28 May 2002

I just finished Book 5 of Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series. It has been the third time for some of them, but after perhaps 15 years. I was determined not to skip through as much this time, and I am glad I made this promise. I see more of the connections. At times I get tired of the repeats of what had gone previously, but that is probably necessary for those who don't read them one after the other. However, even that has emphasized what I am supposed to remember. Sometimes I think the author doesn’t think the reader will get the point if it is not repeated often, but who knows who is reading this, and why. Is this why she repeats the sex so often? Not much variety there! The most unreal thing about these books is the fact that one person is so creative as to invent so much! However, if one takes it as symbolic of many people (and centuries) and go with the flow, they are great stories.

This book introduces Ayla and sets up the contrast between the “Clan” (Neanderthal) people and the “Others” (Cro-Magnons). Ayla, an “Other,” is found after an earthquake and taken in by a “cave” (family group) of the Clan. This is somewhere in present day Ukraine, on the Beran Sea. This book goes into extensive explanations of the Clan belief system (based on totems of animal spirits), medicinal use of plants, and hunting techniques. It brings out some of the physical differences between the two peoples. Ayla can cry and laugh, the Clan people cannot; Ayla has a creative brain, the Clan have memories that are awakened as needed (men and women have different kinds of memories); the Clan people cannot talk much verbally, but rather talk with their hands while Ayla can make sounds (although this ability is not developed). However, more important is the demonstration of the similarities, which are many. The most important is the ability to care for others, to believe in a spirit world, to use tools, and to use language. Ayla is adopted by a mo-gur (priest), and trained by his sister Iza, a medicine woman. By chance (ha!) she gets to know the priestly world, but of great importance is her knowledge of the use of medicinal plants. She also hunts with a sling (not usually acceptable for women, but...) and of course improves on it by learning to sling two stones almost immediately one after the other. She has a child, who is mixed (of course), but this brings up the belief in how women get pregnant. They believed that the woman’s totem (animal) was overcome by some man’s totem. No one thought hers could be overcome since it was so powerful (a cave lion). This gets her to thinking and she suspects that it has more to do with sex than with spirit animal fighting. Another of her unbelievable leaps of intuition. At the end of the book Ayla is condemned to death, which means that she is thought dead and is no longer seen except as someone from the dangerous spirit world. She takes what she can, but not her son, and leaves.

In Book 2, Ayla finds a valley and a cave before winter so she can find food and shelter to prepare for the harshness of the steppe winter. In this book she takes in a colt after killing its mother for food, and starts to train her. She also finds a baby cave lion left to die and also raises him (first time animals taken in for companionship by man (ahem!). She learns to make a travois (another first) to have the horse pull her kills. After a couple of years alone, her horse goes off to join a herd, but eventually comes back pregnant. Her lion goes off and gets a mate, but comes back on occasion. In the other part of the story, we have Jondalar who is, of course, the perfect man (as Ayla is the perfect woman), but unhappy. He and his brother start on a “journey” from their home (somewhere in modern central France), to the Donau (Danube) River, and down to it’s mouth at the Beran Sea. His brother marries on the way, but loses his wife in childbirth. He doesn't want to continue living, and gets his wish when they are traveling north from the Danau and he is killed by a lion as he attempts to get his spear and some meat from a kill that a lioness thought she had made. The lion (mate of the lioness who killed Jondalar’s brother) is the one Ayla raised, and she happens to get there in time to save Jondalar. Her healing abilities come into play and she does the first sutures(!) to save his leg. He is the first of the Others whom she has ever seen. His first sight of her is when she is helping her horse give birth to a colt, so he feels she must be somehow related to the spirit world, which is what I think the author wants us to see also. Eventually, of course, they have sex, but after much misunderstanding, and Jondalar finally finds his dreamed-of true love...but the road will be rocky!

After Jondalar teaches her to speak, he finds out she had been raised by the “flatheads,” which is what the “Others” called the Clan members. There is extensive development in this book of the disgust that the Cro-Magnan people felt for the Neanderthals, which eventually Jondalar, and others, will have to resolve in their minds. Of course Ayla is the focal point for bringing forth this problem, as is developed in the next book. In this book Jondalar develops an atlatl (spear thrower) and a lead for the colt (Racer). Ayla also discovers the use of iron pyrite for making fire, instead of rubbing sticks.

Book 3 shows the meeting of Ayla with a “camp” of the mammoth hunters. The Lion Camp is in itself unusual. The head woman has adopted a child that is half Clan and half “Other.” She and Jondalar are invited to stay with this camp during the winter, with their horses. By coincidence, their shaman had at one time lived with Ayla’s clan group and had been healed by their medicine woman, Iza's ancestor. Since Ayla had no people, the camp offered to adopt her. They felt she brought much wealth with her as the discoverer of the firestone, and the fact that she was a healer. She accepts, as she thinks it is significant that the Lion Camp wishes to adopt her (her totem being the Cave Lion).

During the long winter many things do happen, however. Ayla goes into training with the shaman (mamut) in reaching the spirit world. As an aside, she invents the sewing needle. She also saves a wolf cub whose mother has been killed, and he becomes the precurser of all dogs (I suppose!). She overcomes all the prejudices of the more hesitant camp members, and also teaches the mixed child sign language, since he is unable to speak. All the camp members learn the clan sign language to some degree. As I said, a very unusual camp! The mixed child eventually dies since he has a congenital heart disease.

