Darlene

Alice Hoffman is amazing!
This book felt like a series. In fact, I often thought as I read it that I would love to see it fattened and become a television series or at least a book series.

Each time period and the person it represented left me wanting more. From the very first character I wanted more than the lifespan that was given. What happened next to Hallie Brady, for example, when she left town?

I was angry, at first, when I borrowed the book from the library for my Kindle that it didn't have text-to-speech enabled. Even so I was drawn into the story enough that I kept reading, even past my eyestrain. But by the middle of the book I started feeling like this would be a book to own. I already want to read it again. I bought the Audible version and a used copy from Amazon. I want to go back to Blackwell, soon. I loved Nancy Travis's interpretation of the various characters. Way better than my text-to-speech voice!

I look forward to reading and listening to this again in the future.

I am getting so tired of this series; too much war and killing and machismo. The narrator does a good job with his differing voices, singing and emoting that it keeps it interesting. But even if he were the greatest narrator, I have already decided the series will rate no more than 3 stars at best with the lack of Text-to-Speech and loan-ability. Just the Audible version alone is costly, the book, just an e-book, is costly too. That is the most insulting thing an author or publisher could do. I doubt it is the author. By the way, I do think the author can weave a great story, Just not my kind of story. I will continue to read/listen to the rest of this series if only to be able to hold my own when my adult children or others discuss it.

Okay, at 84% I felt I might give this one star. I was so tired of the fighting and mens' war that I wanted to throw the book. There are females in the book but most are arm candy or worse. There is one evil woman and then possibly three good females but they exist in this macho world and are mostly boring because of it. Arya and Dany are my favorites.

At best I can only give this book three stars and it only got there because I liked the ending. Otherwise, with it costing more than four regular books because I had to buy the Audible version, it was costly even when I was able to find another version to read on my Kindle. The idea that they don't even have text-to-speech ought to get them sued for not making it available to the handicapped! And if I had that heavy tree book I would throw it at whoever thought I shouldn't be able to loan it to whomever I choose!

But the writing is good and the story kept my interest, most of the time. I do like that the story is told through different characters to keep it from being stale. But even if I could give all the stars I would only give four or four and a half. It is just too testosterone driven.

Long before I actually read this I am stating outright, that I am NOT giving this five stars. It is male heavy. A male world of war. AND MOST OF ALL THERE IS NO TEXT-TO-SPEECH AND IT IS NOT LOANABLE! That means that on top of buy the book at nearly $9, I had to go buy the Audible version which was nearly $42. I doubt I will even get around to listening/reading it. I have watched the series. I liked the dragon lady character. But other than that it is NOT worth it! $51 for ONE book? And I can't share it with the few friends I know that might not have read it? So, even if this is a five star story (which I doubt) I don't plan on giving more than three stars.

***

Okay, the writing, story, characters, world all deserve 5 stars. This was an excellent story. It wasn't male heavy as I previously had thought. It was a realistic thought on ancient patriarchal philosophies but hints of some who didn't hold to those thoughts. Five women held their own in the cast of characters, Dany my favorite. Just as it was on the television series. Still, had my adult children not been so in to these books I wouldn't have read even the first. But they encouraged me to give them a try and wouldn't let up until I gave in. Now I am addicted to the story and will do what I can to read and listen to the rest of the series.

Narrator was excellent!

Grr! I should give this two stars! Patterson or publishers decided not to have text-to-speech enabled. I was too tired to try to just read it. So I downloaded the Audible version to assist me in reading the Kindle version. That made this a very expensive read. The narrators were good. The story was fun. I wish I could say I hated it. But I was glad to see this story ended. In fact, I think the story could have ended two or three chapters before it actually did. Let the imagination tie up the loose ends. Oh, well. Thousands of books to read. Happy to move on.

Factual and SCARY! I listened to Rachel read the book on Audible while following along on my Kindle. As has been stated in other reviews, this book is written in conversational style. If you watch her show you know how personable Ms. Maddow is. She includes puns and her opinion, supported by evidence of long hours of research.

Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I like to leave reality and hang out in fantasy-land. Maybe it is because of being surrounded by Real Life that is quite stressful and frightening. Don't expect to come away from this book mollified. No soothing story, this.

But Rachel doesn't leave you with a sense of helplessness. This book was written to raise our awareness of what has been happening right under our noses. But once we are aware, there are things we can do to make sure we get back to our constitutional foundations. This points fingers at a lot of wrongs but neither party is innocent.

I can't believe I read anything about American Military Power. But I feel this book has enlightened me. If it hadn't been written and narrated by Rachel Maddow, I don't think I would have read it.

Thank you, Rach, for keeping us informed.

This second book in the series was more exciting than the first. Jean Auel has created such believable characters who dwell in an equally believable world.

By reading the Kindle version while listening to the Audible version the story comes to life. Sandra Burr's narration is well done.

Horses. Need I say more?

tags: audible, feminism, herstorical-fiction, history, horses, kindle, read, womyn

How can one read with tears racing down one's face? Good thing I had Audible's version with Sandra Burr's narration to keep the story moving. And it was moving!

I think I liked this one the best so far. I wanted to thump Jondalar more often than not. Communicate, was the word I shouted to the book, communicate! But then I guess that would have left a very short book.

I have already ordered the Audible version of the next book and download the Kindle version. I have no idea why I had never read all these before. Jean M. Auel is quite the story teller! Oh, yeah, the books are all so heavy that my hands would have ached trying to read them.

Sandra Burr's narration was more flawless than in the previous books.

Well, I can hardly wait to get started on the next one.

This was probably my favorite of the series both for the writing/research but also for the narration of Sandra Burr. I think Ms. Burr finally hit her Cave-womyn height with this one. I more often pulled away from the Kindle version and let Sandra tell me the story. In the Audible version, the characterizations were seamless. When it was a man talking, I pictured the man. I often forgot a womyn was narrating. She kept each of the female voices different enough and consistent enough that I wouldn't have needed to look to see who was talking. Amazing!

Another reason I enjoyed the Audible more than the Kindle (written) form was there were so many passages (no pun intended) of descriptions. I'm sure a lot of the research the Jean M. Auel did was represented here. But if you follow Discovery or other science channels, you would have already covered much of it. Ms. Burr kept those flowing and interesting. And her ability to pull the very essence of a sexual scene without making it raunchy was amazing (and sexy!)

I am writing this after starting the next book. I couldn't leave Ayla out there in the ether!

Why did I have to read these so fast? Now there are no more cave-bear books.

Sandra Burr. Listen to her performance of these books, if you get the chance.

I feel I have already reviewed this series. I think before I ever read them again I will try to find pictures of the places, the caves, the types of people that these books are about. It would be cool if Jean M. Auel could write a companion picture book. I must admit to having my curiosity piqued about the preherstoric times, when womyn were warriors. I am glad that the author spent so much time researching for these stories. Her knowledge of the geography, flora and fauna made the world of Ayla come to life.

If you haven't read these yet, you owe it to yourself. If you have read them, trek back to the Caves.

I had this book, the hardback copy, for a long time. I had heard it was a good read, but the book was so heavy I never picked it up to read. I sold my copy. Downloaded as Kindle copy and it became a simple read. I, also. downloaded the Audible version to listen to as I read. The voice of Sandra Burr was melodic and kept my interest, even when my eyes got tired.

This is deep enough that I must continue into the next book: The Valley of the Horses. Already downloaded so that my memory of the end of the last book will fade. I will not say more than that for fear of committing a spoiler.

Glad I will now own this so I can go back and re-read it sometime.