The Valley of Horses

Written by Jean M. Auel

Narrated by Rowena Cooper

Forced to leave the Clan and her young son, Ayla sets out alone to travel the frigid steppes until she finds the valley of horses. Unable to find people like herself, the Cro-Magnons, she settles there and seeks friendship elsewhere. First she adopts a young filly, then a wounded lion cub.

But far to the west, two young Cro-Magnon brothers have begun a journey. One of them is Jondalar, whose destiny is bound inextricably with Ayla's.

Jean Auel's imaginative reconstruction of pre-historic life, rich in detail of language, culture, myth and ritual, has become a set text in schools and colleges around the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette UK Audio
• Release date: Jun 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781444798036

Jean M. Auel

In 1980, Jean M. Auel became a literary legend with The Clan of the Cave Bear, the first book in her Earth’s Children® series. Now a mother, grandmother, and author who has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide, Auel is a heroine of history and prehistory alike, changing the world one enthralling page at a time.

Reviews for The Valley of Horses

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.25 starsA continuation of “The Clan of the Cave Bear”, I won’t say too much about how it happened, but in this book, Ayla is on her own, trying to survive, and looking for what the Clan call “the Others” – that is, people of her kind. She finds a nice spot to settle and manages to tame a horse, and raise a lion cub! Meanwhile (and I missed the circumstances around it), two brothers, Jondalar and Thonalan are travelling. Thonalan becomes injured, so they find a group of people to stay with while he improves. I listened to the audio, so I did miss some things. Overall, I liked the story (I preferred Ayla’s chapters), but (and I will use terminology I found in other reviews), I didn’t think the “caveman porn” was necessary (though there was less of it than I expected, based on reviews). I could have done without the majority of it, though. I do hear it gets worse as the series goes on, but I think (for now), the story is interesting enough for me to continue to the next book. I also thought, for a prehistoric man, Jondalar was maybe a bit too contemporary in his attitudes toward women. Not everything was contemporary, but certainly more than I expected, although I guess we don’t really know what prehistoric culture was like. I did enjoy learning about the making of fire, tools, and the survival strategies and I loved Ayla’s animal companions. ¼ star was taken off for the caveman porn aspect.

[dominiquemarie-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'm loving this series, although, I could do without the caveman porn.

[chellebearss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this one very much, although it dragged a little in the middle. I've grown very fond of Ayla and this series and I plan to continue it right until the end! 3.5?

[abergsman-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

There are parts to this book that are atrocious, and parts that are wonderful. Similar to Clan of the Cave Bear, I particularly enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the landscape, flora and fauna of Upper Paleolithic Europe. Ayla is an intriguing character; her struggles and obstacles were riveting. Jondalar's struggles....not so much. Certain aspects of the story are so unbelievable it is almost laughable. Ayla accumulated quite a miraculous number of inventions and cultural innovations, well ahead of what is historically accurate, such as horse domestication.

[longhorndaniel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

really enjoyed this series

[evelynbernard · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Earth's Children series are my guilty pleasure and I haul them out to read them every couple of years or so. A young girl is found after an earthquake and rescued by a pre-historic tribe. She is well-treated but considered an oddity because of her appearance. She learns the ways of the medicine woman, she learns to hunt, she has a child. Not everyone loves Ayla, however, and she is forced to leave the tribe and her child and make her own way. A young man is journeying with his brother. They encounter several tribes along the way, settling down with them and learning skills from them until leaving to resume their journey. The brother dies along the way from a cave lion attack that leaves Jondolar severely injured. He is rescued and nursed back to health by Ayla, who has settled down in a nearby cave with only the animals she has managed to domesticate for company. At this point, the series becomes a little like a Harlequin Romance against a pre-historic backdrop. Boy and girl meet and fall in love. Neither is able to articulate their feeling for eachother, leading to a series of misunderstandings. However, they are able to work together and between them manage to invent most of the significant developments of the Stone Age. Eventually, they realize that their feelings for eachother are mutual.Ayla and Jondolar continue their journey together. They meet many other people along the way. There continue to be misunderstandings, breakups and reconciliations. The most interesting thing about these books are the descriptions of the lives and customs, the ceremonies and festivals of these stone age people. I really like the whole series and will probably continue to re-read them every few years or so.

