Rating: 
Summary: Worth the wait
Review: I thought the book was very good. It does get a little boring to me because of so much explicit detail written in on everything. The book is around 750 pages but well worth the read. Can't wait for the final book.
Rating:
Summary: Ayla finally meets Jondalar's family.
Review: The year long journey from the lands of the Mammoth Hunters in her last book; Plains of Passage is over.Ayla meets Jondalar's mother and sister and his spurned girlfriend who he left behind. Marona despises Ayla and tries her best to embaress her but infact it strengthens her instead. But when they discuss the Clan members with Marthona, Ayla's ties to them is revealed but they do not mind her ties to them except for a few members of the Zeladonii who don't like the Clan. I have read this book within 24 hours after I got it last Sunday morning. My mom is right now reading it, so far I give it four stars. It is a little off from Plains of Passage and Mammoth Hunters but it is good.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for such a long wait
Review: I have been waiting for this book for years and now that it s out I finished it in one day! It's great Ayla and Jondalar are finally home and they make wonderful friends despite ayla's background. Forget about the book being long it has great desciptions and the interaction between all 80+ characters is simplay amazing. I think Auel has outdone herself with this one. A definate must have for anyone interested in historical fiction or the Ice age.
Rating: 
Summary: mildly compelling book; something for everyone.
Review: This story is a continuation of the saga of Ayla and Jondalar. If you have forgotten the last books, never fear, every past event and vignette is told (and retold) often. This book has something for everyone but is based on the drama of prehistoric humans trying to eke out a living by merely hunting and gathering. Interspersed with this are lectures/discussions on society, early cooking methods, herbology, abortion(!), mythology, racism, more racism, mating rituals, mysticism and anthropology. Every few pages there are also endless introductions as Ayla meets the Zelandonii. And, of course, just when the reader is about to be lost from the umpteenth repetition of the phrase, "Ninth cave of the Zelandonii", Ayla and Jondalar escape the crowds of Zelandonii, go off on their own, and engage in the steamy romance that has made them famous, and made these books unsuitable for children.
The actual plot does not progress much other than Ayla trying to settle into Zelandonii society, mating with Jondalar, and having her baby, Jonayla.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time!
Review: After over a decade I'd anticipated this book and the news of its release with joy. I wasn't disappointed. I knew that Alya would have some trouble being accepted by all of Jondalar's people, I also knew that eventually she would be accepted because of her skills as a healer and spiritual leader. I am now anticipating the 6th and final book in the series and wonder how long that one will take.
Rating: 
Summary: The mammoths mate again
Review: Once again, Jean Auel's gigantic sprawling saga of Ayla (proving that there were preppies in the Stone Age)staggers to its' feet and lurches forward. The problem is, it lurches forward for something like 700 pages. Ayla has journeyed with Jondalar (her mate) home to his people. All of them have names like Marona, Farona, and my Sharona (sorry about that) and they mostly welcome her. Ayla goes about her usual tall blond medicine woman persona (it's catching) while sharing pleasures with Jondalar, and being the very best cave person she possibly can be. All the while she is tormented that her new family may discover her Neanderthal heritage and tragic past. Let us leave the neolithic Martha Stewart to her pleasures and reread Diana Gabaldon. Forget it.
Rating:
Summary: Monotonous and Inaccurate
Review: I loved Clan of the Cave Bear, but after that, each book in the series got worse. Auel has taken what could have been a great prehistoric fiction series and turned it into soft-core erotica. While reading the book, I couldn't help but get the impression that she spent more effort on the sex scenes than on the culture of the Zelandonii. The Zelandonii culture is virtually identical to all other Cro-Magnon cultures encountered throughout the series. I highly doubt that all prehistoric humans had the same ideals and worshipped the same deity in the real world, yet Auel paints them that way. I get the feeling that the culture of the people in these books represents Auel's ideals of a perfect world, with no warfare, no religious hatred, and no male dominance. And while these are among the ugliest aspects of human nature, denial of their existence does not make for an interesting or accurate novel. The characters are shallow- Jondalar is portrayed as nothing more than a sex object, Ayla is still completely unaware of herself, and the entire culture is encased in an extremely unrealistic sexual innocence that simply enhances the sex scenes- does anybody really think they were unaware of the connection between sex and childbirth? The only character in the novel with any depth is Brukeval, but even then it's not much. I enjoyed the setting of the novel though, and will probably get the next one, as books set in this time period are hard to come by. Hopefully, the next book will be more like Clan of the Cave Bear.
Rating:
Summary: Prelude to Book 6
Review: I got interested in this series by accident. I rented 'The Mammoth Hunters' from an audio book rental place a few years ago. I listened to the book and I was hooked. I have purchased the entire series that Jean Auel has written so far. It is a 6 book series, but only 5 books have been written so far. This is the 5th. This book does not come up to the level of story telling that the previous books did.
* It is important to read the previous 4 books to understand some of the things mentioned in this book.
* The author has included more of the recent discoveries about cave society in her book at the expense of the story itself.
* Unlike previous books in this series, the author raises many questions in this book which she leaves unanswered.
* I feel that this book is not complete. It is only a prelude to the final book in this series. I fell that this book is worth buying. But only if you are a fan who has read the previous 4 books and are intending on buying the final book when it comes out.
Rating:
Summary: Cave people soap opera
Review: I have never seen so much padding in a book, ever. It is worse than General Hospital that my mother watched for so many years. My feeling is that chapters were given to hired writers while Jean Auel was on vacation and the writers weren't very good. I think Jean's readers deserve something much better. Carol
Rating:
Summary: Love has no time.
Review: The series written by Jean M. AUEL "Earth's Children" I beleve is one of the most inspiring series of books out there. Yes it a series based in prehistoric ice age and the accention of man as the dominant species, but many over look that it is an moving love story. Its sory line has significance even to this day. Ayla cromagnon woman raised by neaderthals has to cope with being a minority in a male dominant society. It deals with racial inequalities, mix marriages ,standing up for what you believe in, and the power of women. It teaches that flexability,family, and tolerence is what make us human. It teaches perserverence, fortitude, and resilience when faced with survival. If your life depended on grouping with others for survival, it would you give a life altering experience that few have known. I believe todays society would benifit from this. Often I have wondered if I lived in prehistoric times would I have the courage of AYLA and all she faced. These books offer that experience to readers and also teaches early birth of moral values. The love between AYLA and JONDALAR is very real, and they faced many things that young and old alike face today.
It also ponders the question when face with over welming odds that humans create, adapt, perserveer. I have recommend this series to all that can read. The sex scenes are just that, sex in the raw form, not shameful, or imoral just a very natural wonderful showing of love. Many only know the movie with Darrl Hanna as AYLA in clan of the cave bear, which I beleve she did a wonderful job, but that only scatches the surface of the wonder of ALYA full story. These books are self contained so each are a story in of them selves. Very easy reading and imformative. One you can not put down and will have you waiting for more.
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