Book 42 of 2011 The Land of Painted Caves by Jean Auel

The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow, it's finally finished. This one took a long time. I did read some other things in between since it was so long.
While this book was nowhere near as good as the others in the series, it was still a must read for me. I needed to see the series wrapped up. I read some reviews before I started it and was disappointed to find that many people gave it only one star. I chose 3 stars because I did like it. I would definitely put it as the worst of the series, but it was not awful.
The one thing that I along with most reviewers hated was the repetition. I really don't think it was necessary. I realize that this book was a long time coming, but I think most fans of the series didn't need the repeated reminders of what went before. And I don't think that too many folks will attempt to read this one without reading the others. If they do, they'll probably give up thinking it's not a great book. Too many descriptions of caves. Ms. Auel became obsessed with caves. I know that's the title of the book, but if you've seen (or read about) one cave drawing of a deer, bison, cave bear, cave lion or big red dots...you've seen (or read about) them all. I also got tired of having the 'Mother's song' sung or recited over and over and over. I know it played a significant part in the conclusion also, but enough is enough.
This series has confirmed for me that a series can go on too long. (Kent Family Chronicles by John Jakes anyone?)


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