[floratina · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

READ IN DUTCH

Right after finishing The Clan of the Cage Bear I wanted to read this second book The Valley of Horses.

But for me it missed something. Ayla has left the people she grew up with and in search of The Others, but mainly she's just sitting in a cave, personally inventing all kinds of stuff. (It is almost as if she herself invents both the wheel and fire)

I thought it was a bit too much, I liked her better when she wasn't all this perfect.

As for Jondalar, I don't like him either.

[bdtrump · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Auel greatly damaged the success built from 'Clan of the Cave Bear.' The plot and basic idea are all appealing - individual survival in a harsh environment with limited technology - yet Auel attempts to be all things to all people. Part survivalist story, part dime-store romance novel, the second installment of 'Earth's Children' is a move in the wrong direction.

One of the major problems here are the throwaway characters. We are finally introduced to Jondalar, who is Prehistory's version of Prince Charming. Jondalar's story up through the point that he meets Ayla is excessively verbose, as the characters met along Jondalar's journey quickly enter and exit the reader's view. Basically, they are difficult to care about, and make the first half of the book very difficult to read as the reader gets the feeling that nothing important is going on.

During this time, Ayla's story is more compelling, as she's forced to live with the rather unfair cards she was dealt at the close of Clan of the Cave Bear. Her story moves the book along - up to a point.

Once the two characters meet, the book loses all the richness and complexity that Auel painstakingly built in the previous work. The two characters inevitably move towards gratuitous and constant sex, which becomes almost the sole focus of the book's last chapters. This isn't a problem if you go in wishing for a generic trashy romance novel - but I was hoping for something more along the lines of historical fiction.

Ultimately, it's very difficult to stay involved with this book. The environment and scenery are still well built, but it lacks any semblance of an antagonist (man, beast, or evil force) to make the book suspenseful. This book could have been written in half the pages and ended up with the same result. My only inspiration to pick up the 3rd book is the success of the 1st, as it's obvious that Auel has the potential to tell an interesting and unique story.

Two and a half stars, rounded up to give the author the benefit of the doubt.

[destinyisntfree · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing story. A little hard to follow in the beginning when you are meeting new characters, and I was worried I would not be able to finish it for having trouble seeing how it was going to come together, but the author does so in an amazing way. The last several chapters are full of suspense, as you do not know which way it is going to go and what is going to happen. I am glad I stuck it out because it was well worth it. Can't wait to read the next one.

[antt-4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After The Mammoth Hunters, I probably wouldn't have read this if a friend hadn't passed on her copy. It was as good as the first in the series, however, with well drawn characters.

[terrilldavis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The adventures of Ayla continue in Valley of the Horses. The book is a great read as far as how new characters are introduced. I liked the way she alternated chapters with Ayla and Jondalar and his brother Thonalan. My only turn off in this book was the characters from the last book were not included in this, so there was no mention on how there lives went on without Ayla there, which was something I wanted to know.

[amandacb_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

An exercise in futility. If Ayla is such a strong woman, why is she acting like the modern-day equivalent of a giggling 15-year-old girl hiding behind her locker at school when she sees her latest crush? The touch-me/don't-touch-me ridiculousness between Ayla and Jondalar is completely unbelievable; prehistorical persons would just not act that way because that is a learned societal behavior and I refuse to believe prehistorical humans would act like a 12-year-old Selena Gomez.

[aliterarylion · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Through a series of events, Ayla meets Jondalaar, becoming my favorite literary couple, other than Father Ralph and Meggie. Ayla befriends a wild horse and a lion cub.

