She then dresses the animal, which entails gutting and skinning the beast.ĭuring the journey, suspense does arise after an encounter with a prehistoric thug and his crew of miscreants who have terrorized caves across the region, yet this incident concludes too quickly. One of the new book’s more captivating passages, in fact, describes how Ayla single-handedly kills a menacing wolverine while her infant daughter naps on a blanket nearby, protected by her loyal pet wolf.
In the course of the series, she has also become a shaman, herbalist, horse whisperer, fire starter, inventor, linguist, good cook and beautiful, loving wife. With her family and the First, Ayla embarks on what is called a Donier Tour, a pilgrimage to visit sacred caves across the region as part of her training to become a spiritual leader one day.Īyla’s hunting prowess is just one of the many skills acquired through the years transforming her into a prehistoric MacGyver. Her descriptions of the obvious, inner monologues, mundane tasks (Ayla preparing tea), the lengthy formal salutations and constant reciting of songs become tedious and distracting from the dramatic mission that Ayla finds herself on as “Painted Caves” opens.Īt the end of the fifth book, Ayla was chosen as an acolyte to a spiritual leader known as the First (that’s short for the First Among Those Who Serve the Mother). It doesn’t help that Auel also falls into the habit of incessant repetition as she presents her extensively researched narrative of a time period dating to about 25,000 years ago and set in the region of Europe that would become France.
(The only thing more detailed than one of Auel’s descriptive passages is probably an entry in an encyclopedia.)įor some of today’s readers accustomed to receiving information in nanoseconds, this pacing will seem a bit sluggish. But readers have loved the uncertainty of Ayla’s hazardous future as well as the detail Auel brings to Ayla’s world. No small feat considering that the books average about 700 pages. Over the years, her journey has engrossed fans and turned the series into a bestselling phenomenon - more than 45 million books sold.
She’s come a long way from the outcast of the first book. Ayla is now mated to Jondalar and mother to a baby girl, Jonayla. “The Land of Painted Caves,” her sixth and final installment, picks up where “The Shelters of Stone” left off. It’s been 31 years since readers were introduced to Ayla, a 5-year-old orphaned Cro-Magnon girl adopted by Neanderthals in “The Clan of the Cave Bear,” the first book in Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series.
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