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    The Shelters of Stone
    The Shelters of Stone
    The Shelters of Stone
    Audiobook33 hours

    The Shelters of Stone

    Written by Jean M. Auel

    Narrated by Sandra Burr

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    In this triumphant volume, the courageous Ayla and her beloved Jondalar, along with their animal friends Wolf, Whinney, and Racer, have completed their epic journey across Europe and are greeted by Jondalar’s people, the Zelandonii. These people of the Ninth Cave fascinate Ayla, and in their spiritual leader—the woman who initiated Jondalar into the Gift of Pleasure—she finds a fellow healer with whom to share her knowledge.

    But as Ayla and Jondalar prepare for their formal mating at the Summer Meeting, there are difficulties. Not all the Zelandonii are welcoming. Some fear Ayla’s unfamiliar ways and her relationship with the Clan, openly opposing her union with Jondalar.

    Now Ayla must call on all her wisdom and instincts to find her place in this complicated society, to prepare for the birth of her child, and to decide on the role she is to play in shaping the destiny of the Zelandonii.

    Fifth in the acclaimed Earth’s Children® series

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMay 16, 2017
    ISBN9781543613377
    The Shelters of Stone
    Author

    Jean M. Auel

    In 1980, Jean M. Auel became a literary legend with The Clan of the Cave Bear, the first book in her Earth’s Children® series. Now a mother, grandmother, and author who has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide, Auel is a heroine of history and prehistory alike, changing the world one enthralling page at a time.

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    Reviews for The Shelters of Stone

    4/5

    127 ratings40 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Very repetitious. I had read the first 3 books years ago and decided to re read and continue the series. Each book repeated so much of the previous books that it was almost unbearable. Too much detailed description of land and activities.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 4/5
      An amazing story!!

      I don't understand though why Ayla suddenly has an accent in this book or why they use a horse neigh as Whinney's name when neither of these are done in the preceding books. This is why I gave only 4 stars.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 1/5
      So it’s like they had about eight pages of plot, and they filled in the other hundreds of pages repeating people’s names and ties, repeating sex scenes, repeating that Ayla turned Marona’s trick back on her - seriously, like about 20 times after it happened - repeat repeat repeat. Oh, and if you’re wondering if there will be closure in the next book on the major themes of the other books? Like the conflict between flatheads and the Others? Nope. You might wonder why, since it was the major theme for literally every book, and you’ll still wonder after you finish. The dialogue is cringy. Did I mention repetitive? Not just in repeating plot points in earlier books but repeating what already happened in this one.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I love this series. I don’t like the new Alya accent. But the story is good

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      How come Ayla has a accent in this book and not the others?

