Mammoth Hunters: Earth's Children by Auel, Jean M - 1985

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Crown Pub, 1985. Book. Near-Fine. Hardcover. First Edition. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Near-fine condition. 1985 First Edition (so-stated). Price inside dustcover: $19.95. Number line: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1, NO remainder marks or price clippings. Tight spine, clean pages. 645 pages. Map endpapers. NO writing or tears inside book. Previous owner's embossed name stamp in book front on title page (Claire C. Templin - Jacksonville, Illinois). Dustcover shows light wear (NO tears). From the Publisher Once again, Jean M. Auel opens the door of time to reveal an age of wonder and terror at the dawn of humanity. With all the consummate storytelling artistry and vivid authenticity she brought to The Clan Of The Cave Bear and its sequel, The Valley Of Horses, Jean M. Auel continues the breathtaking epic journey of the woman called Ayla. Now, with her devoted Jondalar, Ayla boldly sets forth into the land of the Mamutoi-the Mammoth Hunters, the Others she has been seeking. Though Ayla must learn their strange customs and language, it is because of her uncanny hunting and healing skills that she is adopted into the Mammoth Hearth. Here Ayla finds her first women friends, and painful memories of the Clan she left behind. Here, too, is Ranec, the dark-skinned, magnetic master carver of ivory tusks to whom Ayla is irresistibly drawn-setting Jondalar on fire with jealousy. Throughout the icy winter, Ayla is torn between her two men. But soon will come the great spring mammoth hunt, when Ayla must choose her mate and her destiny - to remain in the Hearth with Ranec, or to follow Jondalar into a far-off place and an unknown future. From The Critics Publishers Weekly The authenticity of background detail, the lilting prose rhythms and the appealing conceptual audacity that won many fans for The Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of the Horses continue to work their spell in this third installment of Auel's projected six-volume Earth's Children saga set in Ice Age Europe. The heroine, 18-year-old Ayla, cursed and pronounced dead by the ``flathead'' clan that reared her, now takes her chances with the mammoth-hunting Mamutoi, attended by her faithful lover, Jondalar. Gradually overcoming the prejudice aroused by her flathead connection, Ayla wins acceptance into the new clan through her powers as a healer, her shamanistic potential, her skill with spear and slingshot and her way with animals (she rides a horse, domesticates a wolf cub, both ``firsts,'' it would seem, and even rides a lion). She also wins the heart of a bone-carving artist of ``sparkling wit'' (not much in evidence), which forces her to make a painful choice between the curiously complaisant Jondalar, her first instructor in love's delights, and this more charismatic fellow. The story is lyric rather than dramatic, and Ayla and her lovers are projections of a romantic rather than a historical imagination, but readers caught up in the charm of Auel's story probably won't care..