[gogglemiss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not up to the standard of Clan Of The Cave Bear, but still gripping.I had trouble remembering so many characters in this one, but I loved the passages of Ayla learning to survive in the Cave with her horse and Baby the lion. 

[jpe9 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am really enjoying this carefully-researched series of adventure stories (there's also romance!) describing what prehistoric life in Europe might have been like.

[saturnloft · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After being rather roughly ejected from her adoptive Clan of neanderthals, Auel's Cro-Magnon heroine Ayla has to survive on her own in a remote valley. Meanwhile, a tall blue-eyed stranger is traveling cross-country with his brother, on a collision course with unexpected tragedy and romance.Sounds a bit hokey, does it not?Add a tamed cave lion and horse as plucky sidekicks, endless overly-detailed descriptions of various tribal customs, and a bunch of Stone Age conjugation (if you know what I mean, wink wink) and it becomes a 544 pg. coagulation of "Meh" moments.I first read it at age 10, so I was fairly forgiving of its many flaws at the time. I'm not nearly so forgiving after a recent re-read, but I think I'll let it squeak by with two and a half stars just for old time's sake.

[bazz.mann · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Decent story set during the stone age.

[lanetz · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the first is this series. Got half way through this oe and gave up on this one. Boring and to much detail for me. I did not like the two story lines. :(

[andreablythe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Despite there being many problems with The Clan of the Cave Bear, the book ended on something of a cliff hanger and was interesting enough that I had to go ahead and pick up the sequel. The Valley of the Horses begins right after Clan of the Cave Bear ends, so I'll try not to get into too many details but keep in mind that there will be spoilers ahead. The first half of the book is split between Ayla's and Jondalar's point of views. Ayla finds her own cave and is surviving alone, finding comfort only by taking in stray infant animals and caring for them. Jondalar meanwhile leaves his tribe by going on a journey with his brother, meeting up with several other tribe and having various encounters. The result is that the first half of the book dragged for me (it wasn't until Ayla and Jondalar FINALLY met each other that the pace picked up), and because Ayla is alone and Jondalar spends only short periods of time with any group of people, you don't get an in-depth look at any one culture as you did in Clan of the Cave Bear. What you do get though is a brief looks at a variety of the Others (as Jondalar's people are described by the Cave Bear Clan), seeing how there is a mixture of perspectives and societies with different survival innovations — something you never saw among the Cave Bear Clan because of the problematic concept of racial memory. Auel also presents how the Others view the Clan as nothing more than animals. It's interesting, because for all that the Jondalar's peoples are good hearted with complex cultures, they are seen and stupidly and profoundly ignorant when it comes to the Cave Bear Clan. Their hatred is revealed to be illogical, especially when Ayla begins to reveal their humanity as she describes the Clan culture to Jondalar. It's an interesting complexity in terms of racial discussions, because for all that you want to like Jondalar's peoples, their clear racism against the Clan is disturbing, especially if you have read the first book first and grown attached to the Clan characters. So, the discussion of race in the sequel is still problematic, but at least it's an interesting problematic that opens potential for discussion. And again this book, like the first, has some head scratching geographical and biological anomalies to it. Did buffaloes and antelopes and hyenas and wooly rhinos and horses and cave lions and mammoths all ever mix in the same location? I don't know, but I don't think so. Another thing that had me wondering was the whole free love approach to sex that the author presents. Sex is a gift of Pleasures from the Mother and should be delighted in to honor her? Um. I'm not opposed to the idea per se, but I'm not convinced that the peoples were quite so free wheeling about that sort of thing back then. Maybe, but... Anyway, I guess despite the author's supposed research she can have her "historical" society be anyway she wants. The character Jondalar is amusing, too, because he brings a Romance Novel aspects into the storyline that wasn't present in the first book. I remember a discussion with my college friends, when one said something like, "I know the book is totally ridiculous, but I still kind of want my own Jondalar." I can understand why. He's meant to be the perfect man, handsome, strong, tall, kind-hearted, giving in life and in love, and the perfect lover (remember what I said about the Pleasures), and of course the only person perfect enough for him to fall in love with is.... guess. Oh! And there's the Shamud, a holy person of one of the tribes that Jondalar meets. The Shamud was interesting because the Shamud was presented as a male with the desires of a woman or a woman with the desires of a male. Jondalar keeps trying to guess which gender the Shamud is, but finally gives up under the assumption that it doesn't matter. The Shamud is powerful because of the lack of assigned gender, and is respected. Though I'm sure the portrayal isn't entirely without problems, I liked the Shamud character and how the author managed to skillfully avoid assigning gender pronouns, so that the character can remain both human and gender neutral. Anyway, despite a lingering curiosity about what happens to Jondalar and Ayla now, the whole thing is pretty ridiculous and I think I'm pretty much done with this series, especially if the next book is going to be as slow going as the beginning of this one was.

