I heard horrible things about this book, unfortunately, because I was so looking forward to it, and even though my expectations had a damper put on them, I was eager to complete the story. (I actually won a copy of this book from Goodreads’ First Reads program but did not shelve this on my first-reads shelf because I won an unreadable pre-publication edition that arrived a few weeks after the book had been published; I waited and read a hardcover edition borrowed from my public library.)

Very disappointing and anticlimactic!! I also found it discombobulating to continually get taken between the historical fiction story and being educated about the little ice age, which is when this story takes place.

Yes, despite its flaws, this was a 3 star book for me, until the end/toward the end, which left me so unsatisfied. It’s not that it deserved 3 stars, and maybe it doesn’t deserve even 2 stars, but I’m rating on my enjoyment while reading, not on the book’s merits.

It’s been nearly a decade since the last book; I would have happily waited years more for a better conclusion to this epic story. It’s been 25 years since I read the first book, the best of the 6, and book 2 was unique and fascinating, and I do love being with these people in these setting, and enjoy the conjectures about what life was like in this era.

Because so much time has elapsed since I’ve read the previous 5 books, I was grateful for reminders of what had happened in those books, but this book is so ridiculously repetitive. This book needed major editing. The author should not have thanked her editor in the acknowledgements; I can’t imagine what her editor did to help with this chaotic book.

I do love Wolf. What a great character. I also love the horses. As with the previous books, I enjoyed reading about how people might have lived in that time: what materials they used, how they might have domesticated animals, practiced medicine, etc. etc.

I also am assuming the author has made use of new discoveries about this period; I know she does do quite a bit of research. For this book she got to visit many of the caves with cave paintings.

BUT, major spoilers:

Spoiler

Jump the shark!: Page 575: When Ayla finds Jondular having sex with Marona. Ridculous! Especially given that it turns out this dalliance had been going on for some time. And page 660, when Jondular attacks Laramar. Unnecessary. But, the worst is one thing I hate in books (along with love triangles) happens: when a lack of communication absurdly complicates things, done just to make the soap opera more of a soap opera.

And, there was absolutely no resolution to the whole epic story. I wanted something. Yes, Ayla was a year’s walk away from her original people and the clan she grew up with, but I was hoping she’d find her son and wished even more that she’d learn something about/meet some of the people she was born to. Maybe I shouldn’t have expected that, but I wanted it. Am I the only reader who wanted this? Sans that, I’d have liked a better conclusion to a 6 book epic series; the ending of this book didn’t feel like the end of the story; it felt no more conclusive than the end of any of the other books. I was left feeling another book was in the pipeline, but this is the end.

Inadequate is the word that best describes the entire book and especially its conclusion.