni? Does she have any more children? Does that rat Jondalar mess up again? What becomes of Laramar's children? How long does the First live? and what about Marthona. What is the future for Folara? Does Ayla's daughter follow in her footsteps? Why can't Ayla do a return journey to the Mamutoi with the 2? I mean really. I need some answers here. I read 5 books and this is how it ends????
Patty R. (PattyR) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 9 more book reviews
Not a very good book. The character dialogue sounds so formal and unnatural. So much repetition. Too much detail about the flowers she was picking and how many leaves and the petals. I found myself skipping paragraphs to get to the plot.
I remember loving COTCB, but this book is just boring.
I remember loving COTCB, but this book is just boring.
Susan C. (suzique-z) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 4 more book reviews
I have enjoyed the entire series.
Rachel W. (bubbyhoratio) -
This series started out absolutely amazing. I loved every book until this one. I don't want to put in any spoilers, but I found it incredibly tedious and predictable. I could guess everything that was going to happen before it did. The characters used to be well written and rounded, but it really felt like Jean M. Auel dropped the ball on this one. Lengthy descriptions of the caves cover about half of the books and seem to drag on endlessly. It felt like I was reading a bad romance novel in many parts. If you're a fan, prepare yourself for disappointment because this one just wasn't as good as the others.
Really a great book continuing in the manner of the first five books
Carol M. (Tunerlady) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 581 more book reviews
The final book in this saga and it was a disappointment, in that it was repetitive and had no real plot. It was good, however, and I enjoyed reading it, in spite of it's shortcomings.
Kathy R. (ker) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 19 more book reviews
I enjoyed this book but really thought I would see more of a closure to the story. After the wait of reading the final books of this series, I thought she would wrap it all up and you are left wondering what would happen if her "vision" came to past.
Carole (craftnut) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 28 more book reviews
A profound disappointment, this book was largely a travelogue of caves with very little plot. Jondalar and Ayla's actions are completely out of character given their growth in the previous books. I was particularly disappointed in the lack of resolution of several storylines forshadowed in previous books. Read this if you must, but get it from the library. Don't waste your money or a credit.
Ana O. (AnaLiss) -
Disappointed in this book in the series. A lot of repetitive detail of cave paintings after cave paintings. A lot of recap of past books as well. Nothing new or earth-shattering about Ayla here.
I really liked this book, however the first half of the book is really slow. The second half of the book is riveting, and was hard to put down!
Deborah M. (Gimli) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 14 more book reviews
What a big disapointment! We waited so long for this final story of Ayla. Auel seems like she just took all of her painted cave descriptions of all the research she did and tossed in a weak story line with Ayla and family at the beginning and end of the book and said here ya go folks - here is the ending you have all been waiting for! Tada! After a while I was thinking please don't take us into another boring cave! Auel spends way too much time going over the details of cave after cave and the Mother's Songs. It was so repetitive I was about to pull out my hair! However, I just had to read this final chapter after being a big fan of the series for so long. I needed to know how Ayla ended up. I wanted to read more about Ayla and Jondalar's interactions with each other and other people. I could not believe that Auel left out more details of what Jondalar was doing before they got to the summer meeting and Ayla discovered what he did. I had also grown used to the hot interactions between characters in the previous books. That was sorely lacking in this book. I am glad to unload my copy of the book!
Joannie N. (Nedheadz) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 128 more book reviews
So I've finished the Earth's Children series and have enjoyed it immensely. The Land of Painted Caves was my least favorite and most tedious to read. It really went nowhere for a very long time. Nearly halfway through the book I was about to put it down and not finish it, but I had invested so much into the series and this book so I pressed on. I was not disappointed once I got through the first half. The pace and rhythm of the story picked up and some of the elements of the characters that had made the story so appealing returned.
