I purchased these books together at a yard sale this summer for 50 cents a piece. I’ve never read them but knew the original title and remembered it was made into a movie. I didn’t know when I bought them that I was buying a trilogy, I thought they were 3 seperate novels by the same author.


I really LOVED the first novel. I found it to be very well written and spellbinding. I loved the story and the characters. At times the description of the landscape or tool making became a little over emphasised but I just skimmed over that. I have no imagination for seeing a landscape in my head based on someone’s description. I couldn’t imagine the toolmaking either. Neither affected my enjoyment of the story. I burned through the first novel and then instantly began the second.


The Valley of the Horses was still a good story. Ayla’s journey is an amazing one. I realize the author takes liberties with Ayla’s discovery of new and improved ways to do things. I can accept that for the most part but it was getting a little heavy handed at one point. In this book, the authors inner romance novelist must have surfaced because the story is heavily laced with sex. Since I have little knowledge of the era I couldn’t begin to say how much the author learned by research and how much she took artistic license with. Regardless I devoured this novel and am now about 1/4 into the 3rd and final novel.


The Mammoth Hunters
This story strays farther away from the educational track she was on and becomes more of a romance novel. There are some interesting moments and story lines still woven in to make it enjoyable. The story is definitely deteriorating into a bodice ripper. Of course, you have to wonder what happens at the end of the journey which means one more book….