Earth's Children Series by Jean M.Auel

Books from Earth's Children Series - why I love them?

I encountered the first book from this series -The Clan of the Cave Bear - when I was in the high school and I have read it in two days! Since this book has 480 pages, I hardly slept these two days! Ayla's story so preoccupied my attention and my imagination that I couldn't let it go until I was finished!

Afterwards, in next two decades other books from this series were published - 4 of them: The Valley of the Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, The Shelters of Stone.

Let me share with you a little secret: every and each time a new book was released, I went from beginning and read all of them from the start! So, I read - The Clan of the Cave Bear five times! And loved it each time!

Why I loved it? Because it brought me to some different place, totally forgotten but still somewhere in my bones. Prehistory is described in such a way that even those who hate learning about human or earth's history, will find it appealing and interesting!

The Author Jean M.Auel

Jean Marie Auel (), born Jean Marie Untinen (born February 18, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois), is an American writer. She is best known for her Earth's Children books, a series of historical fiction novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals. Her books have sold 34 million copies worldwide in many translations.

read the rest of the Wikipedia article

Quote by Author

From the beginning, the series has been story driven - I began with a story idea - but research feeds it.

The Clan of the Cave Bear

1st Book

When her parents are killed by an earthquake, 5-year-old Ayla wanders through the forest completely alone. Cold, hungry, and badly injured by a cave lion, the little girl is as good as gone until she is discovered by a group who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. This clan, left homeless by the same disaster, have little interest in the helpless girl who comes from the tribe they refer to as the "Others." Only their medicine woman sees in Ayla a fellow human, worthy of care. She painstakingly nurses her back to health--a decision that will forever alter the physical and emotional structure of the clan. Although this story takes place roughly 35,000 years ago, its cast of characters could easily slide into any modern tale. The members of the Neanderthal clan, ruled by traditions and taboos, find themselves challenged by this outsider, who represents the physically modern Cro-Magnons. And as Ayla begins to grow and mature, her natural tendencies emerge, putting her in the middle of a brutal and dangerous power struggle.

The Clan of the Cave Bear

by: Jean M. Auel

Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 11/15/2009)

Although Jean Auel obviously takes certain liberties with the actions and motivations of all our ancestors, her extensive research into the Ice Age does shine through--especially in the detailed knowledge of plants and natural remedies used by the medicine woman and passed down to Ayla. Mostly, though, this first in the series of four is a wonderful story of survival. Ayla's personal evolution is a compelling and relevant tale.

Clan of the Cave Bear

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The Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children)

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Clan of the Cave Bear

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Clan of the Cave Bear

by: Jean M. Auel

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Quote by Author

I had an idea for a story about a young woman who was living with people who were different, not just superficially different - such as hair colour, or eye colour, or skin colour - but different in some significant way.

The Valley of Horses

2nd Book

The story line in VALLEY is wonderful. I personally believe each of us has a soul mate and I love stories that have this plot element (call me Romantic). I don't think I am giving away much to suggest Ayla has one too. To find out, you have to read this book, or sneak a peak at reviews written about later volumes in the series.

The Valley of Horses

by: Jean M. Auel

Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 11/15/2009)

It is actually 2 stories in one. One depicting the lonely survival of an outcast woman, using intelligence and creativity to not only survive, but to grow and learn to adapt. The other story follows the life of two brothers on a journey into the unknown and dangerous world.

The Valley of Horses

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Valley of Horses (Earth's Children)

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Valley of Horses (Earth's Children®)

by: Jean M. Auel

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Quote by Author

It took some time to gather the research and develop it into the storyline, and to finally finish an origin myth poem that I had been working on for twenty years.

The Mammoth Hunters

3rd Book

The heroine, 18-year-old Ayla, cursed and pronounced dead by the "flathead" clan that reared her, now takes her chances with the mammoth-hunting Mamutoi, attended by her faithful lover, Jondalar. Gradually overcoming the prejudice aroused by her flathead connection, Ayla wins acceptance into the new clan through her powers as a healer, her shamanistic potential, her skill with spear and slingshot and her way with animals (she rides a horse, domesticates a wolf cub, both "firsts," it would seem, and even rides a lion). She also wins the heart of a bone-carving artist of "sparkling wit" (not much in evidence), which forces her to make a painful choice between the curiously complaisant Jondalar, her first instructor in love's delights, and this more charismatic fellow.

