Rating: 
Summary: Hooked on the past!
Review: I love Ms. Auel's books. I have read them and reread them several times. However, it has been 9 years since "Plains of Passage" was written. When are the next books being release? Are they being released? I certainly hope so. What happened to Jondalar and Ayla now that they are "home." Please tell me...now......!
Rating: 
Summary: Plains of Passage
Review: It is true that the book contains many long descriptions of the environment which get repetitive. However, they do (in the beginning) give you a very good idea of what the place was like at the time which adds to the feeling of being 'transported' by the book.Of course by the end, I start skipping pages of these descriptions of plantlife. Nevertheless, the books are enthralling and I'm so eager to read the next 2 books!! When will they be out? I might have to take a day or two off work! ;)
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Summary: The Plains of Passage (Audio version)
Review: I felt that this was the best book of the 4, so far. Here is the story of Ayla and Jondalar traveling for a year to Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii. The author takes you by the hand and discribes the sights, the people, the scents, the tastes, and even what people are thinking and feeling. All of this in great detail. The author has painted the detail of every scene with her words. You will have no choice. You will see it in your mind's eye almost as if you was there. You will feel Jondalar's excitement in going home, and feel Ayla's dread of what she thinks she will find there. When she recognizes the cave, you will feel her joy too. Not only are these books rich in detail, but they convey strong emotions to the reader. I laughed when the characters did, and also felt sorrow when they did. The author refers to this being a six book series. When the next book comes out, I will also be waiting in line for it.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book but ....
Review: A great book but not up to Auel's usual standard. This book is a bit too winding for me. I think there is only so much of ice age fauna and flora I want to know about! however as a conitnuation of Ayla and Jondalar's story it is a good book. I'm looking forward to the fith book though. The ending of this one is definitely a cliff hanger!
Rating:
Summary: enthralling
Review: after reading the fourth book in the earths children series, i eagerly await the fifth in the series.
Rating:
Summary: A Tough Read!
Review: I am a Auel fan, and this series is one of the best that I have read. I first read Cave Bears three years ago, it took me this long to read this one because of the reviews. On the other hand, I had to read it, as it is part of the series. The Postive: I grew to love Ayla and Jondalar more. There characters get more developed and learn about fears of the future and pain of the past. They finally make it to Jondalar's homeland and this book ties in together that great adventure back. I also got to see what old friends were now doing. The Negitive: Ayla and Jondalar become superhuman and basically can can invent more things than Edison and Franklin. It seems as if life is handed to them on a sliver platter. If there is a ripple in the water, they sail smoothly over it. I thought Auel spent a little too much time on Mammoths, as if she wanted to show off how much she knows about the extinct creatures. She does spend a great deal on detail, sometimes, just too much. I did overall enjoy the book, but it took me about a month to read it. (Which is the slowest amount of time I have ever taken to read a novel) I recommend it to a true Auel fan.
Rating:
Summary: Good but poorer than the earlier books
Review: Sad to say this book of the series left me a little unfulfiled. While there are parts that are as gripping as anything the Auel has written I think it could have been shortened by at least one to two hundred pages with tighter editing. While the background detail to this age is very interesting, when it goes on for page after page it can become tedious (especially as some of the descriptive passages seem to be repeated several times). The book also suffers from a slight bit of repitition in the plot content. A number of situations seem to be resolved in much the same way. The final annoyance for me is that after 950 pages (in my edition) which move very slowly at times, the first meeting of Jondolar and Ayla with some of his home tribe is then rushed by in about 20 pages and the novel abruptly ends. While I was exepcting this it was still irritating in that I felt slightly unrewarded for my perseverance in keeping with the novel. Some of the situations are extremely tense and the book had some twists that kept me going but ultimately this was not as good as the previous books in the series. Given that it is now 10 years since this book was written it would seems unlikely that we are going to get any more (which does add to my frustration). I would consider reading another in the series if it was published, because I do like the characters. Also given that the novel would not be dominated by a long journey I think it might have more character interaction and less descriptive passages, which would be to the benefit of a new book.
Rating: 
Summary: Plains of Passage
Review: First book was awesome! The rest gradually get really, really BORING! I am not going to get mean, so I'll just say this: this book was the biggest let down ever! I don't think that I will read the last one.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good!
Review: I would just like to say, I've read some other reviews on this book and alot of people said it was just plants and sex. Okay, I concede to the point that descriptions of plants can get a little boring, but alot of sex? No. There's over eight hundred pages and I'd be suprised if they did it every one hundred pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Excruciatingly Repetitive
Review: Don't get me wrong, this book, like all of this series is entertaining. I just wish the author could cut down on the constant repetition. Also is it really necessary to completely describe every bush, tree and rock and how they associate with every other bush, tree and rock? The story carries pretty well until the end which ends quite quickly compared to the rest of the book. I still await the next book but hope Jean Auel listens to her readers and addresses the most common complaint of repetition.
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