Jean M. Auel's series of books, called the Earth Children series is one of my all-time favorite reads. The series is intended to be a series of 7 books, the first one was published in 1980 and the 5th one was published in 2002. I spent an agonizing 6 years waiting for the release of the 5th book and now I'm waiting for the next one in the series.
The Background
Imagine a time 35,000 years ago, during the Great Ice Age when humans were trying to establish themselves on the earth. Imagine a time of endless discovery and possibility when all that early man was limited to were the bounds of his own potential and curiosity. Jean M. Auel breathes life into this period of time in our history with her vivid writing and descriptions of the language, customs, clothes, geography, animal and plant life and the professions of the Early Man. The races depicted in this series are the Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, who are both human species but fundamentally different in the nature of their evolution.
Auel's World
Throughout the series, the Neanderthals are referred to as the Clan (from Clan of the Cave Bear) and the Cro-Magnons are referred to as the Others. The physical and evolutionary differences between the Clan and the Others lead to a natural enmity between the two and in history we have seen that one race is totally wiped out while the Cro-Magnons evolve into present day Homo Sapiens. The Others can communicate by speaking, while the Clan with the physiogonomy of their jaws cannot and so they communicate through guttural growls and a rich, fully developed, sign language. The nature of the brains of the two species are also different, while The Others brains are more receptive to new ideas, the brains of the Clan depend on 'memories', things which they have learned through generations but not so open to new ideas. Hence, men and women in the Clan have their own respective places - the men hunt while the women gather food and look after the children. Auel's theory is that even if they men and women of the Clan wished to try to learn a new skill, like the men tried to learn to gather food, they could not because they were limited by their brains. All the books, have the central underlying theme of hatred and enmity between the two species, with the Others often brutalising and raping the Clan women for sport. The general norm is for the Clan and the Others to leave each other alone, but when they do meet, there are confrontations and pitched battle.
The Story - Clan of the Cave Bear
The Clan of the Cave Bear is the story of Ayla, a Cro-Magnon baby who is adopted by the Clan after an earthquake claims the lives of all the members of her tribe. The medicine woman of the Clan, Iza, sees the baby Ayla, half starved and dying and her maternal instincts are aroused and she convinces her brother, Brun, who is the head of the Clan to let her adopt the baby. The baby of the Others is regarded with natural distrust by the members of the Clan. But with the influence of Iza, the medicine woman, and her brother Creb, the spiritual leader of the Clan or the Mog-ur, as her adoptive parents the rest gradually come to accept her as different. As Ayla grows with the Clan and learns their ways, Iza and Creb come to love her as a daughter, even though they spend a lot of time agonizing over the differences which make her do things which are anathema to the Clan elders. The story follows Ayla through her childhood, pre-teens, through the birth of her baby, Durc, until the time that she is banned from the Clan at the age of 16. How and why is something I will leave readers to discover.
The book is intensely absorbing with some descriptive writing and extremely well thought out characters. Each character detailed here brings a depth to the story, while Ayla is one of those immortal characters (and she's the original feminist :)). The every-day activities of the Clan or their struggles for survival are depicted beautifully. The strength of the book lies in the in-depth knowledge which Auel brings to us of the lives of the Clan - their dwellings, the plants they used to forage for, their medicinal skills, their hunting techniques, their flint knapping techniques, their spiritual beliefs and their relationships with each other and with other tribes.
The Sequel(s)
~ The Valley of the Horses
Ayla after being banned from the Clan, starts to look for her own people, the Others. She doesnt find them, but finds a valley, named the Valley of the Horses by her, where she must take protection against the coming winter. The book follows three years in Ayla's life which she spends in the Valley, surviving alone against all odds and taming a horse, Whinney, and a lion, Baby, for company. A parallel storyline follows the travels of Jondalar and Thonolan of the Zelandoni, a tribe of the Others, until they arrive at Ayla's valley. Jondalar and Ayla fall in love at the end of this book.
~ The Mammoth Hunters
Intending to make a short trip, before the winter is upon them, Ayla and Jondalar head out of the Valley and meet a group of people called the Mamutoi or the Mammoth Hunters. This tribe hunts the wooly mammoth in winter, hence their name. Ayla's many talents, make her beloved among the Mamutoi and she is adopted by them into their tribe. Ayla also tames a wolf, while staying with the Mamutoi. At the end of this book, Jondalar who is longing for his home sets out to return to the Zelandoni, taking Ayla with him.
~ Plains of Passage
This book is mainly about their journey back to the Zelandoni, a journey which takes them several months. The two tall, blonde strangers riding horses and accompanied by a wolf strike fear into most of the people they encounter along the way. Before Ayla, animals were looked upon by the early men as food or predators, so to have some animals willingly follow her and obey her is an awesome sight for most to behold. But, Ayla and Jondalar try to alleviate people's prejudices and also spend the journey teaching everyone they meet some of the wonderful discoveries that they have made. The end of this book takes Ayla and Jondalar on a death-defying trek over a glacier and puts them within reach of the Zelandoni camp.
Through the above three books, Auel makes the journey of discovery delightful for her readers. We read about the discovery of making fire from stones, soap, crossbows, terracotta, dye etc all through her vivid imagination and the most beautiful part is that you can imagine these happening the way she narrates them. The geography is beautifully detailed especially in the Plains of Passage and bring the journey to life in front of our eyes.
~ Shelters of Stone
The above 4 books I would recommend without reservation, but this one I would recommend only to die-hard Ayla fans! Ayla and Jondalar reach the Zelandoni camp and are welcomed with open arms. The Zelandoni is a huge tribe of people that live in present day France. Ayla and Jondalar start their lives here by teaching everything they have learned in their travels, by impressing upon the Zelandoni the need to have dialogue with the Clan, by having a beautiful wedding and finally Ayla has a baby girl, Jonayla. Most of the book is a rehash of the previous ones, especially all the discoveries and so it can be a plodding read. Also, by undertaking to write about the Zelandoni, which is a huge tribe of people, Auel has lost her magic of creating fully-developed characters.
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