The Mammoth Hunters

by: Jean M. Auel

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/15/2009)

Jean Auel does it again, painting a picture so vivid, you think you live in the ice age, developing charactars with so much emotion and compassion you wish you could step inside the book and guide them. Auel does not accomplish this by the seat of her pants either. She has done meticulous research, adding accurate details which serve the legitimacy of the entire epic. Of course there is fictitous surmise, but done in the style of an historic novel, putting a make believe story in the context of a true back drop. Read these in order and then read them again as you wait off the next installment!

The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children)

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children®)

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Plains of Passage

4th Book

Plains of Passage is not only an adventure story, but also a fascinating journey. Not only so for the characters who are on a great trek across Ice Age Europe, but also for the reader. We have followed Ayla, the main character, through three previous books. It seems impossible that Auel can add any more detail to the plethora of research she has done for her previous books, but again we are introduced to so much more about pre-historic Europe in this chapter of Ayla's life. There are many more tribes of people that we meet, and many more discoveries are made.

The Plains of Passage

by: Jean M. Auel

Amazon Price: $10.17 (as of 11/15/2009)

Auel's gifted writing style takes us places the ordinary imagination can't go unprompted. Reading about Ayla's adventures and discoveries has sparked my interest in so many things, including medicinal prairie herbs and wondering how to reveal my own totem.

The Plains of Passage

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children®)

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Shelters of Stone

5th Book

In The Shelters of Stone, Ayla meets the Zelandonii tribe of Jondalar, the Cro-Magnon hunk she rescued from Baby, her pet lion. Ayla is pregnant. How will Jondalar's mom react? Or his bitchy jilted fianc�e? Ayla wows her future in-laws by striking fire from flint and taming a wild wolf. But most regard her Neanderthal adoptive Clan as subhuman "flatheads." Clan larynxes can't quite manage language, and Ayla must convince the Zelandonii that Clan sign language isn't just arm-flapping. Zelandonii and Clan are skirmishing, and those who interbreed are deemed "abominations." What would Jondalar's tribe think if they knew Ayla had to abandon her half-breed son in Clan country?

The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children)

by: Jean M. Auel

Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 11/15/2009)

Ayla is one of those history-changing people that pop into existence now and then. People are whining because Ayla makes all sorts of new discoveries, like how to use rocks to make sparks, where babies come from, how to make a pole drag, etc. Well, people like that DO and HAVE existed. Look at Leonardo da Vinchi and Einstein for examples.

The Shelters of Stone

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children®)

by: Jean M. Auel

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The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children, Book 5)

by: Jean M. Auel

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Have you Heard a Buzz?

Online talk is that we can expect 2 more books in close future to be published by Auel as sequals to Earth's Children!

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Tipi Tipi May 9, 2009 @ 3:44 pm

This is very lovely to read and rest in this lens, and enjoy your love and passion for each of these amazing books. Woot!

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SolarFeline SolarFeline Dec 29, 2008 @ 8:45 pm

Great lens. Loved the books and can't wait until the next one arrives! Even loved the movie although everyone else hated it.

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sparklenz sparklenz Dec 10, 2008 @ 11:18 pm

Any idea when the next one will be out? That will be a rare hardcover book purchase event for me!

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getbackup getbackup Dec 3, 2008 @ 6:40 am

Neat stuff! Thanks for this lens!! 5 stars

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OhMe OhMe Nov 13, 2008 @ 5:13 pm

These are the most thought provoking books that I have ever read. I refer to them all the time. You have done a wonderful job on this lens. I enjoyed it very much. Thanks.

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Joan4 Joan4 Nov 13, 2008 @ 4:30 pm

Oh my favorites ever! I think these books changed my perception of the world and myself. I cried when Valley of the Horses ended. I think Valley was my favorite one of the series. Powerful amazing reading and research Auel did for those books! Great lens! Hint: if you have not read these, make yourself read the first 100 pages of Clan of the Cave Bear and you will be hooked! 10000 stars for you!

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ChloeComfort ChloeComfort Nov 7, 2008 @ 11:01 am

Love the whole series and just like you, have read them multiple times. The only down side - waiting for the next one! Great works take great time so I really can't complain. Eagerly anticipating the next volume in the series. Kudos on the lens and much appreciation from this die hard fan :-)

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JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Sep 12, 2008 @ 5:33 am

I've not yet read The Clan of the Cave Bear, but after reading your lens, I am interested. Is it in a Kindle ebook yet? 5*****