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  • The Land of Painted Caves

  • Earth's Children, Book 6
  • Written by: Jean M. Auel
  • Narrated by: Sandra Burr
  • Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (169 ratings)

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The Land of Painted Caves cover art

The Land of Painted Caves

Written by: Jean M. Auel
Narrated by: Sandra Burr
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Publisher's Summary

Ayla, one of the most remarkable and beloved heroines in contemporary fiction, continues to explore the world and the people around her with curiosity, insight, and, above all, courage.

As the story opens, Ayla, Jondalar, and their infant daughter, Jonayla, are living with the Zelandonii in the Ninth Cave - a shelter of stone. Ayla has been chosen as an acolyte and has embarked on the arduous task of training to become a spiritual leader. The wisdom that Ayla gained from her struggles as an orphaned child, alone in a hostile environment, strengthen her as she moves closer to leadership of the Zelandonia.

Whatever the obstacles, Ayla’s inventive spirit produces new ways to lessen the difficulties of daily life: searching for wild edibles to make delicious meals, experimenting with techniques to ease the long journeys the Zelandoni must take, honing her skills as a healer and a leader. And then, there are the Sacred Caves, the caves that Ayla’s mentor - the Donier, the First of the Zelandonia - takes her to see. These caves are filled with remarkable art - paintings of mammoths, lions, aurochs, rhinoceros, reindeer, bison, bear. The powerful, mystical aura within these caves sometimes overwhelms Ayla and the rituals of initiation bring her close to death. But through those rituals, Ayla gains A Gift of Knowledge so important that it will change the world.

Spellbinding drama, meticulous research, fascinating detail, and superb narrative skill combine to make The Land of Painted Caves a captivating, utterly believable creation of a long ago civilization that serves as an astonishing end to this beloved saga.

©2011 Jean M. Auel (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Land of Painted Caves

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I love the series!

I used to have a whole collection of hardback for the series and I have been losing my sight so I have been listening to audio books, all of the books up until now have been awesome, this book I really don’t like how they made Ayla’s voice and accent sound, I find it irritating

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My favourite series

I loved this ending to my favourite series ever!
As always, Jean M Auel has created a thought provoking story that leaves me wondering how much of these ideas really did translate into the ways of our modern society. There were many a moment during this book, and all of the series that brought clarity and understanding of how things are the way they are. I do hope as a species we move to a less possessive relationship with each other and the world around us and return to a more harmonious existence.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

sad that this was the last book.

I wish that Ms Auel would do another book. I am sure there is more that can be said.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

meh

least favorite of all the books. still liked it just not so much the story line

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great book wish there was more!!

loved it.. can't believe this is the last book!!
oh I hope there is more coming..

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Got bored with descriptions often

If I hear the recitations of the mother song another time I will scream had to fast forward at least 5 times but I loved the series and this book but quite often got bored with descriptions of things in general

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

too much repetition

author repeated same information over and over in the book, how many times does wolf jump up, how many times is Jondalar favored by the mother etc etc etc.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Very redundant

Although I enjoyed finding out what had happened to Ayla and Jondalar after Ayla's agreement to begin training as a Zalandoni, this book vas mostly endless descriptions of cave visits, repetitions on past deeds as told to numerous new characters, and counless retellings of the mother song. I dont regret reading it, but didn't enjoy it as much as the rest of the series, especially the first two novels.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Just finished the whole series

I enjoyed most of the series, but the way Ayla and Jondalar behaved in the Mammoth Hunters got old pretty fast, so it was annoying that they did it again. Hopefully they finally learned their lesson though, and grew up. The other thing that kinda ruined it is The One Who Is First, and how she used her position of authority to manipulate Ayla into doing everything she wanted, not caring about what Ayla wanted, to the point that Ayla almost died. It caused the story to go in a whole different direction and Ayla and Jondalar’s love story went all awry. They were happy until she stuck her big nose in. Thirdly, the repetition got old as well. Still, I had a lot invested in this saga, and I enjoyed it well enough. I’m not sorry I finished this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good story but repetitive.

This was a nice finish to the story but I found the constant repetitions of previous events and the mother's story to be detracting to the overall. This book could have been half as long and still been a great story.

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