Rating: 
Summary: TEDIOUS ITERATION
Review: It is apparent Mrs. Auel wrote this book to cash in on the popularity of her first four Earth's Children books. Much of the writing in "Shelter's of Stone" seems to be copied from the other books. The descriptions of caves, clothes, tools, etc. are wordy and endless. The character's are weak and if there is any plot, I can't find it. Auel uses 741 pages when she could have told the whole story in 25. Save your money and don't buy this one and you can be sure I will not waste my money or time on reading her sixth.
Rating: 
Summary: Wait for the Paperback
Review: If you are a fan of the past 4 volumes, please wait and read the paperback...then you may skip the majority of the book as none of the characters are developed, it is a total rehash of the past four books, and it lacks Jean Auel normal details....it reads more like a Danielle Steele novel than the Earth Children Series I have loved for almost 20 years. There was not nearly enough character development nor excitement...my own imagination has been better than this total waste of time. I adore these books but this was not worth waiting 12 years for...it either needed to be longer or have some characters cut or something! Huge disappointment! Will not be nearly as excited about the next one even though it is the final one...
Rating:
Summary: Sequel Fatigue
Review: It was like seeing "The Phantom Menace"--you wanted to like it, you tried to like it, but halfway through you realize you just want to finish it because you've waited so long for it. Nothing really compelling here. It feels like an in-between story, a filler, except it's 700 pages long! Unlike the previous books, which would keep me up till the wee hours (even with a full days work the next day) immersed in another place, another time, this one can be read with one eye on the TV and you won't miss much.It's too bad because so many of us have anticipated this book with good feelings for so long and would have been generous in our reviews had we been given a little more than the bone thrown at us.
Rating:
Summary: Fresh Voices Needed!
Review: After a decade, both Jean Auel and Robert Waller produced follow-ups to previous hits. I read both and wished I had not wasted my time nor money.
Rating: 
Summary: One Star! I don't think so......
Review: I bought this book with the expectation that it would follow the same line of writting. And it did. To say that the writting on and on about the flora and fauna of the time was tedious to read is rediculous. To say that it's too convienient for Ayla to just happen to be around when a person needs to be saved is ludicris, especially since it is her job as a medicine woman to provide aid and assistance. To say that the amazing sex lives of Ayla and Jondalar are too amazing is expected of people looking for something other than a Jean Auel novel. These are expected moments when it comes to an Earth's Children novel. These are moments her reader's can depend on, and frankly those who were looking for something else, should have purchased another author's work. I loved this book because it was a continuation of the same story, following the same lines of thought as in the previous four novels. You get what you pay for when it comes to Auel, and to expect something else and act surprised or even disapointed is truely niave. If you're interested in other work of the same genre try Joan Wolf's Daughter of the Red Deer or The Reindeer Hunters or Brenda Smith's Secrets of the Ancient Goddess or Elizabeth M. Thomas' Reindeer Moon instead.
Rating: 
Summary: At Home in the Shelters of Stone
Review: The Shelters of Stone is Jean Auel's Pleistocene Utopia. It is a beautiful, though somewhat simplistic world, and I think it can do us considerable good to live there a little while. Ayla has traveled an unimaginable distance to reach the fertile region of present-day France where the people of her lover have built their world. And so, from the time of leaving the Valley of Horses, we are led to anticipate the land of the Zelandonii as the goal at the end of the journey. And that is what it is. Auel has created a just, harmonious society of good people, where there is healing, caring, co-operation, mutual respect, sharing, plenty and love. This is a society built on a framework of sacred customs, a hierarchical society where leaders, temporal and spiritual, cherish the people and hold their good paramount, and where the people respect and align with the wisdom and guidance of their leaders. It is a society where having no self-control is frowned on, where jealousy and selfishness are frowned on, where there is freedom of a kind so attuned to the greater good that it fosters a joyous uprush of artistic creativity and scientific inventiveness. All of which Auel describes for us in the kind of detail that brings us right in, so that we, too, become part of that world. Possibly it is because the detail is so very rich that it took me a while to realize that not much is actually happening. There is very little plot, certainly of the discord, danger, conflict and then resolution variety that came before, and that may come again, later. And how such a wise and well-ordered society would deal with situations of discord, with crime, with trespass, with any of the other inevitable difficulties that would come when two hundred people live together in a cave -- even a very spacious one -- is never addressed. It is hinted at for the future, by means of the envious musings of a handful of the Zelandonii who do not wish Ayla and Jondalar well and who seem to be biding their time to do something about it. But how such a society would decide it should justly deal with such people is never addressed. The Shelters of Stone is a book about conflict deferred, and seems to be there, essentially, as a bridge to the final book. There is a sense of moving toward the true conflict and resolution to come, and a series of tantalizing hints about how all that will take shape. But this next-to-last book of the series is like a day spent at home, which doesn't really go anywhere, and after a while I found myself missing the tension and vitality of a stronger plot. Or any plot. I missed, too, genuinely interesting, strong male figures. Jondalar has become almost decorative, and no other man emerges with the compelling presence, stature or significance of Creb or Mamut, the two holy men of earlier volumes. But, most of all, I miss the Clan, the Neanderthals. The signs are that we will see them again, but the possility of having to wait another twelve years -- the time it took Auel to write the present book -- is something I don't like to think about too much. I'm not as young as I used to be and I made up my mind that, before I go, I would find out who Deep Throat was, and what ever happened to Ayla's son Durc. Auel is already working on the final book now, and I have the feeling she knew where she wanted to end up right from the start. The final volume of the Earth's Children saga will, I think, make up abundantly for whatever disappointments there may have been in this one.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointed
Review: Not surprised to see reviews that agreed with mine. Waited over 10 years for this book - loved the first four. Fifth is a re-hash of books 1-4, no depth or richness to characters - very superficial. I kept "waiting for it to get good." I periodically re-read the first 4 books simply because they are so complex and always learn something new. Not in this one. Don't see how Ms. Auel can wrap this up in only one more book. As an avid, avid fan - I was totally frustrated by this read!