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I’d been warned that this series went downhill and I can see why so many people say so. I saw an editorial review on Amazon that sums up the whole story so well I had to share it: 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 fiancée? 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 plot is slow to unfold, because Auel's first goal is to pack the tale with period Pleistocene detail, provocative speculation, and bits of romance, sex, tribal politics, soap opera, and homicidal wooly rhino-hunting adventure. Totally, right? Thank you Tim Appelo! I didn’t dislike the book per say but it’s gotten to the point where I just want to know what happens but don’t actually want to take the time to read it. There was no strife in this book, no real action to keep the book’s pace up. The book dragged too much and most scenes had no emotions behind them. It all came across as flat and creates no link between the characters and readers. Ayla is too perfect. Jondalar has become flat. Not where I had hoped the story would go. I’ve come to the decision that I will not be reading the last book. I thought I’d try, but after this last book I decided I’m not interested enough to even try. The first two books were great. I highly recommend those. But I have to agree with everyone who warned me, that Auel just doesn’t keep the greatness up. And I’ve been told the sixth book is the worst of all six. So, no thanks. I’m off for a new series.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A review written perhaps 9 years too late. I loved this series which I began reading as a teenager in 1994 when Plains of Passage was released. The first 4 were worthy of being reread, and had a major plot line that could be sufficiently summarized. Although I waited in anticipation for the release of this one, I remember being disappointed. Now, to be honest, I had to go back and read a synopsis to try to figure out why I couldn't remember the major plot points. Apparently there were none. This story seemed forgettable, and it seems I can pretty much pick up the 6th with a memory of what happened in the 4th.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A great book, a great finish to the series, she doesn't disappoint! Found it believable and rather sad that humans have really not evolved culturally or emphatically very much. In fact, we are probably less tolerant and more fractured.
    • 3/5
      Yup. We waited all this time for _this_. Sheesh.Cave Barbie discovers something. Check.Cave Barbie shags Cave Ken. Check. Check. Check...Cave Barbie talks to flatheads. Check.Cave Rover defends cave Barbie. Cave Barbie Shags Cave Ken. Check.Far too much description of the landscape. Check.Did I mention that Ayla and Jondalar shag?You get the picture.Take a look at the rest of my library that you may understand why I came away with the mental image of 'Captain Ayla of the 9th Superdreadnought of the Zelandonii'.
    • 2/5
      I'm a fairly recent reader to this series and as the title of my review suggests, I'm so glad that I haven't had to wait years to play catch up with these like some other readers have, because this book would have left me feeling thoroughly cold after waiting such a length of time. In my opinion it is nowhere near as good as the first few books in the series which is a real let-down.I'm also not going to summarise the plot- because other reviewers have already done so and believe me, after reading this book I am already so sick of the constant repetition of aspects Jean M Auel's world that I could scream. What I enjoyed most about her earlier books in the series was her descriptions and originality- but these DO NOT need to be churned out over and over by the time the later books come along. Readers are pretty familiar with her world by now after reading four of her other books and it really grated on me the (by now) turgid explanations of hunting, flora, fauna and the overly long ways that Ayla greets and is greeted by strangers. To be honest, instead of tying in with the plot, they felt as if they were there merely to fill up pages and this book is already far too long so they just weren't needed.Also, Ayla has now changed immeasurably from a strong willed character with flaws into a woman who is just so seemingly perfect she is immediately loved by everyone who encounters her. She is a sad parody of the fantastic protagonist she was in the earlier books and I found her hard to believe in any more and disappointingly, not really caring about her either. Oh, and a round of applause for the author for making every other woman that Jondalar had ever been attracted to in the past a complete troll now that Ayla was by his side. Brilliant plot device, really. Thoroughly believable.I also didn't care about Ayla and Jondalar's constant `pleasures.' Yes, ok, they have a lot of sex. We get it. Writing about it in such clunky, mind-numbing detail is just a waste of ink- as are a lot of the pages here, if I'm honest. Another factor that really cheesed me off were the other (one dimensional) characters shocked reactions whenever they saw Ayla with the horses or Wolf. Jeez, could