The Land of Painted Caves and Overall Series Reviews

     Okay, so I’ll be honest with you guys. Normally, I am super upset when a series ends, and I have to take a few days to grieve the end of the story. Even if it had a happy ending, I’ll never get to read a story with those characters again (at least not an authentic one written by the actual author).

     I enjoyed the characters of Ayla and Jondalar, and their love for each other was very inspiring. Once I had finished this final book, though, I was so excited!!! It felt like a huge accomplishment to finish this series, and I couldn’t believe I had finally made it through! Maybe it’s just been awhile since I’ve read a complete series straight through, but this one felt pretty overwhelming.

     However, it was still an incredibly written series. I knew I’d be itching to start on a book with new characters, but I felt that this book deserved a few days of closure as well. So, I told myself that I couldn’t start another book until I’d put up a review for each book in this series.

     Now, here I am, at the final review. It’s been a long journey, friends, but we’ve finally made it. Without further ado, here is my review and rating for The Land of Painted Caves and the series as a whole.

Rating:

  

  

     Growing up with the Clan, being cursed with death and banished from the only family she could remember, struggling to survive in the wilderness with only a horse and a cave lion to keep her company, saving a man’s life and traveling on an epic journey with him back to his homeland, meeting and befriending various tribes along the way (some friendlier than others), and finally making it to her future mate’s home to start a family of her own.

     These and many other events are all things that Ayla has gone through to become the person who we see in the sixth and final installment of Earth’s Children: The Land of Painted Caves. During each leg of her journey, we’ve been side-by-side with Ayla as she’s learned about acceptance, survival, love, perseverance, and family.

     Her lessons aren’t over just yet, though. This last book is all about Ayla’s final tests as an acolyte before she can become a full-fledged Zelandoni. On top of her training, she still has to find time to balance her equally-important role as a mother and wife. We’ve seen Ayla go up against giant prehistoric animals, dangerous elements of nature, and even harmful people of her own kind, but how will she do when facing the ordinary difficulties of everyday life?

     Whether or not you’re married with kids and trying to work a job at the same time, I think this book shows a side of Ayla that we can all relate to. We’ve all struggled to balance our obligatory work or school load with our social lives at some point or another. It’s a constant juggling act, no matter what role you play in life. 

     It’s actually kind of a relief to see in this book that we’re not alone in these struggles. Everybody goes through them, but as Ayla and Jondalar show us, if the people in your life are really important to you, you won’t let anything stop you from sticking together.

     I ended up giving this one three Star Lords, because I thought it wrapped the series up pretty well, but some of the problems with Jondalar and Ayla felt a little too similar to their struggles in The Mammoth Hunters. Once again, I found myself frustrated at how stupid they were both being, but I totally wanted to give Danug a huge high five after the talk he gave them at the end.

Overall Series Rating:

   

     Even though the average amount of Star Lords makes it seem like the series should be rated as a three, I decided to rate the overall series as a four. Jean M. Auel writes her books in a unique and impressively in-depth style that allows the reader to experience the prehistoric era in the most realistic way possible. I walked away from the series feeling like I really had gone on a journey back to the Ice Age.

     One of my favorite things about the series is how Auel fit in moments of innovation that perfectly explained how certain everyday creations could have come about. It feels like you’re watching life-changing history in the making when Ayla comes up with the idea for the “thread-puller” and Jondalar for the “spear-thrower”. Part of me kept waiting for one of them to invent the wheel. Not to mention, her explanation at the end for creating the term “father”. That word has deeper meaning for me after having read this series.

     Even if you are not sure whether you want to read the entire series, I recommend that you at least read the first novel if you get the chance. Auel is a master writer, and she knows how to fully immerse her readers in the story’s setting.

     Well, about seven months later, I’ve finally finished this astounding series. Hooray! If you’ve read through it yourself, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Did you feel as accomplished as I did to make it through?

     Other than that, I think the most appropriate thing I can leave you with is the last line of the Mother’s Song:

“Earth’s Children were Blessed. The Mother could rest.”

The Shelters of Stone Review

Rating:

  

*For those of you who haven’t read The Plains of Passage yet, SPOILER ALERT!

     I feel silly saying spoiler alert for this post because, was there really any doubt that Ayla and Jondalar would make it back to his homeland? True, there were a few moments that probably had us all a little worried (like the S’Armunai War of the Women), but sure enough, our heroes prevailed!

     In The Shelters of Stone, we join Ayla as she finally gets to meet the Zelandonii. In a way, the whole series has really been leading up to this book, more so than the final one. Ever since Ayla came to realize how different she was from the people of the Clan, she’s been searching for people like her and a place to call home.

