The Wild Blog in the West

After a decade of impressive productivity, few would blame Jean Auel for wanting a rest.   The Plains of Passage alone must have been a beast from a research and storyline standpoint.  Its length is dangerously close to twice the length of The Clan of the Cave Bear . So who could blame Auel if she took a year off before starting the long-anticipated "Ayla meets the Zelandonii" novel?  If she approached it fresh, the story would only be better for it.  By the time I read Auel's first four novels, two years had already elapsed since The Plains of Passage , so I would have to wait, oh, another three maybe? And so the wait began. As the years passed, I frequented an Earth's Children   message board , where people started to question whether the fifth novel would ever be released.  Now and then Jean Auel's son would pop in to inform us of her progress (which boiled down to "No she's not dead.  Yes she's still working on it"), but Internet-ave

The last chapter is here . For those in mourning that Downton Abbey 's fourth series won't air until January 2014 in the U.S. (stupid PBS), get your country house fix here.  I'll confess that this isn't a full chapter -- the full chapter would take up an entire page.  But between this and my last chapter, it should give you a flavor of what my novel is about.  Again, legitimate feedback is welcome, either in the comments below or by clicking on the About Me link and hitting Email . ********************** Mount Edgecumbe House, taken by  Philip Halling Bella’s room.  Upon seeing it for the first time since her death, Elizabeth had the strong impulse to flee.  But she promised to come sort through her possessions, and here she was. Except for the drawn curtains, the room looked just as it had when she was alive.  Her water basin was filled.  Brushes sat on her dressing table at varying angles, where her maid had last laid them down.  A list sat beside the

Though Jean Auel's fourth installment of the Earth's Children  series is widely regarded as the weakest of the first four, it is looked upon more favorably in comparison to the final two installments. The Plains of Passage is   still "early Auel," part of a remarkable 10-year bout of productivity that produced four giant, detailed novels.  Whatever its faults, it still maintains the tone and characterization of previous novels, and it still seems to harbor some ambitions for its characters. That said, I found The Plains of Passage  to be a grind after The Mammoth Hunters .  Unlike the latter book which -- whatever its faults -- had one tense plot line throughout, the plot of The Plains of Passage is "Ayla and Jondalar travel to Jondalar's home."  That means a lot of lengthy travel sequences of variable interest, intercut with sometimes interesting interaction with other tribes. I would have found The Plains of Passage  to be a lot fresher if we h

We now come to what is widely regarded as the "last good" Jean Auel novel.  Whether The Mammoth Hunters  even qualifies as good in the objective sense is a matter of debate, but I will say that I found it much more readable than The Valley of Horses . Ayla finally meets a whole group of Others like herself.  A group that just happens to be called the Lion Camp.  And happens to house a shaman who once lived with Ayla's clan, as well as a Clan-Others "mixture" like Durc.  Could it be that Ayla was meant to live with this specific group?  * pregnant pause * The Lion Camp also features the Earth's Children series first Other of Color, named Ranec.  It is with Ranec that we first get a taste of that dreaded convention: the love triangle. Happiness makes for dull reading, so it is not surprising that there is no smooth sailing once Ayla and Jondalar reach the Lion Camp.  However, what many fans object to is the extent to which the Love Triangle From Hell

Just a note: I will be going out of town for a few days, so I probably won't have the next Earth's Children   critique up until Sunday at the earliest.  Until then, I thought perhaps there might be some out there * sound of crickets * who would be interested in reading a chapter of my own novel.  I recently learned that the publishing person I sent it to has not read it yet, which is frustrating but not surprising, since people in that industry are so busy.  Hopefully she will get to it soon, and in the meantime, I would love any feedback on what I've posted -- real feedback, not spam feedback, please.  You can either post below or click on the About Me: Wild Blogger  link and hit Email . As I mentioned before, the novel is set in 1860s Britain, and is very much in the "country house" genre.  However, I think there is more to it than massive skirts and horse-drawn carriages. ********************** Mount Edgecumbe House, taken by Philip Halling   Isabel

As I mentioned last time , after sucking down The Clan of the Cave Bear  in just a few days, 14-year old me grabbed ahold of its sequel.  I was so excited.  The ending of  Clan  was so powerful and emotional -- what could Auel possibly have in store for us next?  Would Ayla be reunited with her family?  Would we see how Durc was treated once Ayla was gone?  At this point, anything was possible. I tore open the novel and read the first chapter. "She was dead.  What did it matter if icy needles of freezing rain flayed her skin raw."  Yes, yes!  I read as Ayla forged ahead alone, haunted by her final moments with the Clan, until she ended up in "cool, green, sheltered valley" where horses were grazing.  Then... Wait -- who were Jondalar and Thonolan?  I skimmed ahead through their chapter, looking for some connection to Ayla, but there was none.  Next chapter, Ayla was still in the valley.  Next chapter, Jondalar and Thonolan and their not-very-interesting adventur