Auel have repeated any situation more? I understand that it was unusual to see a human with a fairly tame animal, but having Ayla introduce the animals to *every* second character just seemed like another insipid way of increasing the word count.There are just so many more criticisms I have of this book but it would make this review far too wordy to list all of them (like the novel itself). My overall impression of this book? A waste of paper and ink that read like a particularly dry academic text; nothing of any worth really seemed to happen whatsoever.I have to say that whilst I *will* read the next book (someday) because it seems a shame not to given I have got this far, I am in no rush to do so and I will certainly not be buying a copy of my own- I fear it would be a real waste of money. *This review also appears on Amazon.co.uk*
    • 5/5
      I may be behind the times,But please let there be another one!!!!!!!!!
    • 1/5
      First off, I'm very glad that I got this from the library and didn't waste my money.This book hardly justifies a 12 year wait for some fans. It's boring, repetitive, and doesn't even offer anything significant to justify its incredible length.What about all the buildup, the incredible conflict we expected? What about Zolena, Jondalar's former lover, being a possible factor between Ayla and Jondalar? Nope, she has to be incredibly fat and thus sexually undesirable, an effectively neutered woman. Jondalar's former fiancee is portrayed as completely rabid and malicious, when she's more than entitled to a little resentment of Ayla and Jondalar. Her dislike is somewhat warranted as the man jilted her, but she's depicted as a nasty, malicious evil witch.The Zelandoni prejudice against the people of the Clan that we were all so afraid of? Dealt with in one tiny scene wherein all Zelandoni are ooing and ahhing over Ayla's sign language. Give me a break. That's disgustingly unreal, and a disgrace after all the hype about it for the past three books.The "villains" are cardboard stereotypes. Those who aren't immediately enthralled by Ayla we surprisingly find are bad, evil people. I'm in mind of Frebec from "Mammoth" here...he was a fully developed quasi-villain whose transformation was within the realms of belief. No such luck here. They're totally bad and have the utter gall to try and humiliate or hurt dear Ayla.Ayla makes no faux pas, saves every situation with perfect panache, enchants everybody despite her having been raised by (and having mated with) "animal flatheads"...which everybody conveniently accepts despite long-standing prejudice that's been harped on for the past three books. There is a word in fandom for a beautiful, incredibly talented, and universally liked perfect young woman. It's a "Mary Sue", and it is not a complimentary term.Ayla's lost all depth she had in "Cave Bear" to become the original Cro-Magnon Mary Sue, perfect in every way. Every Paleolithic (and some Neolithic!) innovation can apparently be traced to her somehow: the atlatl (spear thrower), iron pyrite as a fire striker, animal domestication, the needle, the concept of conception via sexual intercourse being just a few.I'm just waiting for her to invent the wheel. Though she probably will as First Among Those Who Serve the Mother (as she inevitably will get that position.) I much prefer the uncertain, definitely flawed and definitely human Ayla of "Cave Bear" instead of this prissy, power-hungry, perfect and boring woman. Give us a normal woman with fears, flaws, and all, instead of this laughable, inane Super-Ayla.Jondalar is also disgustingly perfect, though he's basically just Ayla's stud and bodyguard. I'm also amused by the fact that the copious, purple-prosed love scenes seem to portray him as merely a one-trick pony. (So much for his prowess in the furs). This increasing trend towards nauseating perfection has annoyed me slightly since it began in "Horses" and has increased steadily with every book. The characters have become cardboard, mere shadows of what they could have been, should have been. What they were promised to be when we first met them and they enchanted us. Ayla might well have been better served by being left as a somewhat tragic but hopeful heroine at the end of "Cave Bear", and Ms. Auel should have been remembered for that splendid masterpiece instead of cranking out ever worsening tripe ad nauseum, justifying it by, "It continues the storyline."How about Ayla being an outcast from Zelandoni society because of her past? How about that causing strife with Jondalar, torn between love and his people? That was the book we should have received, the book that previous volumes promised us. Instead we find the couple happily married and accepted, with unquestioned incredibly high status, showering benevolence and help upon all who are needy. Is this supposed to be a parody, a farce?This book has no conflict. This book has no action. This book has positively no character development. This book practically deconstructs any good done in "Cave Bear" and "Horses" In fact, this book has basically nothing to justify its length, its cost, or the time fans spent waiting for it. "SoS", the acronym for the book, is indeed very apt. Send out the distress call and load the lifeboats, because this one plummets to the bottom fast under the weight of its own bloated self-importance.