     She’s been welcomed almost everywhere she’s gone and even adopted into another family, but there was always this temporary feeling at each place. Her heart belonged to Jondalar, and he could never be satisfied living somewhere other than his true home. Now, at long last, Ayla can really sink in her roots and start a family with him.

     This book was a tough one for me to rate because there wasn’t really anything in particular that I disliked about it. At the same time, nothing extraordinary really stood out to me.

     This far into the series, I’ve gotten used to Auel’s phenomenal attention to prehistoric detail, and I know all of the incredible things that Ayla is capable of. Overall, it was a bit less memorable than the other books. So, it has been given the rating of three Star Lords.

     The one thing I loved about this book, though, was that we finally got to meet all of these people that we’d heard so much about: Jondalar’s mother, Marthona; his older brother, Joharran; Willamar, Folara, and all of his other family members; Marona (ugh); and, of course, Zelandoni, not to be confused with Zelandonii, the name of the people as a whole (yeah, that’s totally not confusing).

     Needless to say, none of these people were expecting Jondalar to come back after five years had gone by, and they definitely weren’t expecting him to show up with a beautiful foreign woman, two horses, and a wolf. Read for yourself to see how each of them reacts and welcomes (or doesn’t welcome) Ayla into their home.

     If you’ve already read this book, I’d love to hear what you thought. Were Jondalar’s family members and his Zolena similar to how you thought they’d be?

Part 3: Make ‘em Pull an All-Nighter

            This has nothing to do with becoming an evil professor that gives a ridiculous amount of homework that is all due the next day. No, I’m referring to those books that keep you reading into the wee hours of the morning because you just can’t put them down.

The tips from this session came from a long-time book editor named Lorin Oberweger. She actually handed out a detailed sheet with her own method and rating sheet, but I’m just going to give you some of her general tips. I don’t know if her method is copyrighted or not, so I won’t go into it. If you want to look into taking one of her awesome sessions, though, you can find out more about her here.

So let’s get started:

#1. Out with the Old, in with the New

Readers are excited when they’re given a new way of looking at things. Be original with your story and put something fresh out there. “But how?” you say. “There are so many stories out there. The one I want to tell is probably already written!”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t totally buy into that phrase, “There’s nothing new under the sun.” It just sounds like an excuse to not be creative. Sure, there are going to be unoriginal pieces in your writing, but what will make your work one-of-a-kind is how you manipulate those pieces and make them into a brand new whole.  Write about a murder from the perspective of the victim’s ghost or place your story in prehistoric times but give everyone cellphones. Use your book as a kaleidoscope that readers can look through to see their ordinary world differently.

#2. Action vs. Reaction

I used to come up with these fast-paced plots that I was so excited to write, but when it came time to sit down and begin, I found that my main characters were dull and flat. Every time. I couldn’t figure out where I’d gone wrong when I had such a riveting story line planned out. Then, one of my friends pointed out that my protagonist wasn’t causing any of the action but was simply being carried along by the events in the story and reacting to what others were doing.

Don’t make the same mistake I did for the longest time. Make sure your main characters are actively engaging in the story. Have them make bold choices or stupid mistakes that alter where the plot goes. The character may not have caused the inciting incident, but the rest of the story should be about the actions they take to reach their ultimate goal that was set in motion by that incident. To make sure that your character is being active, ask yourself this: If I took away the external conflicts and obstacles, would my character be doing anything?

In one of the best movies of all time, Starlord kicks off the movie by making a choice that affects the rest of the plot. He steals the mysterious glowy ball for himself and everyone comes after him.

#3. FOR SPARTA!!!!!!

Another way to make sure that your characters are exciting and well-rounded is to give them clear goals that motivate their actions. If you set up an important desire for your character that he’s determined to accomplish, readers are more likely to keep reading to see if he succeeds. You can also use a more tangible goal of completing something concrete to symbolize the character getting what he wants internally.

For example, let’s say my character is a guy named Hank Girlyman. He decides he’s going to be the ultimate wrestling champion, no matter what it takes. He goes through a lot of unfortunate (and hilarious) attempts but he never gives up, despite the impossible odds. In the end, he loses, but he’s gained the respect of many people. He’s still happy even though he failed, because what the wrestling champion goal really represented was his desire to be seen as a manly man and to be respected. Yay Hank!

Hank Girlyman is manly.

#4. The Reader Connection

Okay. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record with how much I’m talking about characters, but they’re sort of an important part of the story. So here’s another tidbit to work on with anyone you put into your book. Use lots and lots of emotion. I don’t mean, “Marcy felt afraid as she walked through the woods.” I don’t want to be told that she’s afraid. I want to be shown so that I can feel it too. “As she crept through the woods, the hairs on the back of Marcy’s neck stood up and she felt a tingling sensation down her spine, as if a thousand spiders were crawling down her back.” See the difference?

