Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel (audio)

"They stared at each other, wanting each other, drawn to each other, but their silent shout of love went unheard in the roar of misunderstanding, and the clatter of culturally ingrained beliefs."

Earth's Children #1 - The Clan of the Cave Bear
Earth's Children #2 - The Valley of the Horses 

This is the third book in Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children series.  After leaving the valley, Jondalar and Ayla travel with their horses and meet the Mamutoi people.  No longer along, they must learn to interact with other people and learn their new customs.  The people are very impressed with Ayla, and she is eventually adopted as one of them.  Ayla finds a connection with these people that she was not able to feel with the Clan She continues to develop her skills as a healer adopts a pet wolf.  Ayla catches the attention of a young man named Ranec and her relationship with Jondalar is questioned.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book.  I love the writing and description, but I was often very frustrated with the main characters.  Through the last two books in this series, I came to love Ayla and Jondalar, but they just seemed to not think at all in this one!! I get that they come from different cultures, but I thought after being alone together for over a year, that they would know enough about each others past to not make so many assumptions.  Their whole problem could have been solved in less than a chapter, but they refuse to discuss the situation until the very end of the book.  I guess it made the book interesting, but it was very, very frustrating!!

I probably would have given this one a lower rating based on characters and plot, but the world that Auel continues to create continues to astound me.  I loved learning about the Mamuoi people and seeing how Ayla interacted with the people she was born to.  After living with the Clan, there are still so many different things for her to learn.  The Mamuoi were also very excepting and had adopted a young boy that was both Clan and Momuoi.  Ayla saw her son in this child and was able to teach him to communicate.  In the end, Ayla is forced to make a hard decision that will change the course of her path.

On to book 4...

 

 

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