It is important to note that this book is intended for young adults / teenagers - the plot is slower than Jean Auel's series, but it's supposed to be. There's a great cast of supporting characters, but not so many that you can't keep track of them (a pet peeve of mine in other series books). dawn of civilization and of humanity, how can one not be intrigued?Ĭhagak's story is compelling, well written, well researched, and is the start of a series. Mother Earth is a well written 'prehistory' book - a time period I was fascinated by when I was a teenager / young adult. I wouldn't have requested it from netgalley if I had realized it was the exact same book I read years ago, but I didn't review it five years ago, so it doesn't hurt to reread and review now. It's why, when I first started reading my copy from netgalley, the book seemed so familiar to me. Happy I happened to pick it up! ( )Īccording to goodreads, I first read this book in 2008. Overall this was an enjoyable, engaging read. Harrison does a great job of looking at the (fictional/hypothetical) details of a late Ice Age life which is strongly influenced by modern Aleut life (in fact, other than the element of the Short Ones violent raiding culture being a new development, there doesn't particularly seem any reason that this book is set in 7000 BCE rather than at any time prior to European contact many thousands of years later). Chagak is a strong and resilient heroine, but she is definitely constrained by a culture that values men much more highly than women, and where she must constantly deal with male power in her life. The book has a strong feminist streak throughout, but in a more realistic and nuanced manner than something like for instance. Interestingly, Chagak's people and most of the other tribes of the islands are largely peaceful, and aren't prepared in the least for the arrival of the Short Ones, a tribe who have adopted a novel culture of raiding and murder (a strange activity that other people, mystified, refer to as 'hunting men'), a shift that unfortunately seems to point towards developments in the future of humankind. I was quite surprised by many of the specific events that occurred, Harrison doesn't shy away from showcasing violence and general misery. The story is very intimate and tightly focused on the many trials and tragedies of Chagak, a young woman who suffers from some very difficult and cruel losses early in her life. This is a tale of life on the Aleutian Islands of 7000 BCE at the end of the Ice Age.

There is a bit of fun in reading something that is very much out of your wheelhouse, chosen for you by happenstance.

I picked this book up from a free library while traveling in South Africa, and had never heard of it and would likely never have picked it up in the shop.

Mother Earth Father Sky by Sue Harrison