Goodbye to Ayla

So I finished the Land of the Painted Caves, and with it the Children of the Earth series is over. Pause for the end of an era...

Okay I'm done. Seriously it was a great series, and while the last book didn't quite live up to my expectations, it doesn't deter from the collection as a whole, the epic idea behind it, and most importantly, Ayla.

She is the main character, with the books spanning her life from childhood to the fine old age of 26. She is resourceful, brave, kind and talented, but before that gets too annoying, she's also pretty dumb at times, naive and stubborn.

Ayla also manages to get everything she most wants in life, but has to sacrifice a lot to get there, which is the kind of realism I like in books. (I know that's quite at odds with all the fantasy and scifi, but I mean writing that makes you believe it's true, regardless of how factually improbable/impossible it is). I don't believe in fairytales, but appreciate the idea that there is some sort of balance of happiness at work. I'm also aware that this in itself is unrealistic, as not everyone gets an equal balance. But I still like to believe it.

Anyway, it is a welcome change from some of the more unrealistic elements of the series...Ayla single handedly discovers how to domesticate animals, and invents needles, carriages and firelighters to name just a few.

Apart from the bad parts of the latest book- slow start, endless descriptions of caves, repeated plots from an earlier book, ending without a bang- I did enjoy the examination of prehistoric culture, and the existence and replacement of societal norms. It offers an interesting perspective on how certain knowledge could have been discovered, shared and integrated into their daily lives.

It also looks at cultural differences between what are essentially very similar people, and how each seperate tribe will always consider themselves to be superior to all others. The struggle to understand, and accept these differences reflect the same difficulties we deal with when interacting with social groups outside our own.

Ayla shows that living in different circumstances, and experiencing different types of people allows us to be more tolerant of others, and a better person as a result. Being able to handle social situations well hasn't changed that much since way back then...