• The Land of Painted Caves

  • Earth's Children Series
  • By: Jean M Auel
  • Narrated by: Rowena Cooper
  • Length: 29 hrs and 57 mins
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars (132 ratings)

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The Land of Painted Caves

By: Jean M Auel
Narrated by: Rowena Cooper
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Publisher's Summary

THE LAND OF PAINTED CAVES concludes the story of Ayla, her mate Jondalar, and their little daughter, Jonayla, taking readers on a journey of discovery and adventure as Ayla struggles to find a balance between her duties as a new mother and her training to become a Zelandoni - one of the Ninth Cave community's spiritual leaders and healers.

Once again, Jean Auel combines her brilliant narrative skills and appealing characters with a remarkable re-creation of the way life was lived thousands of years ago, rendering the terrain, dwelling places, longings, beliefs, creativity and daily lives of Ice Age Europeans as real to the reader as today's news.

©2011 Jean M Auel (P)2011 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

What listeners say about The Land of Painted Caves

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Echoes

Repetitious, tedious and quite disappointing. This book is but a weak echo of the previous books. And just like an echo it repeats itself over and over again. If you buy this be prepared listen to a dreary amount of ???mother songs???, explanations of what happened in previous books and descriptions of cave paintings. I do not mind listening to Auel describing them going about their business and doing everyday things like drinking herb tea and weaving baskets, in fact I quite like it. But really, what is the plot here? Where are we going with this? At the end of the book there is an attempt at a romantic twist that is once again but a weak echo of something that happened in one of the previous books. We briefly meet some cavemen criminals, but it is handled so fast and is such random part of the story that it might as well have been left out. I guess you could say that Aylas education to becoming a shaman is the plot here, but then why is her touring the painted caves the only part of it we really hear about?

There seems to be two narrations available. This one is very well done, but since the narrator strikes me as an elderly British woman I was deathly afraid of the explicit sex scenes I have come to expect from Auel. Thankfully there were fewer than usual.

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

One word - Repetition

Having practically grown up with the Earth Series I was so completely disenchanted with this final sequel of an excellent series. The author has just rehashed the first 4 books with absolutely nothing new until the last couple of chapters. The Mothers Song is repeated so many times, I could probably recite it word perfect in my sleep. Ayla (who was my inspiration when I was younger) came across as a 2 dimensional personality, I was even beginning to get irritated with her. So buyer beware, there is not much new over 30 hours, but if you need help getting to sleep this is perfect.

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring

I was so looking forward to this book, what a disappointment it was repetitive and just didn't go any where. What happen to Ayla's spirit? Unless you really feel you need to read the last book in this series save you money don't buy it.

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I was so looking forward to the final series of the Earth Children series only to be disappointed, it was so repetitive, rehashing what was in the previous books, why couldn't Ayla meet up with her son or the clan again. If your thinking about purchasing this book save your money.

What else was disappointing about this book was the narrator, one point in the book she slipped into a cockney accent, it was only for a split second but was weird, I kept thinking she should be reading Enid Blyton series not these ones, please bring back Sandra Burr.

A most disappointing book.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Jeans most Auelful work-an embarrassment!

I wish I had taken note of the comments of other readers and saved my money. The endless repetition and lack of plot was a huge let down after all these years of reading Auel's books. She should recall all copies , apologise and go back to the drawing board (or should that be "bored")As regards the "Mothers Song" you can't help groaning the minute you hear someone launch into it again, and again and again and again and again and again and........!.I feel sorry for the lady who narrated the book as it can't be good for her reputation.That's Auel folks!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible, don't buy this!

I was a huge fan of Ayla, but this book put and end to it! If I never hear the "Mothers Song" again it will be too soon. This song is repeated word for word in entirety about 6 times. (The total duration of this song must be about 5 minutes!) About 60% of this book must be dedicated to the Mothers Song and long boring descriptions of each Mammoth and Bison painting encountered in each cave they visit). Oh and another 15% of the content is dedicated to the 3 minute reciting of ties during the greetings. I eventually wished that Ayla would stop meeting new people so that we could just get on with the story!

I will never read another one of Auel's books, if she is ever published again after this shockingly bad performance!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

what happened?

I can't believe this is the final book in what was an interesting and most readable series. I was immensely disappointed. I actually cries it was so bad.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Predictable, repetitive, tedious

Hard to believe this is the same author that wrote Clan of the Cave Bear. This story could have been covered in one short chapter, instead of a narration of over 28 hours. The material kept going over same ground and even repeated stuff from previous books. The characters were so predictible you could see what was coming a mile off, no suspense, just one long tedious saga that was only just made bearable by the narrator's skill. I really enjoyed the previous books, but am so disappointed with this poor effort that I won't be wasting my time with any more of Ms Auel's Earth's Children books.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Repetitive

I have always loved this series, and remember reading book 1-3 many times. Something in me always stopped there, but with the audiobooks, I continued. Books 4-6 is very repetitive, and there have been segments I have jumped forward a lot. in-between the repetitive segments, where we get "new story", the story is excellent. But it takes away somewhat that old parts of the story drones on like that. You could really read books 1-3, and 6. I was also a bit disappointed that the really interesting part came so late in this book, and instead of going into it, it felt rushed. But it feels good to have a conclusion. If I ever read again, I'll go back to book 1-3, and just remember the later parts.

