The Land of Painted Caves

Earth's Children Series

By: Jean M Auel

Narrated by: Rowena Cooper

Length: 29 hrs and 57 mins

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.