Rating: 
Summary: A good book, but not the best
Review: I liked Clan of the Cave Bear, and got the next book, Valley of the Horses. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. It is a very good book for the person who likes some history, but Ayla keeps on inventing things, which makes it a little weird, because every second she invents something new. The author also started to add more sex, and then in the later novels, that's all there was. I recommend it to people, but I think that Clan of the Cave Bear was probably the best book out of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A sad execution of a idea that deserves better.
Review: This book is the sequel to "The Clan of the Cave Bear" and apparently the second in a four part series. In "The Clan of the Cave Bear" the author starts off with a great idea: exploring human relationships in prehistoric times when mankind had evolved into two contemporary branches. This clever premise is enough to sustain the original despite a worrying tendency to read twentieth century ideas and attitudes into stone age characters.In "The Valley of Horses" a trickle becomes a flood. Our heroine, a Cro-Magnon raised by Neanderthals, is banished from her adopted patriarchal society, in part for demonstrating that women, too, are capable of hunting. Forced into a solitary existence, she proceeds to discover how to generate fire from flint and iron, domesticates animals, learns to ride a horse and invents the spear thrower. One wonders if movable type and the transistor are next. Her latter achievement is accomplished in conjunctio! n with her significant other, a Cro-Magnon from a more advanced and (naturally) matriarchal society, who evinces all the characteristics of the archtypal sensitive male. He accepts female leadership, cries, shows concern for women's sexual satisfaction, and eagerly enters into a mutually supportive realtionship with our heroine. The term "stone age yuppies" comes to mind. The book degenerates into a ham handed projection of late twentieth attitudes onto the stone age, with a strong emphasis on feminism, leading me to believe that the author is either utterly incapable of transcending her own culture or so obsessed with making a point that she loses sight of what she is trying to do. A sad execution of a idea that deserves better.
Rating: 
Summary: After "Clan", Auel seems to have forgotten how to write....
Review: It sounds a bit harsh, but there it is. As I was reading "Valley of Horses," I could hard;ly understand how a woman who could write something as enchanting and interesting as "Clan of the Cave Bear" could degenerate to such...drivel. Here's the story: Ayla, the plucky cro-magnon raised by neanderthals is all alone, playing a sort of female Dr. Doolittle/Pamela Lee to the animals in the valley she inhabits. All she really wants is to belong somewhere...i.e. to have a mate of her own. Enter Jondalar, a sort of paleolithic Fabio, on a journey toward...whatever destiny lies before him. On the way he has fun hopping into bed (VERY graphically) with just about every pretty cave-woman he comes across. WHAT HAPPENED? The beauty of the last book was the originality and believability of the characters. You really felt for them, especially Ayla, Iza, Creb, Brun, and some of the others. This Jondalar is a two-dimensional male-pinup admired far and wide for his incredible schlong (I'm not kidding). Ayla whines incessantly. Her animal friends don't provide too much snappy conversation. There really ARE no other characters, except maybe Jondalar's younger brother, who's about as fascinating as a slice of spam. It's also not so well-written. Do we really need three chapters on the building of a boat? I mean all the little intricate details? Do we need all these lengthy descriptions of food, tupper ware, and so on? Better if Auel had used all those chapters and pages to work on her plot and her characters. Here's the thing: "Clan" is REALLY good book. Don't let this review dissuade you from it by any means! Read it! Enjoy it! I certainly did! Just pretend it's the ONLY book in the series. Or make up your own ending.
Rating: 
Summary: liberated woman, sensitive man, in prehistoric costume drama
Review: I remember reading this several years ago--and I must regretfully admit I did read it all the way through.But I never read another of Ms. Auel's books. Couldn't. My one-word review to friends? "Paleoporn!" Seems to me that in 20 years it will be laughably apparent that this fable is not about prehistory at all, but about the free and independent fantasy woman we wish we could be, and the perfect relationship we'd like to have with that supremely sensitive and sexy man. For those who want their bodice ripping adventures to have a little extra in the way of costume drama and historical research, I guess this would be a treat, but I have to say I found it hilariously anachronistic and soon-to-be dated. Any historian could nail this production within a five-year period of its publication. I think Ayla probably looks sort of like Gloria Steinem...don't you?
Rating: 
Summary: Excellant!
Review: Jean Auel has written yet another wonderful book! She describes Ayla's yearning to find people of her own kind, but how the main character is also skeptical and worried. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time!
Rating:
Summary: Captivating
Review: Can't wait for the follow on to the Plains of Passage!!
Rating:
Summary: You have to love history and love stories to enjoy it
Review: Though I haven't read her last novel I love this the best.I've always been fascinated by history and believe you have to be to appreciate this book.Reading about her surival techniques as well as every day responsibilities were quite interesting.She was a couragous woman to venture out into the unknown having been forced to leave everything behind including her son.And of course the love story kept me in suspense.It made me at times want to skip ahead and find out when Ayla and Jondalar realize they are in love.I can't wait to read "Plains of Passage" and strongly recommend these novels to history lovers like myself.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get any better than this!!!
Review: This is the best book in the Earth's Children series thus far. The details that some have scoffed at, make this story all the more believable. I love ALL of these well researched details; from the description of the steppes to the description of each plant and its uses. No where have I found a story more touching or brought to life in such vivid and colorful detail. Ayla is strength, fierce courage, gentleness, and naivete` all wrapped into one. As for Jondalar; this world sure could use a few more of his kind. The passion between these prehistoric lovers is hot enough to make the pages ignite. Like I said before; it doesn't get any better than this.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it could have been.
Review: Uummm...A little too much sex for me, an 8th grader. Swithcing on and off on Ayla's and Jondalar's life was a little bit bothersome. I liked the part where Ayla lived alone and adopted her two pets, but the trust between Baby and herself is a little curious.
Rating:
Summary: Mediocre follow up to Clan
Review: I agree with the reader from Calif...Auel's novels degenerate quickly after Clan. The next one is worse yet...
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