    • 3/5
      This book would have been improved by a better editing job. Way too much time was spent on repetition of where they'd been and what they'd learned. I don't mind background information, but enough is enough!
    • 5/5
      Love this book. The series is detailed and keeps you interested!
    • 3/5
      Very disappointed with the content and wrap-up. With the time it took to write and research, it seems that Jeal Auel was quick to add content that took away from not only this book, but the entire collection. Maybe to add pages or get more readers - I was really put off by the, lets say, pornographic genre scenes scattered within the pages of what coud had been a great follow-up to the Plains of Passage.3 STARS is stretching it ... But I've read worse than this.
    • 4/5
      The fifth book in the series of Earth's Children was as fantastical as the other four. But, at this point in the story, Ayla is just plain boring even though she continues to push the cultural boundaries in which she is situated and despite her continuing to make great inventions and spiritual connections. Her story was not over. The last of the series was finally published this year (SEVEN years later!). Given that the novels got progressively worse (or just unimaginative or too predictable) and that reviewers are rating the final novel so poorly (two out of five stars on average with over 550 reviewers on Amazon!), I will probably cut my losses short and skip the finale.
    • 5/5
      Again, it is wonderful! I can't wait to read more! Ayla is coming into her own in this book and it is alive with feeling and wonder.
    • 5/5
      Finally I got my hands on the 5th book of this saga. I loved the book, if you have it do not feel intimidated by its size. Just as Harry Potter the books grew bigger and bigger, but so does the story. We join Ayla and Jondalar at the end of their journey, the finally arrive to the Zelandonii territory and Ayla is carrying Jondalar’s baby. I will mention before the only thing I did not like, but that is not the authors fault. You see this book came 12 years after the fourth, so Auel spent a lot of time reminding the readers about characters or events that happened in the past, which I am sure is going to happen again in the 6th book (already have it by my side, I am so eager to read it!!), but since I read them one after the other, I found this a little bit annoying. Again, not her fault, for the people who grew up with the series I am sure was more than appreciated. Now the things I loved. One thing I applaud from the author is her dedication, her actual going and visiting the areas where her characters live, to get to talk with paleontologists, to verify the plausibility of the things she describes. I also like the way she presents racism in the book, between the Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnons. The social dynamics she describes are so vivid, that even though in my head people are leaving in caves all the feelings, the deceptions, the social preasure, all of that falls in my heart. A new character that I want to see how it evolves (no pun intended) in the next book was Brukevar, a really conflicted person with much to learn from himself. One of those that deep down hates everyone because at the end the hates himself. I wished the story of Jolaya and Echozar would’ve been more developed, but I’m crossing my fingers that they will be back for the 6th book. I liked the fact that in this book Jolandar is not the raving jealousy machine that he was on The Mammoth Hunters, and I liked the way Ayla embraces a new identity without forgetting her own. Being a foreign where I live I kind of understand the happiness she feels when she gets to be part of both worlds without losing her past and what makes her so special. I will be honest with you, I am not in love with the name she chooses for the baby, but oh well.
    • 4/5
      While still better than some of the previous installments in this series, this book did not fix the problems I was hoping it would. Still full of romance-novel sex scenes that do nothing to advance the plot, and most annoyingly, still full of unbelievable accomplishments on the part of the main character. I wish the author would change it up a bit and let her fail.
    • 5/5
      this is book is fantastic, Jean Auel is a great writer/story teller. I love the series
    • 1/5
      The continuing saga of Ayla, the prehistoric girl who witnesses the changing of the world. While the beginning of the story, Clan of the Cave Bear, was a powerful and compelling book, by this point the series has begun to smack of bad fanfiction. I once paused to consider everything that Ayla has introduced to the world and found my suspension of disbelief sorely strained -- how is it that this one person has, for example, introduced domesticated horses, dogs, and cats to the world single-handedly? Ayla has become inhuman, but the writing begs us not to consider her as an archetype but rather as an individual, even though no individual could accomplish so much so easily.And then there's the sex. In panting, sweating, moaning explicit detail. I think it's the only reason to read the series after the first book. It's horrible, trashy caveman porn, and that's why I've been a devout reader and have been sure to keep my library current with the latest installment of the series.
