supercheesegirl

Got this in paperback for a dollar at Ed McKay's in Greensboro, and I couldn't resist. I think I'll be done with this series for a while, though, unless Auel finally finishes the last book. Ayla and Jondalar were really stupid in this book. Communicate, you idiots! They wasted a whole year, and cave people don't live all that long, so that's pretty dumb. Also, the ending was happy sugar candy, hooray I don't need anyone but Jondalar because he fulfills all my needs, and that pisses me off about Ayla. Reading this book made me realize that she's pretty much a total Mary Sue. She's so beautiful but doesn't realize it because of her upbringing; she's excellent at everything, from hunting to healing to herb lore to making stone tools; she has a gift for taming animals, even wolves and cave lions; she invented every single major invention to hit humanity during the cave era; she's blessed by the goddess and the spirit world; and on top of all that, she's sweet and kind and always knows what to say to put people at ease. She has no faults, and all she wants to do is marry Jondalar and have lots of babies. I get that that would be a major life goal for a woman of the time period, and Ayla also insists on hunting and won't have that taken away from her, but still. The adversity she survives in the first two books make her character more palatable, but the only adversity she suffers in this book is Jondalar's dumbness. I never hated her when I read these books as a kid, but now she grates on me. And I always skim Auel's exhaustive descriptions of tools and the trees and the process of leather making. Still a good read, but yeah, not going to read more of these any time soon.