Rating:
Summary: Too much information and not enough plot or emotions
Review: I discovered this series right before the 4th book was published and loved the first three books, devouring them all in a row and cherishing them. I found that Plains of Passage (4th book) began to be more about anthropology and history than story line. This 5th book has the same problem. I was waiting anxiously, for about 10 years, for this book to be published and ran out to buy it in its' first week of publication. Reading the introduction, I realized the author has spent many years researching the anthropology and sociology and history and that is to be commended. It seems apparent that she jumped through many hoops to be accurate and informative in her writings. Unfortunately I felt the story was a bit lost in the details of the factual writings. (I feel sad writing anything negative about this book though, as I do love the series and appreciate Jean Auel's hard work and dedication to "getting the information correct".) Despite my love of this series and of the characters, I found it hard to be captivated by this book. With her previous writings (especially the first two), I stayed up very late at night because I just could not put the book down. That didn't happen with this novel, I am sad to admit. There were too many facts, more detail than I ever care to know about. Yes, I am interested in the ways of life way back then, but I don't care to hear of such detail about how a food storage bin made of rocks is constructed-to me, that is boring. I guess I am a visual person and many times in this series I have wished for small line drawings on the sides of the page to illustrate some things such as the spear-thrower, a hide being stretched out, or the weaving loom, or the appearance of an herb used for medicinal purposes. I want more story and plot and emotions than information about their lifestyle. Just when I was curious about what would happen next, there was too much detail about things. For example, just taking a walk to take a bath ends up being a lesson in biology of plant life. I kept thinking, "get back to the story" and "for goodness sake, just take a bath". Another example is that near the end when Ayla is very close to going into labor (to give birth) they are talking about how to make a knife blade. At that point with less than 40 pages to go I'd had enough of the academics and wanted her to have the baby, for goodness sake! In the beginning of the book the days drag through, one day's time spans many pages. With the business of the story in those first days, added in with the factual information, it was too much. Then at other times of the story they suddenly zoom by in number of weeks or months. I would have preferred more story and more emotions. There were many times when I felt Ayla should have had stronger emotions and they were not written about. There were also some occurrences that I thought could have been played out in more detail or picked up later in the story, although perhaps that will happen in the next (and last) novel. For the diehard fans of the Earth's Children series, I think we'll read the book (despite any negative reviews) and cherish the book anyway, (reminding ourselves it is still superior to most fiction out there). The fans will anticipate the last installment of the series, and to see how Ayla makes out in her next phase of life.
Rating:
Summary: One word - BAD!
Review: About 1/4 of this book is well written. The rest [sticks]! Yes it is that bad. I love the Earth Children series but I am not going to say this was a good book just to be a loyal fan. ... It has SO many inconsistancies, way too much repetition, and no plot what-so-ever. Do yourselves a favor, if you must read it, wait until you can get it a the library. Don't waste you money.
Rating:
Summary: Not true to Ayla's character
Review: Like one of the other reviewers, I felt that I was led into expecting several conflicts between characters (which made the other books so interesting), but the conflict fizzled out or was avoided every time. It is as if Ms. Auel deliberately avoided every conflict. Also, I felt that Ayla is being pushed into becoming a religious Zelandonii although she has made it clear that she wants a home and family with Jondalar instead. The original Ayla would refuse to be forced into such a mold. Remember the sling she taught herself to use when women of the clan never touched weapons. Remember how in every other place she met people, she told them the whole truth about her past (including her son, Durc) and then dealt with the conflict. This time she so badly wants to be accepted that she won't acknowledge her son. In the first four books, I felt there was an in-your-face integrity about Ayla. When she made mistakes, she dealt with the consequences. When people didn't like her because the Clan was her family, she didn't try to play it down. Although she was hurt, frustrated, and angry, she just went about her business and expected them to deal with their own feelings. Zoelena spends much of the book trying to trick or coerce Ayla into becoming more involved with the Zelandonii. She emphasizes how difficult it would be to be mated and raising a family while being a Zelandonii. Ayla is happily mated to Jondalar, finally, and expecting his baby. WHY would Ayla be tempted to give it up? It just doesn't make sense. For 5 long books now, all Ayla has wanted is a family and to belong. WHY would she give the family up and place herself in such a strictly proscribed religious life? It is even obvious that Zoelena's concerns aren't about helping Ayla grow. In the book it clearly states that Zoelena wants to control Ayla's healing gift because it might cause some unnamed trouble to allow her to continue to heal without being a Zelandonnii. If Ms. Auel is true to Ayla's original character, I don't think she would make her become a Zelandonii because Ayla would fight against that unnecessary control. I also felt there was a lot of repetition of things like describing: how to domesticate a horse and a wolf, the joy of riding Whinny and Racer, how Ayla learned which plants worked for ailments. Even the big hunt was repetitive. Jondalar and Ayla have used their horses many times to guide stampeding animals into a trap. The sex too was repetitive. I re-read the first 4 books before reading the new one, and the sex scenes and descriptions of their feelings were almost exact repeats. I felt that many of the descriptions were taken from the previous books and dropped into this one. I did not hate the book, but I was so disappointed. Now I don't know whether I even want to buy the next one.
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