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Repetition

struggled to finish. it's just repetitions and not a lot happening at all. should had stopped after the second book while it was good.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Mand
  • 04-13-11

Oh, dear.

I wanted to like this book, I really did but it's almost as if, in the intervening years, Ms Auel has forgotten how to write. Golly, she's done her research, but that doesn't make for a good story. In this book Ayla visits a lot of caves and I mean a lot. All of which are described in loving detail on one occasion the same cave is described twice. Now, I like a good cave with the best of them, but page after page of bleedin' caves gets a little tedious. And the characters - I'm not sure where to start but they are written in a strangely childlike way. I know they are a prehistoric culture but they're still people, grown up people who speak like adults. As for Ayla and Jondalar, at least in this book we are spared the endless paragraphs of bonking, which quite frankly bored me rigid (for want of a better word) in the previous books. However, you'll be pleased to know Ayla is as completely marvelous as ever and she still has an odd accent, which you will be told about on what seems like every page. Dim but nice Jondalar on the other hand, at one point, does something so completely out of the blue that it screams 'plot contrivance' at you so loud that you'll be deaf for a week. On another note , do you remember 'The Mother's Song' in 'The Shelters of Stone'? Well you'll get to hear it again in this book. In fact you'll hear it many, many, many times until, eventually, you'll hear it in your dreams. I know I've been flippant, but I was really disappointed with this book. Set aside Rowena Cooper's mispronunciations and slightly school ma'amish tone throughout, no one could have made this book sound good. I've loved this series and for this to be the last one, well what a shame to go out on such a bum note.

28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Odilon
  • 05-15-11

so so disappointing

I'm afraid I have to agree with Raymond, Ingrid and Dawn. This book is so unbelievably bad that it is difficult to believe that Jean M Auel wrote it at all. The repetition is annoying to say the least. The reminding us of every detail/reason for something ten times over makes you feel retarded. The obsessive attention to detail for things which are so similar to what was explained the page before is tedious to the extreme. If I wrote something this bad I would have no hope whatsoever of getting an agent or editor to go beyond the first chapter. Nothing 'interesting' really happens in the book, it just wanders around in circles going nowhere. I had to read it because I had so loved the others but if there were another sequel I'd give it a skip.

17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Dawn
  • 04-26-11

Dawn

I don't normally write a review for these things but this book is so bad I felt that I had to. I have previously read all the other books in this series and had enjoyed them and so it was with eager anticipation that I downloaded the book and settled down to listen and how disappointed I have been. I don't know whether it is a function of listening rather than reading but I have found this book to be repetitative to the point of nausea, unnecessarily long and patronising as the Author doesn't seem to feel that we can remember a fact from one Chapter to another.

I cannot believe that anyone would want to listen ad nauseaum to a description of one painted cave let alone the five or six caves described in minute detail in this book.


15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Tony Lathan
  • 04-13-11

Land of the Painted Caves

After the sucess of the first 3 books Jean Auel seems to think that writing books with absolutely no storyline is sufficient. Seldom have I been driven to complete boredom but how this novel ever got published is beyond my comprehension, after 7 hours I feel as if I am a 5 year old listening to a narration of teaching methods. I feel sorry for anyone who purchased this novel with the hope of being entertained.

14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Annette Haagen
  • 06-26-11

The land of painted caves

I've been a major fan of Jean M Auel since her first book and have for each book waited and waited for the next. Eventhough the other books in the series got more and more boring they at least had a story to tell. This one simply takes the price of the most boring book without a story. I can only agree with those who think this is the most boring book ever. It's not even worth 1 star I had to give one to be able to write the review. I normally doesn't write reviews but I've to warn others against using money on such a boring book with so many repetitions from former books and such a weak story. How on earth can it take so many years to write a book with so little content.

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Frances Wartnaby
  • 01-15-12

Very disappointing

Can this really be the same author that wrote Clan of the Cave Bear? I can't believe it. Without doubt, this is the most boring book I have ever read. One star is the lowest I cold give or it would have none. So repetetive. Of course, if you want to listen to hour after hour of descriptions of the paintings on cave walls, then you MAY find this acceptable.

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Raymomnd
  • 05-09-11

So Bad!

I can't believe Jean Auel wrote this book. Long awaited but very very disapointing. I listend to this book but wished I had read it instead. I least I could have jumped the 'Mothers Song' 20 or 30 times and not listen to repetitive cave descriptions. If Jean Auel did write this book she must really need the money.

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Lynnie
  • 09-06-17

Oh

What a shame the last book in the series is so poor. No real story, the caves are well documented but it is so repetitive. If you have read any of the previous books it becomes very irritating, the only thing in its favour is there are fewer descriptions of pleasures. I personally found the Aussie accent Rowena Cooper gave to Ayla annoying. If there was another in the series I wouldn't read it.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Catherine
  • 06-17-11

A dreadful end to a brilliant series

I seem to have been reading this series for most of my life, and have been less and less impressed as each one came out. I have to say that this is without doubt the worst book of the lot and really not worth the time or the money.

