Book one: Book one was what made me want to read the whole series. I read this book in highschool. I remember liking the book but I don't remembering reading to the end. I've always wanted to live like a native, settler or now, a cave person. I think I've just always wanted to live off the land. I used to play outside and sharpen sticks on the ground and try to make bow and arrow, sling, sling-shot. It's so eye-opening to think about how someone survives without all of our modern supplies. The girl, Ayla, is an amazing character. She survives (and thrives) against many odds. The author describes the way of life, the plant life, tools..it's like she was there and now she's writing about it. So many things in this book are interesting -things you wouldn't even think about, like what they use to clean themselves. How do you boil water with out pots and pans. The difference between male and female. When I think of cave people -I don't usually see a difference in genders, but there must have been.
I watch the show Survivor and every season the people start out normal size. By the end they are all starving. You can tell they have less strength and energy.
Cave people survived. And it was cold.
Book two: Was good too. But 1/2 way through the book, there was conflict that didn't resolve until the end. It was a bit frustrating..It was also interesting with the addition of animal friends. We really don't think pets are odd to keep..for the cave people, they were food, predator...not pets. Plus now we have bred pets that aren't wild and unpredictable. Our pets docile. No one would think about taking home an animal from the zoo and expect it to be tame. Book two also had the romance..
Book three: they met other people and described a different way of life/culture. She learned new things from the new people. She also saw how they did somethings and improved upon their process. It was also the first time she realized things were made for decoration...not for a needed purpose. Also there was some jealousy and mars vs. Venus...when I read online the reviews, alot of people commented that there was too much descriptive intimacy... Book three wasn't too bad for me but by book four, I was all, "again?" ...flip to the next page.
Book four: a bit boring. lots of descriptive plant and animal life. A little magic. More 'doing it' than in book three. Basically a journey from where they've been to where they're going.
Book five: They made it home and once again Ayla impresses everyone. She was amazing. There are so many people in history who have been to extraordinary to have invented and thought up new ways of doing things. There are even more people who only utilize those inventions and don't contribute. To be where we are now...people like Ayla had to be there then. There's such a huge difference in people now that it almost doesn't seem like the same species. We are so different...but in a way, they could independently take care of themselves....I don't think we could. It's one thing to go and live off the land..but to know how to utilize the resources of the land.
Anyways, I kept waiting for something to happen in book 5 to break the couple apart..I thought there would be some taboo or she would do something to piss him. But nothing kept them apart this time.
I'm looking forward to the next book. It will be here in about 4 months. The books were really good.. I'm glad I decided to read and finish all the books. I started this summer and read through all 5 books in a only a couple months. I didn't have to look any words, like I do in other books...but I had to look up 'banking a fire' and some species of animals they talked about. It made me think alot about plants, herbs, spices...How they were aware of the spiritual, not just themselves.
