A great book, a great finish to the series, she doesn't disappoint! Found it believable and rather sad that humans have really not evolved culturally or emphatically very much. In fact, we are probably less tolerant and more fractured. ( )

The Shelters of Stone continues the story of Ayla who lost her family to an earthquake and was raised by the people who call themselves the Clan of the Cave Bear. She arrives in the land of the man she loves, but his people are wary of her and think of the Clan who cared for her as animals that resemble people and who are not much smarter than beasts. Ayla has brought with her two horses and a wolf over which she has uncanny control. Ayla vows to learn from the Zelandonii and hopes, in turn, to teach them. She is particularly pleased to meet the spiritual leader of the tribe, a fellow healer with whom she is able to share medical skills and knowledge. But Ayla's greatest problem is to convince her new hosts that she is from a tribe of human beings, not the subhumans they are regarded as. And when she gives birth to her eagerly awaited child, she is forced to accept that she and her child will have to play a very significant role in the clouded destiny of the Zelandon.

Auel is particularly sharp in her characterisation of Ayla, the woman who is foreign and strange in this new land, and her heroine's clashes with her new-found people are handled skilfully. The reader is immersed in another world, one whose every detail is skilfully evoked, while the writing has all the colour and vividness of Auel's previous books

I loved this new book and it's continuation to this beautiful story.

too long, too many repetitions, no action. nothing is happening, no plot, out of 700 pages, I really enjoyed 100. ( )

I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't my favorite in the series. Ms. Auel ends this book with hopes for another installment of Ayla and Jondalar's story. ( )