Reading order · 6 books · 1980 to 2011 · Set in Ice Age Europe
Earth's Children Books in Order
Earth’s Children is set in Ice Age Europe about thirty thousand years ago. Ayla, a girl of modern humans, is orphaned in an earthquake and raised by a clan of Neanderthals, and the series follows her life and travels across a world of mammoth hunters, horses and cave painters.
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Series facts
- Books
- 6
- Published
- 1980 to 2011
- First book
- The Clan of the Cave Bear
- Latest
- The Land of Painted Caves (2011)
- Setting
- Set in Ice Age Europe
The reading order
Every Earth's Children book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
6 books · Set in Ice Age Europe
- 1The Clan of the Cave Bear1980With AylaFive-year-old Ayla is orphaned by an earthquake and found by a clan of Neanderthals, the Clan of the Cave Bear.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Valley of Horses1982With Ayla and JondalarAyla, now alone, makes a life in a valley where she tames a horse and a cave lion.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Mammoth Hunters1985With Ayla and JondalarAyla and Jondalar join the Mamutoi, a people who hunt mammoth, and Ayla lives for the first time among people like herself, where she is drawn to a carver named Ranec.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Plains of Passage1990With Ayla and JondalarAyla and Jondalar set out on the long journey across Europe to Jondalar’s home, with their horses and Ayla’s wolf, meeting different peoples on the way.Buy on Amazon
- 5The Shelters of Stone2002With Ayla and JondalarAyla and Jondalar arrive among Jondalar’s people, the Zelandonii, and Ayla must find her place in a new society.Buy on Amazon
- 6The Land of Painted Caves2011With Ayla and JondalarAyla trains to become a spiritual leader of the Zelandonii and travels to the great painted caves of the region, while balancing her new role with her family life.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read the six books in order, starting with The Clan of the Cave Bear. Ayla’s story runs continuously through all of them.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Ayla | Jondalar | Whinney |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Clan of the Cave Bear | LLead | ||
| 2 The Valley of Horses | LLead | LLead | ·Minor |
| 3 The Mammoth Hunters | LLead | LLead | ·Minor |
| 4 The Plains of Passage | LLead | LLead | ·Minor |
| 5 The Shelters of Stone | LLead | LLead | ·Minor |
| 6 The Land of Painted Caves | LLead | LLead | ·Minor |
Characters in the Earth's Children books
7 characters from Jean M. Auel’s chart, with the number of Earth's Children books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| AylaOrphan raised by the Clan | 6 | The Clan of the Cave Bear 1980 |
| JondalarTall Zelandonii traveller | 5 | The Valley of Horses 1982 |
| WhinneyAyla's horse | 5 | The Valley of Horses 1982 |
| CrebClan holy man | 1 | The Clan of the Cave Bear 1980 |
| IzaMedicine woman who raises Ayla | 1 | The Clan of the Cave Bear 1980 |
| BroudAyla's tormentor | 1 | The Clan of the Cave Bear 1980 |
| DurcAyla's son | 1 | The Clan of the Cave Bear 1980 |