The Shelters of Stone: Earth's Children 5 [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

This must be the longest I have ever waited for the next book in a series. I bought the first one in 1984 when I left home for university, got absolutely hooked and avidly read them as they appeared, including The Plains of Passage, which was the last one in 1990. If I have to wait another twelve years for the next book in the series, I'll be nearly fifty and will have spent thirty years on this story.
So was it worth it and will I be anticipating the next book as eagerly? I'm not so sure. Oh, I'll read it - I have grown very fond of the heroine, but I found this book somewhat of a letdown. It mostly feels like scene-setting for the next book, and half the content seems to be retelling of the four books before (something that was already starting to irritate in The Plains of Passage, together with the too-dry lectures on flora, fauna and geography). Yes, the new people Ayla lives with need to know about her life, but it could have been done better. Jean Auel should really trust her readers more to know what has already happened - after all, we have had twelve years to read the story again and again. Compared to the scope of the plot in the earlier books, this is a bit feeble.
But I still want to know how it all ends. Meet you all at my fiftieth birthday party.

This book was a tremendous disappointment. It had none of the sense of life, survival and adventure of the other books. Jean Auel recaps far too much. You cannot recap four books without it becoming ovewhelming to the story. The book started really well but then carried on like an introduction the whole way through. All the potential story lines either ended abruptly and weakly or were never really referred to again. There were far too many repetitions of long introductions I think I got the point of them fairly early on and would have been happy to assume them rather than have them all listed again each time a new character came along. Though all the long descriptive passages are essential (interesting and enjoyable) there was too much of it about non relevant places. All in all I felt it was just an introduction to the next book and I was hoping for so much more.

I really, really wanted to love this book.

I have read the previous four at least 8 times each, averaging one or two volumes every 18 months over the past 20 years. With the latest release I have realised that the main joy of the previous volumes was Ayla's continual discoveries and innovations in survival situations. There are no discoveries in Shelters of Stone except for a limestone cave. An empty limestone cave. An empty limestone cave with blank white walls, perhaps the perfect symbol for this entire book. But that's only the start of the problems.

There was so much wasted potential here, so many, many plotlines that could have been explored, if only Ms Auel's passion had been present during the writing of it, but I'll get to that theory in a moment.

This book hurt to read, and it was irritating and finally it made me angry. I feel very let down. In an ordered list, here's why:

1. Throughout the previous three books, Jondalar made frequent references to his mother's mate, Willomar. In SoS, it was spelled Willamar. The first time I read it I thought I had found the first typo. After the 75th time, it was like getting popped with hot bacon fat. The author has been quoted as saying she changed the spelling because she felt it was more in keeping with how the character would have spelled his name. My question is, why is spelling an issue when it regards people who have no written language?

2. The instant Ms. Auel seemed to be flirting with a dramatic scene or actual character development, she interrupted-Sometimes In The Very Midst Of A Conversation(!)-with a page and a half treatise on why a certain oil might be used for a stone lamp...

3. There was a cast of a 75-80 characters that reminded me of those life-size cardboard cut-outs you buy in movie memorabilia shops. Why? In "The Mammoth Hunters" readers were introduced to nearly that many, yet each character had a distinct personality that added to the story. Maybe I just answered my own question...there was no story here, so why should I expect memorable people?

4. There are two ways to write sequels. One is to assume the previous books have been read and the other is to approach each book as a standalone. In the case of the Earth's Children series I would recommend that Ms. Auel assumes 95% of her public has read, re-read and recall with love the previous books and that they deserve the finest literary experience she is capable of delivering. I've been able to deal with repetition in previous volumes by skipping *that paragraph or so* and getting back to the story. In SoS I found myself skipping Entire Pages and hoping there was a story to get back to. And what is up with this Mother's Song? Not only is it too long and mind-numblingly banal, it is repeated three times and added as an addendum at the end. At this rate, I almost expect to see it with background music on a CD as well. My god. In Ms Auel's favour, she did not once mention that wolverine fur is great on hoods because they don't frost up from your breath. It's not much, but I am willing to give credit where credit is due. The major difficulty was the repetition, in some cases lifted word for word for **several pages** from the previous books, an obvious and inexcusable example of the purest laziness I have ever seen. And how many times must we read what we have read before, told again and again to different characters? And the long, drawn-out introductions including ties to everyone you've ever known? Get surnames, people! Sorry, I am starting to froth at the mouth. And repeat myself.

5. Misspellings, contextual inconsistencies and sophomoric writing. example: page 413:

"It seemed like a long time since he had held her like this, then she realized it had been a long time."

This is SO Wrong. If this was a first time effort, this book would never have seen the light of day. No one would have published it without serious editing, and even then probably not, for the simple fact that it happened to be 700-plus pages in search of A Plot.

In closing, borrow it if you have to, read it and spread the word:

We, the faithful readership, have been well and truly swizzed on this one. And that's a shame.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 101 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

 

5.0 out of 5 stars A good read.
I enjoyed this book and it is a substantial read. Some readers might find the explicit sex sceens offensive, My 85 year old Mother was somewhat shocked by them, but still enjoyed... Read more

Published 1 month ago by McC1

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad I didn't have to wait *years* to read this- I would have been left feeling disappointed!
I'm a fairly recent reader to this series and as the title of my review suggests, I'm so glad that I haven't had to wait years to play catch up with these like some other readers... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Nicola F (Nic)

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of the four previous books
The Shelters Stone is definetely a must-read if you have started on the Earth's Children - also if you thought you had finished the series back in 1990 with Plains of Passage

Published 4 months ago by Christine G. Muurholm

5.0 out of 5 stars brillent
i love this book all jean m auel books i can,t put down they r so interesting and want to read to end. well done for another good read

Published 6 months ago by ypbland

5.0 out of 5 stars She has done it again
Another excellent book to add to the Earths Children collection, not my favourite one of the series but its not my least favourite either. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Emily27uk

5.0 out of 5 stars sad
This was my last book of this series wonderful but sad that it has finished. Cant wait to read them all again.

Published 14 months ago by Dtmorris

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent read from Jean Auel
Once again, Jean Auel has come up with a fantastic book. I was a bit slow in purchasing this one after having read the previous four and I read them all again before reading it. Read more

Published 15 months ago by weighman

1.0 out of 5 stars Atrociously bad
After finishing the doorstop "Plains of Passage" I was not looking forwards to reading this latest book in the saga (apparently there is one more to come but not yet published)... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Isis

2.0 out of 5 stars The Book That Just Repeats
Having read all the other books in the 'Earth's Children' series, I am very sorry to say that the 5th instalment is the worst of the lot. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Esofagus

5.0 out of 5 stars great addition to the series
I had read the first 4 books in this series some considerable time ago and really enjoyed each one. Whilst visiting Amazon to buy a book for my granddaughter, I noticed this book... Read more

Published 17 months ago by P. Roderick

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 101 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Search Listmania!