There is much tension between her and Jondalar, mainly because he finds it difficult to bring himself to accept the fact that she talks about having been raised by the Clan and having a mixed child. He is embarrassed by this, but he is more angry at himself for feeling the way he does. There are other problems also, and Ayla finally, reluctantly, accepts a proposal of marriage from one of the Lion Camp members, but just before the matrimonials, she and Jondalar resolve their differences and go off to return to his home. Jondalar is quite plainly a worrier at heart.

This book covers the long trek from the Lion Camp to the home of Jondalar in present day central France. The book goes into great detail about the terrain, the plants, etc. but there seem to be no new inventions. However, there are inventions by other groups that Ayla and Jondalar assimilate. This is also the book that I skipped through the most, and really missed some important points.

Jondalar, Ayla, and their three animal companions meet the various people that Jondalar had met on the way west, plus a few others. In each case Ayla saves someone, of course. The most dramatic was the meeting with the S’Armunai, who had become quite dysfunctional, as extreme groups often do. The camp was led by a strong woman who hated men and felt women could do without them. With her imperfect knowledge of where babies came from, she thought if they got rid of all men, the spirits of women would cause only girls to be born. Jondalar became a prisoner of the camp, along with other men, and of course we know that Ayla will rescue him at the last minute. This was the only instance so far of the killing of a person taking place in these books. Wolf killed the crazy leader who had lifted a knife to kill Ayla. Of course, with the advice of Ayla, the new leader (a holy woman who hadn't been that holy!) was well on her way to getting the camp back in shape. In two other instances Ayla made herself invaluable, in one case resetting the bones of a broken arm, and in another helping a young girl heal mentally after being raped by a group of young men who had gotten completely out of hand. During their journey they even met a clan couple who were being attacked by this same group of young men. Ayla set the man’s broken leg bone, and gave the Clan man the ability to continue his hunting life. They also told him that the Others planned to round up this gang of young men and stop their evil ways. They also mentioned the fact that the Others were thinking of setting up trade with the Clan members.

After crossing a glacier, they come to the cave of Jondalar’s birth father, Dalanar, and discover that his step-sister Joplaya (who had been waiting for him but gives up after seeing Ayla) will be marrying Echozar, who is half Clan and seems to be a nice person. Dalanar’s wife, it seems, is probably from China. This indicates a number of personal journeys took place during that era. I wonder if there is proof of this.

Then they are off to Jondalar’s people, the Zelandonii. We know two things, that both Whinney and Ayla are pregnant. The book ends with them coming to the 9th cave, the home of Jondalar.

This book starts just as Jondalar and Ayla are coming to the Zelandonii cave. Of course there is fear of the animals, etc., but all goes well eventually and of course Jondalar’s family falls in love with Ayla because of her great gifts, willingness to work, and humbleness. Actually, there is not that much new in this book. It takes a lot of pages (740) to cover about eight months, from when they come to just after the birth of their daughter, Jonayla. Jondalar seems less of a person in this book. He is a nice guy, totally loving, considerate, accepting, and all, but somehow not very real.

The matrimonial takes place as expected at the summer meeting, but the matrimonial is marred by the dissent presented by several concerning the marriage of Joplaya and Echozar. Some people call him an abomination because he is half Clan. The conflict of the anti-Clan and those who can accept that they are people is developed somewhat in this book, but one knows that more may be coming in the next book, whenever that appears. This conflict is moved forward by Brukeval who is one-fourth Clan, but reacts by totally denying this, expressing great hatred of Clan members. I expect this conflict to be developed in the next book. A casual mention is made by Ayla toward the end of the book that she thought the S’Armunai, met in the 4th book, are mostly of mixed spirits (part Clan). This was never mentioned before as far as I can remember. Interesting!

Another situation introduced in this book is that of persons who don't take care of their children, who don’t contribute to the well-being of the cave, and who gamble and drink most of the time. These are personified by the family of Laramar, who is a maker of alcoholic beverages. Ayla, of course, helps save at least some of his children by organizing some women to take care of them.

We are also introduced to Zelandoni of the Ninth Cave. She is the spiritual leader and healer of the cave. She immediately knows that Ayla should be a Zelandoni and by the end of the book convinces her that she at least needs the training. She knows that Ayla will probably replace her as first among the Zelandoni.

There is the recurring theme that started in earlier books about the creation of children. Ayla talks to Zelandoni about what she believes is the role of males (of course she is right!), and it seems to come as a big shock to Zelandoni. She also brings up the fact that there are herbs that stop a person from getting pregnant. These people seem not to have discovered this while the Clan medicine women knew about it. This reinforced Zelandoni’s realization that the Clan members were people who were intelligent and to be respected.

I do wish that the author had not constantly repeated the Song of the Mother throughout the book. She even has it printed out at the end of the book. Ah, well. Everyone has his or her obsessions. That I did skip. I know she was doing this to make a point, but there is just so often I can accept to be hit by it!

I did enjoy the book, but it was a little bit too lightweight for my taste. I can only hope the final(?) book is a bit more dense.