The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children, #3)
Jean M. Auel
1 ratings • 1 reviews
The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children, #3)
Jean M. Auel
1 ratings • 1 reviews
Once again Jean M. Auel opens the door of a time long past to reveal an age of wonder and danger at the dawn of the modern human race. With all the consummate storytelling artistry and vivid authenticity she brought to The Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequel, The Valley of Horses , Jean M. Auel continues the breathtaking epic journey of the woman called Ayla. Riding Whinney with Jondalar, the man she loves, and followed by the mare’s colt, Ayla ventures into the land of the Mamutoi--the Mammoth Hunters. She has finally found the Others she has been seeking. Though Ayla must learn their different customs and language, she is adopted because of her remarkable hunting ability, singular healing skills, and uncanny fire-making technique. Bringing back the single pup of a lone wolf she has killed, Ayla shows the way she tames animals. She finds women friends and painful memories of the Clan she left behind, and meets Ranec, the dark-skinned, magnetic master carver of ivory, whom she cannot refuse--inciting Jondalar to a fierce jealousy that he tries to control by avoiding her. Unfamiliar with the ways of the Others, Ayla misunderstands, and thinking Jondalar no longer loves her, she turns more to Ranec. Throughout the icy winter the tension mounts, but warming weather will bring the great mammoth hunt and the mating rituals of the Summer Meeting, when Ayla must choose to remain with Ranec and the Mamutoi, or to follow Jondalar on a long journey into an unknown future.
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
2021:
Wanted the feel for this series, so I picked up where I'd left off in 2019, not far into book three. I'd forgotten quite how much pining and assumptions happened between Ayla and Jondalar--was painful to read, ESPECIALLY because pretty much all the members of the Lion camp see their struggles but refuse to help! It was exasperating.
Plus, I know Ayla is supposed to be super special and is the main character, but it was still obnoxious to have her be so damn perfect all the time and have invented/discovered flint and iron pyrite, domesticated animals, the sewing needle, and to have magical shaman powers too?
Listening to the audio cds was painful at the 1x, now that I'm used to audiobooks at a faster speed. I think it was more the narration, but frequently every characters just sounded like bad acting or completely idiotic. Auel doesn't hesitate to spell out the minutiae of everyone's thoughts and feelings and reasonings, which makes the whole thing drag.
Also that ending!! Ayla has been adopted by these people, accepted by these people, grown to really love them, and then in the space of the last 10 pages she's like "yup, I'm out, see ya never!" and just boogies...??
As much as I didn't really enjoy this re-listen, I'm weirdly wanting to continue the series?? I know the next entire book is a year's worth of travel and encountering different cultures...
2012:
These are very long books to listen to when really 3/4 of the novel is the two main characters having so many near-misses and complications. I mean, each of these characters are portrayed as being rational and pragmatic, yet they go for months in emotional turmoil and despair and never think to just be like "hey dude, I really love you and don't want to get with this other guy, so can you help me out here instead of silently pining for me?"
I enjoyed this book though, and it felt a bit more fast-paced than the previous ones. Maybe because it covers significantly less time than the others? One aspect that I hope is developed and explained a bit more in the next book is WHY the two main characters love each other. We still don't know much about J, and other than being good in bed I don't feel like these two are meant to be. But I hope I'll be shown wrong!
0