Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I certainly agree with the majority of the reviewers that this book as a big diappointment. After waiting for many years to follow the continued journey of Ayla and Jondalar, we get a book that could have been written in a lot less time than 12 years - maybe 12 months! The first 350 pages of the book are pure filler - endless repetitions of greetings and titles - information from the first few books - in truth, absolutely nothing happens during the first 350 pages. But, even though the story picks up after page 350, it seems rushed - so much more could have been said in a lot fewer pages. The whole book seems like an introduction to book 6 and the final chapter of the Jondalar/Ayla saga. Yes, I will buy book 6; however, if a new reader were to pick up SOS, he or she would not understand why faithful readers were so excited about this book being published - it just doesn't capture the original exciting story of Ayla and Jondalar. And, if I were a new reader, it certainly wouldn't make me want to read the first few books to see what the fuss was about.
Rating:
Summary: Where is the story?
Review: Like everyone I have anxiously waited for 10 years for this book. When I learned it would be released in April I went to the library and began to reread the past 4 books so I would be up to speed. This book just didn't live up to the expectations and quality of the other books. We kept getting a "taste" of Ayla's super-natural powers with numerous flashbacks but no real story or experience from them. The story dragged on forever with landscape details and back story telling. I have a question, supposedly these people travel on foot because they have never seen horses. Why did it take them over 2 days to go 20 or so miles to the Summer Meeting? Weren't Ayla and Jondalar doing that or more daily in the Plains of Passage. Where was the much talked about Clan encounter? This book was not consistent with the others. Each previous book has covered several years. This one covered 8 or 9 months? I hope the 6th book doesn't hurry through 30 years just to end the story, and I also hope it doesn't take another 12 years to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Hoping for More DETAILS
Review: I just finished reading Shelters of Stone and I have to say that I expected more in the PLOT department. I enjoyed the new adventures of Ayla and Jondalar in the land of the Zelandonii. I appreciated that they have finally reached their destination and can rest... I wanted to learn so much more about "what happens next". I think that there are really only 5 or 6 major events in the story and they are, for the most part, left in limbo for the next book. I understand the concept of leave them wanting more... but I would have liked to get a few of the book' issues resolved in the 700+ pages. By the time I was at the end of the book, I felt that there was still so much story to tell... As I was preparing for the release of book 5 I did refresh my memory regarding the storylines of the other 4 books. I am sure any other fans did the same. Most of the repetition was not necessary. I got tired of reading the repetitive sections of the story and found that I was skimming the text until I got to something new... although I think that I too may have memorized the song of the Mother. How many meetings must be chaired for there to be any action on the part of the Zelandonii regarding Ayla's "new information" regarding flatheads. I was very interested with the storyline between Ayla and "The First", I suppose it could have been resolved sooner... not much of a surprise there, especially considering her history in the previous books has been sort of leading up to this. I got rather frustrated that I was the one with the realization before Ayla. Usually she is so perceptive... maybe with others and not herself??? This being said, I am still looking forward to book 6 and I hope that it will answer my questions and tie up all the loose ends in Ayla's Journey. I just hope that Ms. Auel gives me a lot more plot and a lot more credit.
Rating: 
Summary: Where is the rest of the book?
Review: I just finished this book, but it is definitely not a cohesive, self-contained story like the other 4 books. I shouldn't have bought hardback. Jean Auel has a great story to tell, but unfortunately she does not tell it very well in this installment.
Rating:
Summary: Just awful
Review: This really is a dreadful book. It's all setting, no plot. To save you the time, here's what happens: Ayla and hubby arrive at his hometown; Ayla demonstrates all her inventions; Ayla has baby. Yes, sportsfans, that's 750 pages worth! The book is hideously repetitive. If Ayla had shown off her Thread-Puller one more time, or if she enjoyed Pleasures with Jondalar again, I think I would have tossed my cookies. I wish Auel had written instead an anthropological treatise on early human life in southern France; that's what she's really interested in anyway. Definitely pass on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Long & boring
Review: This long-awaited book is just a long, boring review of Auel's previous books. There's no significant plot, only place descriptions (the same places over and over again), explanations about the animals, firestones and other discoveries (which we already read in detail in previous books), too-explicit sex (not that I mind sex, but I get tired of it), and bad naming skills (if you've managed to get to the end of the book, you'll know what I mean). I'm tired of Ayla being so perfect, of her always ending up within the top-rank people, of her being the smartest person on Earth (I guess she'll eventually invent the wheel), etc. "The plains of passage" was pretty boring, but it had some thrill in it. "The shelters of stone" is boring, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I'm very disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Say it ain't so, Jean
Review: As a fan excitedly anticipating this book, I couldn't wait to preorder and open it the day it arrived from Amazon. After reading one third of the story, I was ready to give up and use this 700-pager as a doorstop. Reading these reviews has actually been much more entertaining than the book itself. Ayla is so perfect and so Nancy Drew-nice, I want to smack her. I wish Jondalar would get bored himself and have an affair with a bad girl. And please, Jean, no description of minute-by-minute walking around and looking at scenery or conversational minutiae - it's BORING!! Your other books have been wonderful. Please get back the the exciting adventure and your readers will applaud.
Rating:
Summary: 741 pages of nothing
Review: I would have thought it impossible to write a 741 page book and manage to say absolutely nothing. Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about having spent good money on this book. I should've waited for the paperback edition, because then, at least, I could've traded it in at my book club. Repetition from the previous books in the series, coupled with reiterating passages from this worthless volume, made me skip several pages in disgust. In short, skip this one... you won't miss anything.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, sad, sad
Review: I wish I'd read the reviews before I rushed out and bought the book. I've been waiting with baited breath for 11 years for this book, and I couldn't be more disappointed. CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR was terrific; VALLEY OF THE HORSES was interesting; THE MAMMOTH HUNTERS was a little disappointing because of all the cavegirl meets caveboy, cavegirl loses caveboy, cavegirl gets caveboy back. But I enjoyed THE PLAINS OF PASSAGE, trying to figure out what part of Europe they must be in. I agree with a reviewer who said that it's amazing that an editor let this stuff fly. It totally pains me to say it, because I was such a fan. The book could have been cut in half if all the endless introductions were left out and the repitious backstory condensed. Even when the story was tired in the other books, I was interested in the healing aspects, the literary suppositions of religion, and the other anthropology insights. It read like a lot of cutting and pasting to me. Wish it hadn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the wait
Review: I have just finished SHELTERS, and for the most part I was pleased. I have also just read all the customer reviews on this addition to the Earth Series. I DO understand the frustrations that other readers felt about all the repetition, but I as for me, I read each or the earlier books when they were first published and have not re-read or reviewed them; therefore, I had forgotten much. For example, I had forgotten that no one had firestones, forgotten much of the adventures of Thonolan and Jondalar, forgotten about Baby, and that no one has figured out that sex between men and women is what creates children (although Alya suspects, of course), etc., etc. I mean, it HAS been 12 years. If you have just recently discovered the series, or have re-read these books, then yes, much will be repetitive and boring. But lucky for me,I never re-read books, even favorites like this series, because, frankly, there are just "too many books, so little time" - I will never finish all the books I want to read in my lifetime. And personally, I found book 4, PLAINS, to be the snoozer of the series. I just hope #6, which will surely bring Durc into the mix, is published before either I or Ms Auel dies.
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