OMG! BORING! As one of the other reviewers noted, do yourself a favor and read the first chapter then jump ahead to Part 3. I'm not making fun, but it seems like the author is suffering from Alzheimers. She constantly mentions the same things over and over and over like it's the first time she's ever said them. I was SO disappointed in this last book. What a shame.
Donna F. (donnadaye) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 11 more book reviews
I love this series and have waited a very long time for this book. I am in the midst of reading the book now. I have enjoyed the read very much. I wish it was not over yet. That being said there have been moments in the book where I wished the attention to detail was not so intense. A bit slow at times. Mostly though I enjoyed getting back to the life journey of the main characters and meeting the new ones. Jean Auel is a masterful narrator.
Kim S. (FortrixEnigma) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 86 more book reviews
Please see my review here.
Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 1032 more book reviews
Wow. I am so disappointed in this massive waste of time. It was thousands of hours of careful research on Auel's part, looking for a plot. 3 sections, mostly unconnected with each other, only the last of which has any semblance to a story - and it's regurgitated from previous books at that! Section two is just endless boring trips into caves looking at paintings, Auel's attempt to include every single documented prehistoric cave art, all in descriptions down to each passageway of each cave. It needed illustrations, not description. In section 3, we go back to Jondalar and Ayla having a big fight and not talking to each other. And the big revelation at the end, which Ayla and the readers have known since the first book? That's it? That's how she's going to end this? I guess it is sort of ironic that Ayla, who started out as a child overcoming massive adversity and becomes a gifted healer (then turned into Wonder Woman), is now the revealing the message that will upset this whole society in an awful way, and pretty much lead to women being chattel for most of human history.
Sadly I could go on and on with criticisms. I do think Auel's vision of this series was a wonderful one, but the execution got worse with each book. Clan of the Cave Bear was wonderful and now she ends with this dreck. I loved the depiction of the landscape, the technical details on how people survivied, the plants and animals. Even the social dynamics were mostly okay. But so many loose ends that could have been fascinating - what happened to Durc, for example? And...oh well, no point in going on. I so wish that Auel had had a really good editor, someone who would have ignored the dollar signs and instead pointed out the major flaws in the last few books, because this series started out with such promise and just goes down in flames.
Sadly I could go on and on with criticisms. I do think Auel's vision of this series was a wonderful one, but the execution got worse with each book. Clan of the Cave Bear was wonderful and now she ends with this dreck. I loved the depiction of the landscape, the technical details on how people survivied, the plants and animals. Even the social dynamics were mostly okay. But so many loose ends that could have been fascinating - what happened to Durc, for example? And...oh well, no point in going on. I so wish that Auel had had a really good editor, someone who would have ignored the dollar signs and instead pointed out the major flaws in the last few books, because this series started out with such promise and just goes down in flames.
Steve B. (fog) -
Just to repeat others-- what a disappointment this book was. But the whole series has progressively gotten worse with each new book. How many times in the same book do we need a back story on Ayla's early life? How many times do we need a reminder on how she got her knowledge? And whenever the author got writer's cramp she threw in the over done sexual scene and description. I found myself reading the first few words in each paragraph and then skipping on to the next. There were so many possibilities with this book.. a conflict with the flatheads or meeting and setting up trade with the flatheads, Ayla hearing about her son through other travelers. Please let this series die, if it must be revisited by the author then please concentrate on the clan side with Dirk and his rise to leadership.
Overall loved teh series - the sixth book dragged on with ALL the cave detail - I found myself skimming and skipping whole paragraphs. I do want to continue reading about their lives, sad it was the last book
Kathy R. (ker) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 19 more book reviews
Loved this book. Like all other series I read, I wish it would go on to tell the "rest of the story" but she wrapped it up pretty well.
Very descriptive, like her other books, but nice to finally read the final book in the series.
Jenna S. (thompsonlover) reviewed The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children, Bk 6) on + 7 more book reviews
WOW! this was the best book in the series! and it was horrible. thompson and i have decided to burn this book along with the complete works of shakespeare and the bible.
