In Which I Am Ranty McBook RanterPerson

So, I have been slowly... hmm, "slogging" isn't quite the right word... working my way through The Land of Painted Caves. I'm at chapter ten, or 152/757 pages. My opinion thus far is that Auel either should have left the series perpetually unfinished at book five, or that her editor needed to be less of a wuss with the red pen.

Writing sins thus far: characters telling one another things they already know. Long recaps of entire other books in order to explain minor details and nuances. Too many characters being named, many of whom don't even show up on page, many of them having too similar names. Frequent listing of multiple characters' entire set of social ties, which got tedious on the first repetition. And then there's the entire naming system for their homes. In The Mammoth Hunters, Mammoth Hearth vs. Crane Hearth vs. Aurochs Hearth was understandable. Easily followed. Here, they're named by numbers. First Cave, Second Cave, etc. Except the numbers go up to Twenty-nine. The audience should not have to spend time figuring out who's from Fourteenth or Nineteenth.

And the major sin of the book thus far... the most interesting plot thread is Our Main Characters helping take care of a family of neglected children. Second most interesting is Marthona's weak heart, which I am hoping plays out later. Everything else is boring.

I'm going to keep slogging working my way through the book. But you know what? I'm guessing I'm not going to give this one a verdict of recommended.