First Earth's Children Novel in 9 Years!

Every few months for the last five years I would search the internet trying find a bit of news on the author Jean Auel. I first heard of her novel Clan of the Cave Bear when the film of the same name was released in 1986. It starred Darryl Hannah at the peak of her career. From this film a whole series of movies based on the incredible novels were going to launch.

The movie tanked, it played to terrible reviews and a poor box office.

While I heard of the novels I did not read them until about six years ago. A good friend of mine recommended them and lent me her copies.

I was absolutely spellbound by Auel’s storytelling and description. She brought a world to life, more than almost any author I have ever read.

Now, the novels are a little wordy at times. And the same microscopically detailed scenes can be overly descriptive but this would be the novels' only rare flaw. She captures the emotions of each her characters and draws you into each moment of her tale.

The good news is finally here. Well, the news was announced in May but I just found out. The final novel in the Earth’s Children series will ultimately be released worldwide in March 2011.

There has not been a novel that I have anticipated more than this. I have read every Raymond E. Feist novel ever published and the year or two between his releases has occasionally been painful.

Auel's first three books, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear in 1980, were released over a five year period.

Her next three novels, ending with next year’s The Land of Painted Caves will have taken 21 years to be published. Auel is not what anyone would call a prolific writer. It will be nine years since her last publication. If you have read any of her work you would know the research that is required to write one of her novels.

Bantam plans on releasing ebook version of the Earth’s Children series.

From Amazon “Continuing the story of Ayla and Jondalar, Auel combines her brilliant narrative skills and appealing characters with a remarkable re-creation of the way life was lived more than 25,000 years ago.”

The books are adventure novels focusing on the period of coexistence between Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals. In the first novel, the main character, a young female Cro-Magnon is adopted into a family of Neanderthals. The story continues as Ayla and her mate Jondalar travel from present day Ukraine to what is now France.

Aside from the fantasy adventure, the novels focus on the romance between the two main characters through their travels and a detailed spotlight on herbal medicine, archaeology and anthropology.