Rating: 
Summary: Why can't Jean's publisher help out?
Review: I enjoyed every one of Jean Auel's books until now. This book was all set up and NO plot. Even though some possible action was hinted at throughout the book, NOTHING happened. Hint for her next book: use Auel's detail of prehistoric life and character set-up, then hire a ghost writer to weave a PLOT into the book.
Rating: 
Summary: --Ayla meets her Zelandonii in-laws--
Review: I think it's been something like ten years since I read the last book in this series and reading this story was like meeting old friends whom you haven't seen for a long time.This is the story of Ayla, a Cro-Magnon woman who has now traveled through five of the Earth's Children series. Along the way she met Jondalar another traveler, and fell in love. Together they have had many adventures in the previous books. In this most recent story, Shelters of Stone, Jondalar takes her to meet his family, the Zelandonii tribe. Jean Auel has again completed a lot of research and written a very thoughtful story of what Cro-Magnon men and women might have been like. Some of the actions of the prehistoric people rang true to me and others seemed a little too sophisticated for that time in our evolution. The pace of this book is a little slower than the previous stories and it seemed to me to be too heavy with descriptive passages. All things considered, it is an interesting story and I applaud the author for her fortitude and diligence in continuing Ayla's saga. Even though I've read the all of the books about Ayla, the first story, The Clan of the Cave Bear continues to be my favorite.
Rating: 
Summary: Just OK
Review: I was very excited to see this book finally out and bought it immediately. I had become a fan after reading the first book and although some of the ones that followed were less well written I had great hopes for this one. I was disappointed. I kept waiting for something to happen that never did. No problems were overcome nor dangers survived. Boring. I got to the point where if I read one more line about how great Ayla is I thought I'd choke. About the best thing I can say is it's nice she finally has what she's always wanted. Perhaps the next and last book will be better but I'm not holding my breath.
Rating:
Summary: I waited 12 years for THIS?
Review: Jean Auel has been my favorite author since I read her first book at the tender age of twelve. I have read and reread the first four books in the series many, many times in the past 14 years. I religiously checked the websites for any gossip about when the new book would be out, and ordered an advance copy. And then I got a BIG disappointment, about 700 pages of disppointment to be more specific. This book lacked any of the charm of the earlier books. I don't know why either. The subject matter (meeting the in-laws, the birth of a child, a long awaited marriage) are interesting topics, and Auel has done much more with less in the past. The marriage and birth were briefly skimmed over, while the geologic lay of the terrain was examined in excruciating detail. And then she names the poor child "Jonayla" (a mix of the mother and father's names-Jondalar and Ayla)...just one more example of the complete lack of effort put into this novel. It leaves me wondering if Auel really threw this together to finish out the series. Whatever the case, I agree that if you feel compelled to read this as part of the series, borrow it from the library. And keep your fingers crossed that Auel gets back a little of the old magic on the next one!
Rating:
Summary: Paid By The Word
Review: We listened to the unabridged audio of this sinker. If you think reading those love scenes were laughable trying hearing them. Also, the poem and formal greetings were unfreakinbelievable! I am amazed that anyone would rate this book anything but B and that's B for BORING and BAD NEWS.
Rating:
Summary: Action, please!
Review: After reading the first 700 pages, I gave up any hopes of encountering a plot. Simply nothing of consequence happens in this book. Ayla encountered a few people who grumbled about her association with the clan, but these were easily dismissed by the rest of the people of her cave. If anything, Ayla was too easily accepted, leaving her no challenges to overcome. Even the detailing of stone-age life, which was a favourite aspect of the previous books, was lacking here. So, for most of the book, we just get passages from a terrible poem interspersed with Jondalar's proclamations of love.
Rating:
Summary: just for the money
Review: This is a classic example of a series going downhill. As so many have remarked, the first novel was excellent; the second had interesting parts (although I grew tired of Ayla's inventions). While reading Mammoth, I wondered what happened to the author's ability to entertain, and Passage I could not even finish. Shelters of Stone is even worse, with the repetitions and lack of plot and lack of character development. Readers here have wondered why this book took twelve years to write, when the result -- according to so many -- was so very bad. If it had been a good book, that Auel was excited to write, it would have taken far less time. I believe that another reason for the repetitions is that the book was taking so long that Auel forgot what she was writing about -- or, if she didn't exactly forget, she at least needed to remind herself in detail, and assumed that all her readers would need the same prompting. She seemed to be unaware that reading a book takes far less time than writing it and that her loyal fans would not forget the events that took place a few pages earlier. This book must have been published for the money. Where was the editor? Where was the agent? But, ah, they are making money from this book too ... or who knows, maybe the published draft was far better than the original turned in by Ms. Auel.
Rating:
Summary: A dissapointing comeback
Review: When I first encountered the Earth's Children series, I was enthralled, and eagerly read the first four books. It was with great anticipation that I picked up the fifth book, all the years later. Talk about a disapointment! Ayla faces no new challenges...it's just the same formulas all over again. The spark has gone from the series. Even the long awaited birth of their child was boring. I hope the sixth book will be better, but I won't be holding my breath. The magic is gone.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious -- Auel can do better
Review: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Snort! Oh, excuse me, I must have fallen asleep over my copy of Shelters of Stone again. I felt almost obligated to read this book in spite of the bad press it's received because I read each of the four previous novels in this series. I didn't like Plains of Passage very much, but had high hopes that Shelters of Stone would recapture something of the feel of the first three books. Alas, Auel has presented us with a tedious doorstop of a book that in the end left me wondering why I bothered to work my way through the whole thing. The plot goes nowhere, there is little character development, and there is so much repetition of material that I found myself skimming pages more and more frequently as I progressed through the book. The whole thing is so badly edited and the conclusion is so abrupt that I was left with the impression that Auel walked away from her computer to get a cup of coffee and while she was gone someone transmitted the unpolished novel to the publisher without her knowledge. And the Mother's Song... Oh, God, the Mother's Song. What can I say that other reviewers haven't already said? It's one of the most outstanding terrible poems I've ever read, rivaling some of the stuff in "Very Bad Poetry" (edited by Ross and Kathryn Petras). Never mind the fact that it's repeated several times. One reading was more than enough to convince me that this is one of the worst poems ever written in the English language. It should be awarded prizes based on its sheer awfulness and the way it makes your hair stand on end when you read it. To be fair, I have to say that Shelters of Stone isn't ALL bad. I enjoy books that focus on social history, fiction or otherwise, so the descriptive passages about housing, hunting, and ritual that annoyed so many other reviewers were often interesting to me. In addition, I was happy to find that Ayla and/or Jondalar didn't invent the wheel, at least not yet. I've almost been expecting this to happen and was delighted to be disappointed in this respect. In short, there is very little new information in this book. Auel takes 700+ pages to tell us that Ayla and Jondalar are mated, that their daughter is born, and that Ayla has decided to become One Who Serves. Sorry, Amazon, but I can't recommend that people purchase this one. If you're devoted to the series and feel that you must read it, check it out at your friendly neighborhood library and save yourself the purchase price.
Rating: 
Summary: Good set up for the last book
Review: I read Clan of the Cave bear when I was 13 years old. I have read each book as it has come out. I will be 35 next month. It is a long time to stay with a series. I was afraid that after so long that I would have no more interest, but it caught me right back up again. I am glad that she mentions things from the older books. It would be hard to go back and read them all again, and I had forgotten a lot. It was nice to have my memory jogged again. I look at this book more as a set up for the last one. She has never before left a book so open ended. I think it would be bad for someone to read this without reading the first four in order.
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