Rating: 
Summary: Shelters of Padding
Review: Was she paid by the word? If so, she earned her money. Every sentence in this looong, slow and dreary novel was repeated, rehashed, resaid and reiterated numerous times. The book could (and should) have been a quarter of the length it is. The dialogue is unbelieveable at best, the psychological insights hilariously anachronistic. The only genuine feeling is when cave drawings are described. The sex scenes obligatory every 75 pages are a howl and the fashions are to die for. Read it if you must, but Jean Auel has lost the touch and produced a really bad, padded monstrosity of a wooly mannoth.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: There was a lot of opportunity to have an exciting book, bu there wasn't any follow through. The repetition was amazing. I understand having to recap some of the events from the previouis books to refresh memories, but did we really have to read how Ayla got the horse 15 different times? After the first explanation, wouldn't "Ayla explained how she acquired the animals," have been enough? There's plenty of conflict set up for the next book--if Auel will use it.
Rating: 
Summary: Shelters Of Stone - My Review
Review: I did not know what to expect from this the fifth book from Jean Auel. I waited, along with uncountable numbers of people across the World, for the "next one" and hoped the wait would not be much longer.
I was not disappointed! "The Shelters Of Stone" is, by far, the best of the series. I have watched as Ayla has grown from a frightened lost child into a woman of presence, power and great beauty. Jean Auel describes all of Ayla and Jondalars "discoveries" and achievements in such a plausible way. From "firestones" to riding horses and taming "wolf" to the more in depth ideas on reproduction, Jean explains the events so "matter of factly" than one begins to be drawn in and believes that they are reading an account of one who was actually present.
The Shelters Of Stone is not a book to be overlooked and believe me when I say you wont be able to put it down!
I am left now having to wait for the next and final installment, feeling rather flat after such a high. If the sixth book is only half as good as The Shelters Of Stone, I will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Ever!
Review: I read the whole series when I was 11 years old. It was great! If you find the review titled "some people have no patience", then read it. I heartily agree. As she/he says, if you can't surpass reading a two page poem, then don't be reading a 700+ page book. The descriptions are extremely useful, they provide history, which helps to organize things in your mind. Anyone who reads this book and says it was a disapointment needs to rethink their life.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Other people may say that this book was boring or had no plot. I strongly disagree. I read the other books and was waiting a long time for this one. It definitely met my expectations. I thought it was great that Auel included a BRIEF history of each character, which was very useful, because sometimes they can get mixed up. My friend also thought it was a great book. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is considering buying it. I know the other reviews mostly say that it was terrible, but I think that it was a great book. It wasn't JUST about skinning deer, and it was definitely not STALE.
Rating:
Summary: Splendid
Review: This book was worth the wait. I don't want to put a spoiler, but it really comes full circle with the other books. Jean manages to incorporate so many real-life experiences of our time into their time. The only down-side is that it leaves me wanting MORE and I hope she will provide just one more book. She travelled to France and did a lot of research for this one.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Perspective
Review: OK, the other reviewers are correct. The book has no plot in 750 pages and the poem is really bad. So how can I give the book 5 stars?I love Auel's characters. I love the world she creates. I love reading about how people lived 25,000 years ago. I am fascinated by the teas they made, the animals they hunted, how they erected a tent, their hierarchy, their relationship with the environment. I enjoy it all. So, even though the plot was absent, the author does an amazing job of transporting me into the world that she creates. And even if that world simply contains the boring activity of day to day life, I read it with pleasure because of the colorful fantastic nature. In fairness to the other reviewers, let me say that I started reading the series only a year ago and just finished the final page of the final book last night. So I didn't have to wait 13 years as other readers did. Therefore, if you love the world that Auel creates, you may hate the fact that she forgot a plot, but I think you will love the book.
Rating:
Summary: Such a long wait...
Review: for such an unsatisfying book. Repetition, tediousness, dissatisfaction. Such a disappointment after the preceding four novels.
Rating:
Summary: Boooring!!!
Review: Ugh...how much can one read about the landscape...the rocks...the rivers??? and Ayla & Jondalar having sex?? I skipped through most of the book and was still bored. What a disappointment, after waiting so many years!
I do not recommend this book to anyone.
I won't be reading any other sequals of the Earth's Children after this one!!
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: After reading some of the reviews here at Amazon.com I really wondered if I had made a mistake buying this book. But after speaking to my sister in law who incouraged me to read the book, I decided to go for it. I must admit I was absolutly hooked. I stayed up late a few nights because I wanted to find out what happened. I gave this book 5 stars.
She has set up some great story lines for her next book, which I cannot wait to come out. I want to know what happens with the People of the Clan and of those with mixed blood. The guy that makes the barma, what is going to happen between him and Ayla.
Is Ayla going to become a Zelondonia or is she going to be the first?
To all of those people that gripped about the detail that Ms Auel went into that is what makes her books so intresting, if you had read any of her previous books you would have known that. Also, for her repeating herself - yes, she did repeat of few things and refreshed our memories on a few things. which I for one was glad of - I did not have time to go back and read the other four books. Ms Auel I take my hat off to you for a book that was well written and very entertaining.
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