From the Publisher
The fifth installment of Jean Auel's Earth's Children® series, which began with The Clan 
of the Cave Bear, is one of the most hotly anticipated books in publishing history. In The 
Shelters of Stone, Ayla and Jondalar complete their epic journey across Europe, join 
Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii, and face new and perilous challenges.

About the Author
Jean M. Auel is the author of the bestselling Earth's Children series, including The Clan 
of the Cave Bear, The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, and The Plains of Passage. 
She lives in Oregon with her husband, Ray, and is currently researching the sixth book in 
the series.



 From the Critics
From Library Journal  
After 12 years, Auel continues her famed "Earth's Children" series with this fifth volume 
in a planned six-part series set in prehistoric Europe. Ayla, a Cro-Magnon woman raised by 
Neanderthals, and Jondalar, a Cro-Magnon man, have just completed a yearlong journey to 
arrive at Jondalar's boyhood home, where they wish to mate and live together among his 
people. Ayla is quickly welcomed into his family but has to struggle to be accepted by the 
larger community owing to her unusual upbringing and tame animal companions. With her 
knowledge of healing and unique interpersonal skills, Alya gains their trust and makes 
friends. The couple finds many opportunities to retell previous adventures, a recycling of 
material from the earlier novels that quickly becomes repetitive and tedious. Still, Auel's 
imaginative and well-researched re-creation of Cro-Magnon life holds the story together 
despite the lack of plot and character development. Readers who hang on until the last 
hundred pages will be rewarded with new and interesting plot developments, an obvious setup 
for the next novel in the series. Public libraries should buy multiple copies for expected 
demand. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/02; for an interview with Auel, see LJ 2/15/02. 
Ed.] Karen T. Bilton, Somerset Cty. Lib., Bridgewater, NJ Copyright 2002 Cahners Business 
Information.
 
From Kirkus Reviews  
Fifth volume in the Earth's Children series, begun with Clan of the Cave Bear, with 34 
million copies worldwide. It's been 12 years since The Plains of Passage and, although it 
sold as well as its predecessors, many fans felt a let-down in the series, with the action 
delayed by hundreds of pages. Here, once again, Auel shows her riches of research, with 
suspenseless but readable passages of flora, fauna and landscape. Ayla decides to accompany 
her mate Jondalar back to his home among the Zelandonii, a clan that lives in the caves of 
massive limestone cliffs and is ruled by Zelandoni, the woman who took Jolandar's 
virginity. With them they bring their horses, Whinny and Racer, and Ayla's tame wolf, all 
of which astound the Zelandonii. Ayla is now pregnant and probably the smartest Ice Ager 
alive, full of wisdom and inner conviction, while blond Jondalar remains ever recessive and 
needing her moral support as he and Ayla try to fit into the Zelandonii with its new ways 
and mores. Auel clearly has one more installment to add to her Ice Age saga. Her fans can 
swim through this behemoth and hope that the next volume doesn't take 12 years.
 
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