What readers think of The Shelters of Stone, plus links to write your own review.

I think that all of auel's novels are wonderful. The Earth's Children series is so well written and detailed. When i read about ayla and her adventures i feel as if i am in the novel standing right there with her.
The clan of the cave bear was my most favorite out of the series. I could not put it down and read it within two days. The valley of the horses was also good, however i became just as bored as alya was when there was no other human interaction within the book. The mammoth hunters was also good. However, the plains of passage put me to sleep. reading about plant life and hearing her adventures told over and over again to every people that alyal met on her journey was boring. i read this book just so i could begin the next.
The shelters of stone is good so far. i just began to read. What i dislike about this book is how repatitive it is. Does auel think that i dont remember what happened in the last four books!!

Warning: there are some spoilers in this review.

I took a nearly 2-decade long break from Ayla & Jondalar's adventures after reading Plains of Passage. I had been putting off reading Shelters of the Stone because I was not prepared to invest the time reading an over 800 page book. But finally read it I did, and I have to admit, nothing really exciting happened in the book.

At first, it seems like Ayla was going to have to deal with some serious back-stabbing from the jealous villagers. I mean, who wouldn't be jealous of her being a perfect, blond & blue eyed beauty, her vast medicinal herbal knowledge, her power over animals and professional slingshot-hunter abilities. But surprisingly, these villagers never really get organized or plot anything significant. Pretty much the major events are: a big hunt, moving the camp from the winter to summer grounds, Ayla surgically rescuing some severely injured hunters, Wolf discovering an ancient secret cave, Ayla and Jondalar's mating and finally Ayla and Whinney giving birth.

Alot of commentors in this review blog complain how Ayla and Jondalar repeat things from the previous books, but for me that was not an issue. Since I hadn't picked up the series in over 20 years, I needed a recap to remind me of what happened. I think that is what Jean had in mind when she includes these repeats, she doesn't expect that every reader will finish the entire series in a few weeks! She also can't assume readers started at "Clan of the Cave" bear!

It's true that there is alot of description of their natural surroundings and of herbs and plants, but keep in mind that Jean did alot of research before, and during, her writing of these novels and she probably wants to preserve this knowledge in her texts. For herself and others. I never skimmed through those descriptive sections. The only skimming I did was thru the sex scenes, since they don't advance the story and there was nothing for me to learn there. Plus, Jondalar and Ayla's love-making doesn't get very original after reading Plains of Passage. ;-)

Another issue I had with Shelters of Stone was the vast number of characters! Sadly, I didn't discover the character list at the back of the book until I reached the last 100 pages or so. I really wish the list of characters had of been at the front so that I could have referred to it throughout my reading! Oh well, that was my fault and in the future I'll check the front AND back of books for character lists, maps, etc... Since there are so many characters, there isn't much depth in any of them. You mostly only get to know the Zelandoni woman, Jondalar's mother and father...and that's about it.

Ayla being pressured to join the doni was interesting. I secretly liked the fact that Ayla was standing up for herself, refusing at first and replying that all she wanted was to be mated and have her child. She doesn't need anyone telling her what to do! She doesn't need to learn anything from anyone! She can figure it out for herself (such as how children are made)! But, of course, I knew that she was going to join, it's in her fate and it really would be a waste of her unique talents if she didn't join the Zelandoni. They needed her. I'm glad Jean left that part to the very, very end. It was a good way to end it.

So, it's a good long read, it can be boring at times if you don't need the repetition, don't care about herbal/geological lore or don't want to read through sex scenes, but I think the book progresses Jondalar and Ayla's life well and it certainly leads you to wanting to find out how Ayla does as a Zelandoni and what will Jonayla and Gray turn out to be like?

I found this a book a disappointment. It took many years to prepare, and was eagerly awaited by her millions of fans and the research was second to none. BUT, it did not have the suspense nor the excitement of the previous books. There were no real voyages of discovery and Ayla as a "strong and unique" woman in her earlier roles became a bit of a washed out drip in this book. The anthropology and historical context was awe inspiring but I was left feeling that I had read a prehistoric history not a novel. Bring back the Mills and Boon element please and lets have some more of the magical clever inventive Ayla character coming through in the next book please.

I thought the Shelters of Stone was an interesting read, though the pages and pages of Ayla's herbal knowledge did become a bit tedious after a while. The funny thing is that I actually didn't know this book or the Plains of Passage existed untill about 6 months ago! I thought the story ended at the Mammoth Hunters and you had to just imagine Jondalar and Ayla got home safetly, "mated" and had children, but the problem with that was I was hungry for more!!
I've read the Plains of Passage and the Shelters of Stone twice now, and although they are as thick as the telephone book, don't despair- you'll get a detailed and interesting read.

i just think all her books are sooo interesting, and since i plan to be an archiologist, it's really taught me a lot about those ancient people.

I am a marathon listener of the Jean Auel series, Earth's Children. I inhaled the first 4 unabridged books, which totaled approx. 79 hours (not consecutively, obviously) and while the books are distractedly over-explicit with sexual encounters, I loved the narration by Sandra Burr. Unfortunately, the fourth book, Shelters of Stone, Burr ruined the experience by introducing a unrealistic voice change hurtful to the ear, by suddenly possessing Ayla with a Russian accent and Jondular--well, I'm not sure what happened to his voice. As others have commented, Burr is such a talented narrator yet this book was a painful listen. Read it, don't listen to it. Determined to get through this series, I am dreading finishing this fourth book and hope Burr cleanses her voiced version of characters for the last of the series. What a shame--sorry Ayla, you are a voice-over victim in this book.

As a huge fan of Clan & Valley, I have to agree with the other reviewers that Mammoth, Plains & Shelters fell short.
I have been hooked by the storyline of the first two books. Shelters (and Plains) is like a meal that looks delicious but has no taste, you will keep taking bites in hopes that the next one will have flavor!
Ayla has become, in her quest to fit in, normal and boring. Perhaps what the character wanted but not what the readers hoped for.
I found myself flipping through pages and pages of research references on the regions plant & animal life, cave dwellings and complete rehashes of the past 4 books over and over again.
I found that the Zelandonii had lost their primal ice age quality and had taken a Flintstones type of modern stone age way of living. Next we will find out how they had refrigerators and microwaves made of sticks and stone.
The book has lost touch with what I think most readers wanted to read about: Aylas uniqueness and struggles in an alien society.

I have religiously read this series since I was a young girl. The only thing that we can seem to agree on is that the first book was the best. I will read the final book. Just so I can finish this whole thing out. I also had to read the books in secret after a while. What mother wants her ten year old daughter to actually read graphic descriptions of sex? { valley of horses} But read them I did. And I have remained a loyal fan since then. It's been twenty years since I started the books, I really don't feel like waiting another thirteen or fifteen years to read the final one. I admit that after the first read through, Plains of passage is pretty just earmarked so I don't have to read the crap I don't want to.