    • 3/5
      This is for Ayla lovers only. You need love to wade through this much description.
    • 3/5
      Unfortunately the book was pretty much a fictional description of prehistorical people and not so much a novel with an interesting plot.
    • 5/5
      In this final book we follow Ayla to find a final place to call home, with the one she loves. They travel over dangerous lands and have to find food to survive with their many animal companions to keep alive as well. This book also has you wondering if Ayla will be able to become a mother and raise a family she's always dreamed about.
    • 5/5
      At long last, Ayla and Jondalar reach his home. Her first sight of her new home thrills her - it's the place of her visions!Ayla begins the process of learning to understand her new people, her place among them, and their very strange customs... and wondrous crafts that she longs to learn. Suddenly realizes the journey is over... she CAN learn as many of these skills as she desires! But can she show her adopted people skills of her own? Will they accept her? What will her new status be?All the while fighting a destiny she DOES NOT want.When has destiny ever cared what you want?
    • 2/5
      Summary: After traversing the length of the continent, Ayla and Jondalar have reached the land of his people, the Zelandonii. Jondalar's been gone for five years on his Journey, so he's glad to be home, but his family and the other members of his Cave are understandably wary about Ayla - she seems to have a strange magic over animals, she talks with a strange accent, and she's intimidatingly self-possessed. While people - most people, anyways - eventually come to accept Ayla as one of their own, the Zelandoni - the spiritual leader - wants to take things even further... she thinks Ayla should be initiated into the group of Those Who Serve the Mother. But Ayla's experiences with the spirit world have been enough for a lifetime; all she wants to do is be mated to Jondalar, and have his babies. Oh, and she also discovers the Lascaux Cave, and invents reproductive genetics and religious tolerance.Review: By way of background, I read the first four Earth's Children books over and over again as a teen. (Well, the first three; I would read The Plains of Passage occasionally, but it wasn't a favorite.) Then, in 2002, The Shelters of Stone came out, and like any good fan, I bought it and devoured it... and then realized I didn't like it all that much, put it on the shelf, and haven't touched it again until now. I decided to re-read it in anticipation of picking up The Land of Painted Caves (because I am nothing if not a completist), but I'm sad to report that my opinion of it hasn't much changed in the intervening 8 years since I first read it.The problem? Nothing happens. Seriously: Nothing happens. I was talking to a friend who also read it 5+ years ago, and her recollection of the book was "they get to Jondalar's home, Ayla has his baby, and then she challenges the head priest lady, right?" She's absolutely right, and that really does sum up the plot of the book. However, of the three events that she mentioned, the first one happens on page 1, and the other two happen within 50 pages of the end. The intervening 800 pages go something like this:Ayla is introduced to someone new. New person is wary about being so near to a wolf. Ayla explains that they have to let Wolf smell their hand so they can be introduced. They do, and are charmed when Wolf licks their hand. Ayla explains the process of domestication. Then there's a good 3-4 pages about limestone rock formations or leather-making or the habits of the woolly rhinocerous, then Ayla is introduced to someone else. Lather, rinse, repeat.That's an exaggeration, of course, but by the end of the book, it certainly felt like the case. Luckily, I've retained the ability to skim that I worked so hard to develop in the first four books.The thing was, even when I was reading instead of skimming, I wasn't that impressed with the writing. Auel uses a third-person omniscient narrator, which drives me bonkers, and would frequently shift whose thoughts she was describing in the middle of the paragraph, which led to a number of confusing incidents of pronoun use where it took me several tries to figure out who was talking about whom. She's also got a bad case of tell (and tell... and tell) rather than show, and she will blithely text the subtext of even the simplest conversations, as though she trusts the reader to wade through pages on the mechanics of atlatls but not to understand what's going on in the most basic human interactions. These same writing tics were probably present in earlier books in the series as well, but at least then there was an interesting story to distract me. In this case, however, I just found