Reviews

The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel

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riseclare's review against another edition

2.0

I loved the Clan of the Cave Bear and I really like Ayla when she's on her own with the animals or with her clan. Once she meets Jondalar and goes with people of her own race, it just got weird and boring. Too much emphasis on "pleasures", (eyeroll) and even the wording she used got on my nerves. The whole worshipping the earth mother business bothered me as well. Read Cave Bear, maybe the second one, and skip the rest.

henry_wallison's review against another edition

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5.0

This book felt close to recapturing the magic of the first book. I honestly enjoyed being introduced to the new cast of characters and felt that their chemistry worked well. There were aspects of the story that I did not enjoy, such as

Spoiler

the love triangle between Jondalar and Ranec

, and I felt I needed to exercise a suspension of disbelief when

Spoiler

Ayla discovers seemingly countless species-changing ways to do things, such as taking in wolves and the invention of the sewing needle, but much of this was compounded by her innovations in the first book, especially her horses and travois, and her "firestones"

. However, none of these complaints detract from the constant feelings of elation this book created with each triumphant moment it built to. I cannot bring myself to give this book four stars, it was simply too much fun to read.

chirson's review against another edition

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2.0

So much of this volume is fascinating for analysis! The sexual mores, the way this novel features disability, how its central theme is who counts as human, how group status is created... It's fascinating, and the scene about Rydag's humanity, where Ayla stands up for what's right and rejects the claim of Mamutoi to have a standing to judge her or the Clan's status as human, actually brought tears to my eyes.

In addition, this book sees the return of Baby (<3), a new addition to the household - Wolf, and a few delightful characters.

Alas, it *also* features Ranec/Ayla/Jondalar triangle bullshit. And by that I mean, Ayla losing her self-respect whenever Jondalar is being awful to her, Jondalar existing, and Ranec serving the ever unfun role of the essentially good guy our protagonist just is not that into. There's a lot of bad there, and the sex descriptions are as bad as we're used to.

Still, it was a very relaxing, pleasant read, and a return to a world that I find quite fascinating - plus, I enjoyed livetweeting my reading almost as much as I did talking about the series to a friend who read it in translation in the (I think) 1990s.