Helpful Score: 2
This was an amazing book, although some of the plot is just a little to convenient. (Such as Zolena conveniently having become obese and her and Ayla being buddies) I still love the story for the historical value and am constantly amazed by the authors creativity in trying to recreate what life was like for these people. I am looking forward to the conclusion of this series. Especially since the end of the book ended rather abruptly!
Helpful Score: 1
It was a long slow read. I enjoyed it, but never was really into it that much. Not as good as the older books. It was way too long of a time period since the last book.
Great Earth's Children Book!
Super installment of Ayla's story!
The 6th book in Jean Auel's Earth's Children series. This book ranks with Valley of Horses, Mammoth Hunters and Painted Caves as among my favorite. The character development is very well done. The scenery and ambiance are incredible. The inclusion of how they developed tools, animal as allies, and lived off the land are what kept me glued to the stories (I have a list of the herbs on a sticky note attached to the inside back cover for re4ference.)
I reread this entire series every 2 years as I miss the ambiance and enjoy my time in the story so much.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys not only a good story, but also learning something about how people most probably lived long ago. Combining her knowledge as a paleontologist with her impressive writing skills, Ms. Auel makes history come alive!
I reread this entire series every 2 years as I miss the ambiance and enjoy my time in the story so much.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys not only a good story, but also learning something about how people most probably lived long ago. Combining her knowledge as a paleontologist with her impressive writing skills, Ms. Auel makes history come alive!
This is a good read, but sometimes a slow read with some areas being overdone. How many times does the author have to rehash events from the previous four books? Every chapter it seems. Plus the sexual encounters between Ayla and Jondalar are forced as if the author just had to have something for filler to make the book longer. As others have said, I barely skim over the descriptive narrative and all the ridiculously long and overused "formal introductions" of characters to each other. This book could easily be half the number of pages and still be good.
good book. All in this series is a pleasure to read.
Excellent! One of my favorie books.
Kristin T. (wyldfairy) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 13 more book reviews
I love this entire series. The book pulled me in and I didn't want it to end. Ayla is an amazing and smart woman; Jondalar is equally smart and amazing. It was fun to learn about his family. Parts of the book left me happy, parts left me sad, and some left me angry; there was lot's of emotion. I always skim the more detailed, descriptive parts about the land or animals because they seem boring to me. However, the people, their interactions and way of life is fascinating! I'm sorry that I only have one more book to read in this series!
Lisa C. (LOST-IN-WEST-TEXAS) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 57 more book reviews
I love everything about this series, and each book just gets better. I am awaiting the next book eagerly!
Diane H. (jessicacd) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 41 more book reviews
I just couldn't get into this like I could the rest of the series.
This book was another fantastic addition to the Earth's Children series. It is as good as the others and leaves you wanting Auel to keep writing forever! I love the characters, and this edition continues their development and adds to the overall story of Ayla and Jondular...
Kathleen C. (auntsassy) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 41 more book reviews
I liked it. It was a little slow but definately worth the time.
Stacy T. (Mikivanmom) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 38 more book reviews
Encaptivating read....
Jennifer G. (paradisemommy05) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 63 more book reviews
Great book...
Mary W. (tammitwo) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 72 more book reviews
The Shelter of Stone opens as Ayla and Jondalar along with the animals friends complete their epic journey across Europe and are greated by Jondalar's people. The people of the Ninth Cave fascinate Ayla. Their cloths, customs, artifacts, even their homes formed in great cliffs are a source of wonder to her. Here she meets a fellow healer with whom to share her knowledge and skills. Great story.
This is a bit better than the last two. I understand there was 10 years between the last book and when this one came out ... but there was so much repetition of all the books in the series that we tended to get bored and lost focus. The few new parts were interesting. We enjoyed the part at the end with the births of Jonayla and Gray. Overall I still liked the first 2 books in the Earth's Children series the best.
excellent reading hours of excitement as the characters travel they way home
I was enjoying this series, especially all the information about life during the age of the glaciers, which is fascinating, but I never liked the unrealistically always-perfect sex, and it finally got to be too much. Someone else might be able to get past it. This is a whopping, 753-page hardcover. Quite a read for the right person.
Fifth in the series, this one depicts Jondalars family, and takes Ayla into contact with the Zelandonii. The book has some parts that drag, but overall a good read.
Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 1032 more book reviews
There are things about this I liked. I do like Auel giving descriptions of the geography, the way things might have been done, how people lived. I like the horses...But DAMN this book is repetitive. I can't count how many times Ayla tells the story of Whinny, of finding Jondalar, Wolf, the boy Rydag. Every.Single.Person mentions her accent, some of them multiple times. Almost everyone except the evillest of villains loves Ayla, who can do absolutely no wrong. At least the bit about spirits vs. "essence" is reduced to only maybe 10 times vs. every chapter. This book would have been a lot more interesting if the Zelandonii had not miraculously abandoned their prejudices against flatheads...just too unbelievable.
Marcia L. (marciakl) reviewed The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Bk 5) on + 14 more book reviews
Fourth in the Clan of the Cavebear series.