People read stories because it’s the closest they can come to living in another time or possessing magical powers. They want to be the characters and not just see them. Lorin Oberweger pointed out that books should be less passive than movies. In books, we can get inside a character’s head and experience things through their eyes, instead of just watching things happen to someone else.

Someday we'll find it, the reader connection, the readers, the writers, and meeeeeee!

#5. Be a Drama Queen

That’s right, I said be a drama queen. Writing and acting are probably the only two places where you’ll hear that. (By the way, have you ever noticed that writing is basically acting for introverts?) What I mean by that is that you shouldn’t be too afraid about giving your characters too much emotion. Open yourself up and let it out. Just like with makeup for actors on stage, you have to lay your characters’ emotions on thick for anyone to really notice them. What seems overdone to us is probably not the case for the reader.

Remember what I said about motivating characters with strong goals? Since they cling to these goals so dearly, they’re likely to have some pretty extreme reactions when things bring them closer to or further away from their dreams. Make them throw things or cry or laugh uncontrollably. But remember: show, don’t tell.

What do you mean there's no milk left? I've already poured the cereal! All I wanted was a fulfilling breakfast. My life is over!

#6. The Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which means that one person’s perspective is different from another’s, and that’s another great way to bring some excitement into your story. Give your characters unique ways of looking at things and demonstrate their diverse personalities through strong voice. Your writing voice should be a combination of the character’s emotion, language, and perspective.

Lorin actually had some really good exercises for practicing different voices. First, she said to take your opening scene and practice re-writing it in a different emotion, such as fear, anger, or anxiety. The more you emphasize your character emotion, the stronger your voice. She also said you could practice writing one setting from multiple perspectives. Maybe Tabitha thinks of the mansion as a big fairy-tale castle while her father just thinks of it as a big lonely house with a lot of empty rooms. Feel free to share what you come up with in the comments. I definitely want to try these on my own stories!

Write On Target

“For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience.”

-                            From “The Beach” by Alex Garland

Hello old friends! I have returned! I was off sucking in my own experience at the Tallahassee Writer’s Conference, Write On Target, with my friend/roommate Patty this past weekend. It was my first writing conference, and, let me tell you, nothing stirs the imagination like being surrounded by a large group of fellow writers. If you enjoy any kind of writing, no matter what level you’re at, I highly recommend attending a conference.

By the end of this busy weekend, I went to about ten different sessions. Sadly, only about half of them were worth attending though. Luckily for you, I sifted through all of the unnecessary stuff and will share the golden nuggets of wisdom that I uncovered in my next post. The things I learned are helpful no matter what genre your story falls under.

To be honest, being around so many other writers took a little bit of getting used to. In the first session, I was listening to an author talk about the fairies in her book. It’s not every day that you hear grown-ups talking about fairies with a straight face on when there are no children in the room.

This author ended up being my favorite speaker at the conference. Her name is Shelli Johannes. Cool first name, huh? ;) Her sessions were well planned out, clearly explained, and provided a lot of helpful examples.  The best part was, she ended up hanging out in a group with me and a few others, so we were able to ask her as many writerly questions as we wanted!  You should definitely go check out her blog because she had a lot of great things to share. She’s written a really successful teen conservation thriller series called The Nature of Grace. I bought the first book and will put up a review as soon as I’ve read it.

From left to right: Shelli, Me, Patty, and Byna

Another favorite speaker of mine was Arliss Ryan. She actually leads ghost tours with her husband near my hometown! With this information, it should come as no surprise to you that she writes historical fiction. I was blown away by her writing when she shared some examples. I always assumed that you had to be British to write high-quality, believable fiction set in England, but she proved me wrong. I want to read some of her stuff as well. Check out her Facebook here, and if you read or have read any of her stuff, let me know what you think!

By the way, if you’re wondering who Byna is from the picture, we met her at the conference as well. She’s written an apocalyptic zombie novel and has a really neat zombie blog. (Do people still use the word ‘neat’?) Anyway, you can check out her blog here.

I also posted some pics on Instagram of some of the random Tallahassee outings we went on. My friend Sarah who came with us is an FSU alumni so she brought us to some of her old haunts. I felt like an old lady when we went to a college bar called Bullwinkle’s, but they played awesome 90s tunes!

So that’s about the gist of my first writing conference. Check back later for those writing tips I’ve promised, and if you’ve ever been to a conference, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!