Valley of Horses

 Valley of Horses, Jean Auel

The Valley of Horses continues the life story of Ayla, which was started in the first novel Clan of the Cave Bear.

In the first novel, Ayla was condemned by his the new clan chief and her sworn enemy to be cut off from the clan. Shaken and depressed by the turn of events, Ayla had to leave his son to the care of her clan mates and journey on to live to place that is far away from her clan. In her journey, Ayla reached a valley and chose to settle their. She persevered and learnt to live on her own in that valley until he found another man, named Jondalar of her own race, who taught her that she is not alone and she could live again.

Once again, I was amazed by Ayla. Her struggle to continue leaving despite her being cut off from the clan is worth reading for. Her determination to live kept the story moving and the very thing that kept me interested in reading this novel. However, this book is not about Ayla only but is also about [Insert name here] whose story runs parallel to Ayla’s story. I found the story of Jondalar uninteresting so I skipped all chapters that are about him.

All in all, this novel is another good work from Jane Auel. My only wish is that she should have modified the story of Jondalar to make him as interesting as Ayla. Ayla’s character is too strong than Jondalar character.

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Clan of the Cave Bear

The novel Clan of the Cave Bear is a unique saga written by Jean Auel that was set during the Ice Age at edge of the glacial ice in pre-historic Europe. If the setting is not enough, Jean made the plot of this novel to be also as unique as its setting.

The Clan of the Cave Bear follows the life story of Ayla who is of a different race than his adopted tribe. Ayla belongs to the race which is the predecessor of the Homo Sapiens while the tribe that adopted her is of the Homo Neanderthal race. Ayla was adopted by the clan after an earthquake that killed her parents. She was adopted by Iza, who was the clan’s medicine woman, and was taken in the clan through the help of Creb, who is the clan’s greatest shaman. Iza and Creb are siblings and they served as Ayla’s new parents.

The difference between Ayla and the clan is so much that clan members distrusted her at first. She was even considered ugly because her face is different from that of the women in the tribe. Through the help of Iza and Creb, Ayla begun to learn and love the tribe that adopted her. The clan, who believes in spirits, eventually accepted her because they believe that she is protected by great spirits.
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The Clan of the Cave Bear is great novel because of its uniqueness and the storytelling is not boring. Ayla’s character is interesting and there plentiful of conflicts that the readers can follow. The reader’s mind will also be filled with the imageries of the ancient flora and fauna and the tradition of the Clan, who worships cave bears. The other characters also give full color to the life of the clan.

Clan of the Cave Bear is an interesting novel. It is great from the beginning until its dramatic end.

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