Rating: 
Summary: awesome
Review: I have read and re-read these books several times (the series that is), and love them. They are imaginative, creative, and wonderful on a rainy day, or at any time of the day. Travelling with Torka and Lonit, you're there. You feel what they feel, and see what they see, fear what they fear, and are put right in the center of their universe. I did not finish the last two books in the series because they went way off track. I couldn't even finish them. That is the only complaint I have. They were well written and enthralling, but ditch the last two. They don't do justice the others in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time
Review: I know most of the reviews here are favorable - I will go out on a limb and say I severely disliked this book and will never pick up another by the same author. The characters were flat, the plot unbelievable, the conflict forced (and distasteful), and the writing bad. For example, all throughout the book the characters don't use pronouns, then all of a sudden they're using them. There's a lot of cheesiness where the author tries move the reader emotionally and falls flat. I hated the part in the middle with the "visitors," (trying to not give away the plot) it made me cringe it was so obvious what was going to happen and what should not have. The characters are all evil or all good - or they make a complete switch midstream. And how many books am I going to read where a woman gets pregnant after having sex ONE time! Not that it's impossible but come on! :) If you're looking for an Auel fix - re-read the series. Don't try to find a replacement here.
Rating: 
Summary: Kind of dumb and unrealistic
Review: I liked the books to begin with but this sub-human thing is really dumb! I like books about the Native Indians like People of the Wolf and many others. My problem with this book is that it could have never happened and it cannot be thought of as it ever could have.
Rating:
Summary: A great surprise!
Review: I ordered this book off one of the recommended lists and have been pleasantly surprised. I loved this book- it has everything people love about the Auel series- but without all that "caveman sex." I guess some like it- but I think Auel overdoes it a bit (I just finished Mammoth Hunters). It has great action and characters that you take a stake in their survival. I also have to say that the last 20 pages have to be some of the most exciting reading I've ever experienced at the end of a book- I can't wait to get a hold of the rest of the series- you can get them dirt cheap from some of the used sellers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read!
Review: I typically don't read these types of books -- I'm more into thrillers, suspense, sci-fi, fantasy, and historical romances. But I stumbled across this one while book browsing simply because the cover caught my eye. After checking here first for reviews -- and seeing them all positive, I decided to give the book a try. I'm very happy I did. I bought the audiobook version -- since I have little time to sit down and read for pleasure -- and I was captured by the book just minutes after it started. The storyline is excellent, the descriptions vivid, and the characters likeable. In addition, you get a sense for what it might have been like to live during those times. The narrator (Paul Ukena) is pretty good too. You can't ask for much more. I agree with the other reviewers...this is a darned good book that you won't regret reading. I liked the book so much that I just ordered the next three in the series -- since they're available on tape too, and I can't wait for them to get here!
Rating: 
Summary: Prehistoric Pioneers Come to North America
Review: I'm a little suprised at the one very negative review posted, as I prefer Sarabande's sagas to Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series (I bought Auel's first book and never wanted to read another), but that just goes to show how opinions differ. Like another reviewer, I have eclectic taste and enjoy thriller, mystery, sci-fi and fantasy genres, but after giving this book a read, I liked it enough to run out and purchase several more. I think some are better than others and haven't tried to read them all. They do go on forever! But if you peruse the back cover copy you can select the storylines and timeframes that most appeal to you. Since Beyond the Sea of Ice begins the saga of Man leaving Siberia and entering the Americas via a land bridge, it's a good place to begin. I found the main characters simple, but compelling. It seems to me that each represents a role within prehistoric society: the hunter, the wife/mother, the elder, etc. They are developed as individuals, but they also serve to highlight the author's painstaking and detailed research. The author (actually a woman writing under a pseudonym) has a dramatic, very visual style. I think she does an excellent job of bringing the prehistoric world--in this case the windswept Siberian and Alaskan tundra--to life All the details of daily life are here--how camps were set up, clothes and weapons made, game stalked, wounds dressed; how men, women, children, and the elderly may have interacted in prehistoric hunting/gathering society. These theories are NOT presented in a boring way, but they are a big part of the story. So if you're looking for pure action, this is not the book for you. The story begins when an insane mammoth attacks some hunters, then follows their trail back to the main group's encampment where it wreaks havoc on the inhabitants. The sole survivors, the young hunter Torka, the strange "round-eyed" girl Lonit, and Torka's grandfather and spirit master Umak begin an epic trek across the Bering Strait. Along the way they encounter caribou, dire wolves, a great cave bear, and Galeena, the wily leader of another small band decimated by the same malevolent mammoth. Galeena competes fiercely with Torka for leadership once the two bands unite. The outcome of their struggle will determine the band's future and survival. And always far behind them follows the mammoth. Thunder Speaker. World Shaker. The Destroyer: "Torka paused, his eyes inextricably drawn back across the way they had come. The plain lay far below. The miles seemed to tremble in a glaring haze born of distance. And in that haze, upon the far horizon, he could just make out a dark form following . . . its back as high as the distant hills, its tusks glinting in the sun, its color as red as dried blood."
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Spellbinding
Review: I,ve read all of William Sarabande, novels.The first 4 are the best.Actually I am in my 3rd. time around reading these 4.The historic details are fascinating and accurate as far as any one of could know.The character development is so real.The emotions,both negative and positive,any one of us could identify with,and the love story of Torka and Lonitis unforgettable. My 3rd time around ,and I can,t put these books down.What a incredible talent this woman has for telling a story. I wish she would have continued on to write a story about Manaravak and Larani,as they ventured forth southward into prehistoric North America.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs Up
Review: In my opinion, this was an all-around good book. It captivated me through the duration of the novel and made me feel like I was really there. The author gives fantastic visual images but does not provide too much so that nothing is left up to the imagination. I understand that this is the first book of the series so all of the characters, settings, relationships, and plots must be introduced to give the reader some type of basis for reading. This process, in several books, can be uninteresting and tedious but Sarabande does a great job of keeping the reader entertained. Although, I'll admit, I chose this book to read because it appeared to be action-packed, I found myself emotionally invested in each of the characters as well as entertained by the intense action. They had to overcome countless adversities including the elements, the animals, and themselves. Their struggles to survive in the harsh environment were both compelling and inspiring. This book has everything... a great, well-developed, and interesting plot, believable and interesting characters with different relationships, an entertaining story-line, and even romance. I think it is an extremely well-written and well-thought out book. It defiantly deserves 4 solid stars.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs Up
Review: In my opinion, this was an all-around good book. It captivated me through the duration of the novel and made me feel like I was really there. The author gives fantastic visual images but does not provide too much so that nothing is left up to the imagination. I understand that this is the first book of the series so all of the characters, settings, relationships, and plots must be introduced to give the reader some type of basis for reading. This process, in several books, can be uninteresting and tedious but Sarabande does a great job of keeping the reader entertained. Although, I'll admit, I chose this book to read because it appeared to be action-packed, I found myself emotionally invested in each of the characters as well as entertained by the intense action. They had to overcome countless adversities including the elements, the animals, and themselves. Their struggles to survive in the harsh environment were both compelling and inspiring. This book has everything... a great, well-developed, and interesting plot, believable and interesting characters with different relationships, an entertaining story-line, and even romance. I think it is an extremely well-written and well-thought out book. It defiantly deserves 4 solid stars.
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