""The Shelter of Stone""
07 / 03 / 02
General
I just finished reading all of "The Shelter of Stone." I will try and give a more indepth look to it, though don't hold me that. I'll just provide a short, spoiler free summary of my feelings.
It was left open ended. That's the nice way of saying incomplete. Anyone familiar with Please Save My Earth, the anime, probably know what I mean. The difference is that with the book, the feeling of incompleteness pretty much stays through the latter half of the book on several points/storylines/characters. It's as if Ms. Auel is teasing with the plot, yet doesn't quite complete the delivery. Perhaps this is due in part to her trying to fit in the general, day to day life of the people surrounding the protagonist(s). Towards the end, it seems as though she focuses more on this than the initial plot twists with certain individuals she created earlier. It leaves me hoping there will in fact be a next book that will tie up some of the loose ends she left.
In truth, while I had been hoping for a fifth book, I later resigned myself to the four already published. And it was a complete story, both for each individual novel, and for the arc as a whole. Even at the end of the fourth, while I wondered about the lives of the central characters, I could easily assume they had the life they were seeking, and all was right with the world. In retrospect, I'd say the ending of the fourth would make for a good pickup for anyone interested in writing fanfiction.
All in all, while her ability to create such detailed characters and give them a remarkable depth in all aspects remains as strong as ever, I would caution against reading this until it's comfirmed whether or not there will be another in the series. If not, then only pick it up if you are already a well established fan of the series, because either way, you are going to feel this sense of incompleteness as well.
For those interested, the series is as follows:
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Valley of Horses
The Mammoth Hunters
The Plains of Passage
The Shelter of Stone
...you know, I meant to keep this short. oy vey, I have work to go do...
Sorry, spammers forced my hand. Comments reviewed before being published.
still winds
