The Shelters of Stone Prepare for a return to the Ice Age. After a 12-year absence, bestselling author Jean Auel is back with the fifth book in her Earth's Children® series, The Shelters of Stone. Publishers Weekly declared it "the biggest novel of the summer, if not the year". Library Journal said that the book "is already on track to rival the popularity of the last Harry Potter book." The excitement and anticipation are deserved, as Auel's publishing history is nothing short of phenomenal. She was an unknown 40 year old when her fist novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear, was published in 1980. The novel skyrocketed to success, spending 18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and selling well over 10,000,000 copies worldwide. Her three subsequent novels broke records, too—for largest first hardcover printing ever; for each book reaching #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in both hardcover and paperback; for selling more than 34 million copies combined worldwide, in 27 languages. 4-29-02 http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/ Return to the Ice Age with the fifth book in the Earth's Children ® Series, The Shelters of Stone. Since it began in 1980 with the publication of The Clan of The Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel's Earth's Children ® series has been an international phenomenon. Now, continue the epic quest with Ayla and Jondolar as they meet Jondolar's people, the Zelandonii, at the limestone caves in what is now the Dordogne Valley in France. Jean Auel is at her best in this wonderfully imagined journey through a prehistoric world. 4-29-02 http://www.randomhouse.com/features/auel/home.html The Shelters of Stone Earth's Children Jean M. Auel Fiction | Crown | Hardcover | April 2002 | $28.95 | 0-609-61059-7 ABOUT THIS BOOK The Shelters of Stone opens as Ayla and Jondalar, along with their animal friends, Wolf, Whinney, and Racer, complete their epic journey across Europe and are greeted by Jondalar’s people: the Zelandonii. The people of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii fascinate Ayla. Their clothes, customs, artifacts, even their homes - formed in great cliffs of vertical limestone - are a source of wonder to her. And in the woman Zelandoni, the spiritual leader of the Ninth Cave (and the one who initiated Jondalar into the Gift of Pleasure), she meets a fellow healer with whom to share her knowledge and skills. But as Ayla and Jondalar prepare for the formal mating at the Summer Meeting, there are difficulties. Not all the Zelandonii are welcoming. Some fear Ayla’s unfamiliar ways and abhor her relationship with those they call flatheads and she calls Clan. Some even oppose her mating with Jondalar, and make their displeasure known. Ayla has to call on all her skills, intelligence, knowledge, and instincts to find her way in this complicated society, to prepare for the birth of her child, and to decide whether she will accept new challenges and play a significant role in the destiny of the Zelandonii. Jean Auel is at her very best in this superbly textured creation of a prehistoric society. The Shelters of Stone is a sweeping story of love and danger, with all the wonderful detail - based on meticulous research - that makes her novels unique. It is a triumphant continuation of the Earth’s Children® saga that began with The Clan of the Cave Bear. And it includes an amazing rhythmic poem that describes the birth of Earth’s Children and plays its own role in the narrative of The Shelters of Stone. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY JEAN M. AUEL is an international phenomenon. Her books have sold 34 million copies worldwide. Her extensive research has earned her the respect of archaeologists and anthropologists around the world. She lives with her husband, Ray, in Oregon, where she is at work on the next book in the Earth’s Children® series. 4-29-02 http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0609610597 Ayla and Jondalar end their epic cross-continental journey, arriving at the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii, Jondalar’s family home. At first, the tribe are wary of this striking girl with her tame wolf and pet horse, but they are gradually won over by her grace and courage. However, Ayla cannot forget the Clan – the Neanderthals who brought her up – and she is determined to teach the Zelandonii that the Clan are wise, generous human beings with skills and traditions that are just as valid as their own. After so many adventures, Ayla’s overwhelming desire is to lead a settled life. But her wisdom and spiritality cannot be ignored and, with the birth of her daughter Jonayla, Ayla comes to accept that she has a far more significant role to play . . . 4-29-02 http://www.escapefiction.co.uk/mag.asp?prid=101689 At the end of April, there will be an extremely strong demand for the new book by Jean Auel. The publisher is printing 1.3 million copies. There will be a major promotion of the book. 4-29-02 http://www.crooklib.org/Newsletter.html Is Jean Auel ever going to write the last book in her Earth’s Children series? I bought every one of her books and have been waiting for years to find out what happened when the couple got home. Please tell me that my waiting is just about over! —Brenda F., South Carolina You’ll have to wait until April 30. That’s the current date set for The Shelters of Stone, the fifth installment of the Earth’s Children series by Jean M. Auel. The series, which continues the prehistoric story of Ayla, began with 1980’s The Clan of the Cave Bear and saw the last book, The Plains of Passage, released in 1990. The 65-year-old author has sold more than 34 million books worldwide with 28 foreign language editions. “While this has taken me 11 years to write, it has been a labor of love,” Auel says. “I can’t wait to be able to share it with the world.” Auel went to South Africa and Europe to do research for book number six. She and husband Ray have five children and 15 grandchildren. 4-29-02 http://www.americanprofile.com/issues/20020113/20020113_1723.asp The Shelters of Stone AUEL, JEAN M.|EUR 37.03 EUR 22.50 subject: Fiction, ISBN: 0340821957|HODDER & STOUGHTON GENERAL DIVISION|05/2002 UK Edition|HARDBACK|800 pages| order Description On April 30, 2002 Jean Auel's 12-year silence will be broken with the publication of Shelters of Stone, the fifth novel in the Earth Children series about perhistoric life. Following 'Plains of Passage', in the hugely successful Earth's Children series, of which over 34 million copies have been sold worldwide. The source of Auel's enduring appeal may lie in her unique way of combining elements from so many genres - the books are historical novels, with elements of romance and fantasy. She builds an encyclopedically comphrhensive alternative world in the way Tolkien build his, with bricks of scholarship. With a repackaged backlist to coincide with publication, this will be a major international publishing event. 4-29-02 http://www.abc.nl/abc/search/details.php?isbn=0340821957&valuta=@ Jean Auel’s Epic Saga Returns At Last The Shelters of Stone In the fifth volume of the long-awaited best-selling Earth's Children series, which began with The Clan of the Cave Bear (published in 1980), Ayla and Jondalar continue their epic journey across Ice Age Europe to join Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii, confronting new hardships and perilous challenges along the way. This series has sold 34 million copies around the world over the years and been translated into 28 languages. According to the publisher, the 12-year hiatus that Auel took in writing the series has only heightened demand and excitement for the new novel, which will be out in April. Auel states in "Library Journal" that all projects after "Earth’s Children" will be individual novels. "No more series! No more series! It would take me until I was 150!" You can be sure that there will be a waiting list for this book , so be sure to add your name today! 4-29-02 http://www.mcfls.org/shorewood/newsletter/newsletter.html