[rubygarnet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the only one of the Earth's Children series I decided to keep, mostly because I found Jondalar*'s jourrneys through the world of early H. sapiens sapiens very interesting. Ayla's invention of the Neolithic Revolution 20,000 years early? Not so much.*: My roommate and I refer to him as 'Jondalar of the Mighty Penis'. You'll have to read the book to find out why.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The focus on graphic sex ruined this book for me. This is a shame, because it otherwise would have been a good book, instead of reading like an issue of Hustler.

[neale_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story started slow and eventually picked up pace. The story was reasonably predictable with few surprises. Not as good as the first book but it kept the interest going. Don't know if I'll read the third book.

[mssbluejay · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great follow-up to the Clan of the Cave Bear novel. I highly enjoyed it.

[janiereader · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Since Auel is coming out with a new book in the series, I decided to listen to the books to be reacquainted with the characters and premise. It is a bit hard to listen to, I had a harder time with this one than the first. My plan was to listen to the whole series, but I don't think I can take the "Oooh Jondalars" and "Oh Donis" it just smacks of prehistoric porn. I wish she hadn't try to write Ayla as so wonderful, it comes off smarmy. I don't know if I can stand to listen to the next book, I may have to read it.

[riyale · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Why I even bothered after the first book in the series I don't know. I was young and stupid I guess. This book is just too unbelievable and more romance novel than anything else.

[auraesque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Can't....stop...reading...this...series. Ayla is ridiculous--she discovers everything. OMG she has a fricken Snow White moment and calls the birds too her---the hell? But I can't stop reading the series now.

[bilja_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ayla leaves the Clan seeeking for the Others. She heads North where she believes they live and stops for the winter in a gorgeous valley along the river where she finds a protected cave, previous home to a cave lioness. Struggling to survive, she saves a filly and a cave lion pup, eventually she saves a stranger Jondalar of the Zelandonii and falls in love with him.I love this book because Ayla stands on her feet, she looks for the others but she doesn't need them any longer. The approach to the first of them is full of misunderstanding, progress, respect and insults: everybody is different and living together is not easy, different habits and different languages need a lot of time and patience butit is worth it as every married couple knows

[krista23 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book carries on from the first, we follow Ayla, now alone into a world she knows very little about. She must find shelter and food in the ever growing need to find others like herself. Most of this book is Ayla learning how to hunt and make things, gaining friends in animals and learning that they can be domesticated.

[maryrunyan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Following the life of Ayla has been dramatic. You can feel her losses and discoveries. Jane Auel was great with her descriptions. I didn't mind the steamy parts either!!!

[annbury_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second of the "Earth's Children" novels, and a worthy successor to "The Clan of the Cave Bear". This one is also fascinating from a "what was pre-historic life like" perspective, and has a compelling story line -- maybe even more compelling than the "Bear". But a few fault lines begin to emerge: the lead characters are too perfect, and the cliches in the writing start to pile up. In the rest of the series, those faults become dominant, while the strong story line weakens dramatically. The first two books, however, are worth reading and reading again.