them annoying. To be fair, the things that make this series so unique are still present. Auel's a hell of a researcher, and this book (like the rest of the series) is absolutely packed with details about early human history that bring the setting to vivid life. Personally, it was made even richer by having recently read some non-fiction about Cro-Magnon cave paintings (with pictures). Because, if ever a series was calling out for an illustrated guide/companion book, this is it. So, while I did learn some things, and while there were admittedly some nice character moments (both from Ayla & Jondalar and from the newly-introduced and very large supporting cast), the repetitiveness of large chunks of the book mostly overwhelmed the rest of it. 2 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: The Shelters of Stone probably *could* be read independently, since Auel spends a lot of time re-hashing the events of past books (sometimes with long verbatim quotes disguised as flashbacks). However, I think people would be better served reading the others and just giving this one a cursory skim.
    • 4/5
      prehistory comes to life in this wonderful series and i have loved this since 14y of age
    • 4/5
      Of the other four books in the series, this one was the best so far. It didn't dwell unnecessarily with issues of salvaging animals for multiple purposes, but was very interesting and quick moving. I am now in search of book 6.
    • 5/5
      The Shelters of Stone is the fifth novel in the Earth’s Children series. It continues the story of Ayla and Jondalar as they reach the home of his people, the Zelandonii. Treated with mixed reactions, most of the Zelandonii come to accept the new couple and they are mated during the summer festival.For those who have followed Ayla and Jondalar since the beginning, the story is a bit repetitive and slow-moving. However, if you are unfamiliar with the series, the book can be read as a stand-alone novel. It continues to give the reader an in-depth perspective on the struggles and beauty of pre-historic life and culture. Overall I enjoyed this book and the series itself. I would recommend it to anyone interested in pre-historic cultures.
    • 1/5
      Owwwwwww! The awfulness -- it burns!YYYYYYYUCK. This is an atrocious book. Let's leave out the paleo-pornography and the unholy number of patents owed to heroïne Ayla. This is a chronicle of the most astonishingly mundane details of daily life in the Périgord during the late Paleolithic: the glances people exchange on the way to and from the toilet, the endless variations on names and ties people use during formal introductions, I could go on. It's an 800 pg. book. The first 300 pages cover three days. The first 500 cover a week. The whole book covers less than nine months. And at the end, nothing has happened. Oh, sure, some people got married and kids were born and people were hurt and died or were healed. But the book ends in the same place, geographically and socially, where it began.Interpersonal interaction accounts for about 1/2 of the book. The other 1/2 describes the setting: technology, culture, environment, social structure. It's almost like a fictional ethnography, to the point where it includes a multi-page list of characters at the end, and I actually had to draw out some kinship diagrams to follow the action. (It's never good news when a genuine ethnography requires that, let alone a novel.) And what's particularly striking is how American the people of the book, and their culture, are, sometimes in ways that clash strongly with well-established characteristics of hunting and gathering, or even early agricultural, communities. The houses have living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms. Most of the people in the community are solidly middle class, in outlook and lifestyle, but of course there are a few white-trash troublemakers to keep life from becoming too blissful. And I say white trash advisedly, because the paleolithic analogue of racism and miscegenation rears its ugly head.And the style: oh, the style. It's bad. Really bad. At least every other chapter ends in a cliffhanger. Conversations are repetitious, to the point where I began to wonder about the intelligence of certain characters (well, really, the attention of the author and editor). Certain critical points come up repeatedly for discussion amongst the characters, but they only rehash the initial discussion rather than expanding and clarifying it. Also, rumor is that one of the reasons for the really long hiatus between this book and its predecessor was the composition of the Great Earth Mother poem, which appears several times in the narrative and then is printed as a sort of appendix. It's embarrassingly bad. It's a cloying, cliché-ridden composite of cultural convictions, real and made-up, from around the world over the last 20K years.Having said all of that, I've choked my way through five of these things and I'll be d@mned if I'll let terrible wordsmithing stop me from seeing the series out -- even if she has reneged on her promise of a six-book series, now claiming it'll be seven. (Oh dear god in heaven...two more of these....)