Nothing really happens in the story, which makes it a difficult and dreary read, and even the description is repetitive and uninteresting. For the end of a series which was so brilliant and captured the imagination so well in its early books, it is very sad for it to end with such a badly written and unbelieveable way.

The reader did very well indeed, had a nice voice and tone, and I enjoyed listening to her - the fact that even such a good narrator couldn't make the book enjoyable really says something about how awful it is.

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • H.C. Richardson
  • 02-07-12

Boring books

This is one of the most boring shallow books I have ever read. Very disappointing as the previous books in this series were on the whole very good. I pity the person who had to record it.

5 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 06-20-18

Same Old Same Old

If ever there was a couple in desperate need of Palaeolithic marriage counselling its Ayla and Jondola. Surely in the first 5 books they would have learnt from their mistakes, but no, all the same squabbles and misunderstandings rehashed in one long and slightly painful book. No new concepts, no new story lines.
The one thing that saved the previous books from their ‘long windedness’ was the narrators lovely work. Such a pleasure to listen to - until this book, where she decided to attempt accents which were inconsistent and quite frankly, annoying as hell. She had Ayla sounding like an 18th century cockney pickpocket half the time, and an uneducated New Zealander with no front teeth for the rest of the time! After over 150 hours of their story, this was indeed a sad note to end on. But end it did and thankfully there is no 7th book that I will feel compelled to read.

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • debra
  • 04-20-16

Boring

There was a few hours of story and the rest was recollections of the past books.
I had to finish the series and although I liked the concept of the story and the history etc, the series seemed immature like a book written for teenagers.
I was very disappointed.

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Anthony
  • 04-24-17

Repedative

I've loved the previous books in the series but found the land of the painted caves a bit repetitive sad .

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Amazon Customer
  • 03-19-17

Endlessly repetitive and lacking plot

What disappointed you about The Land of Painted Caves?

It didn't live up to the plot suggested in previous books in the series.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

I wondered if the original author had actually written this book. What happened to all the interesting plot lines about Ayla's two sons meeting in the flesh and providing a link between the two races of people?

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Rachel
  • 06-12-17

Poorly written. Badly (or not) edited.

Sadly, this was badly edited. So many repetitions of thoughts, actions, and sequences that it was hard work. I find it hard to believe it was published as it is! Baffling.

Maybe the earlier books were like this also, but I was too young and not well read? I really enjoyed the rest of the series, even though sometimes the precision of detail was a bit mind-numbing, there was always enough story to keep me interested.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say, entire paragraphs appeared to be cut and pasted, and more than once.

It's as if the writer imagines we have no ability to remember, so she tells us the same things over and over and over again. Not only from previous books - one could forgive that, as it's often good to be reminded, but from this very same book, and so often!

And, now it seems I'm doing the same!

Who was the editor? I think they should be fired!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 01-15-21

mixed feelings

though the book had its fair share of reminders/ memories, flash backs one to many times here and there i understood the need for it. the hidden hints and messages lay in them. yes there was so much on caves and far less on aylas storyline it took a bit away from the main plot but also left one questioning one's own interpretation of the cave paintings. personally I believe or thought the ancients must been actually clan or more specific mogurs as they were even more powerful in the spirit world which we see with aylas inabilities to control any of it.

the ending hmm as was written left story unfinished ayla is only 26 what about her 2 sons nothing is revealed there except mamut saying it isn't what it seems. the story has always been about ayla so why was jondolars point of view the ending, that would of been fitting if she had died which as sad as it sounds would of been a better closure and with wolf's howl more fitting. we could of then seen a proper zealandoni burial but how it ends makes the story scream for more for closure for more of her life.

Maybe jean wanted to leave that a mystery as we already know what the first is thinking how will it change life with the gift of knowledge. I feel the best part of the book really was the second half of the book.
yet will say the music slowly coming in at the end sent chills throughout my body and left me entranced and basically felt like I was also in the firsts tent thinking aswell.

Definitely worth listening to but a very patient and dedicated understanding and listening is required to enjoy it which I did

But so much story still to tell a wonderful beautiful mysterious captivating story left unfinished which i will always be left wondering how her life ends.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Monica
  • 02-08-18

Tedious, long winded and repetitive.

This book should have been abridged. The author seemed to be struggling to fill the pages, I would have preferred a shorter book with a lot less repetitive padding out.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Wafa Taha
  • 05-19-16

Love it

Loved and enjoyed every min of listening
At the end really enjoyed the extra music and can't wait for the next book

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Leigh
  • 04-07-16

Disappointing final book

A lot of it felt like she was filling up space with the same thing- lots of repeated parts, and repetitions of the song. Really disappointed with this book. The others were better.
Should have a better narrator who could do different voices for all the characters.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Kerrigh
  • 08-03-15

Love this series ( Earth's Children )

I must admot that the ending was , unfulfilling. . .
Leaving ypu wanting more and with questions yet unanswered. worse still the author has confirmed there is no chance of another book.
What happens when her sons meet?
what is Jonayla's story etc.....

1 person found this helpful