This has to be my first pre-historical fiction/fantasy novel. But it's by Megan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb, so it can't be bad. Right? Well... I found it not as exciting as [b:Alien Earth|2037610|Alien Earth|Megan Lindholm|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408926924s/2037610.jpg|1590168], to be honest. But as it's a totally different story and setting, you can't really compare the two but in writing style, I'd say.

Here Megan has/had a very descriptive style. She put a lot of detail in describing the scenery, the actions, and so on, and used enough specific vocabulary to describe animals, the tribe, ... That sort of doesn't allow for fast reading. However, it does allow for a better visualization of the characters, their surroundings, and so on. And that's again one of the key aspects of Lindholm's (or Hobb's) writing: characters and their interactions, their behaviour.

Spoilers! Many.
It's about a mother, Tillu, and her awkward son, Kerlew, who are on the run from the tribe they were part of. More specifically, it's their shaman, Carp, who has exerted so much power over them, that Tillu didn't want to deal with it anymore. Her son is not like other children, not physically, not mentally. He got bullied and what not. So Tillu decides to to flee, despite Carp having tutored the boy to become a shaman as well.

Tillu and Kerlew try their best to survive more up north, in the opposite direction of where her tribe was staying. They meet other tribe's people, starting with Heckram and his friend Lasse (sort of like Frodo and Sam in terms of friends). However, the first encounter isn't that positive: Lasse gets shot - not by Tillu, but by an unknown man (and we never hear from him again, strangely enough) - while hunting (Tillu is also hunting, but on the other side). Tillu is a healer, so she decides to help Lasse with his injury. Heckram suspects Tillu from having shot Lasse - they were hunting the same animal, though -, finds it suspicious that she also helps him.

Back in her tent, they also meet Kerlew and it doesn't take long or he and Heckram become friends. There's a small language barrier, but Kerlew seems to have the least trouble understanding and talking to Heckram. Tillu is, considering the history, very protective of Kerlew, yet also cannot control her anger when he can't or won't do as he's told. Tillu also sees that Heckram and Lasse wear more advanced clothing, have more advanced tools, compared to her own tribe.

In Heckram's tribe, there are the usual happenings and at some point he forms a couple with his long-time friend Elsa. All preparations are made, but when Elsa heads out to fetch water, she never returns. Heckram is worried and goes out to find her... in a bad state. She's lethally wounded and close to being dead. He carries her back to the hut, rushes to find Tillu for her healing skills. She can't do much, only the strict minimum of easing pain. Obviously, Elsa doesn't survive. No one wants to talk about it, all prefer to move on with life. But Heckram can't forget, feels guilty somehow and set himself the goal to find out who killed his wife-to-be.

Since that happening, Tillu and Kerlew have been staying with the tribe. Strangely enough, Kerlew was ordered to stay in the tent, but found his way, in the night, to the tribe and to his mother. This too is quickly forgotten. No questions asked. Because of her contribution to the tribe (as a healer), Tillu is asked to join the tribe when they move to the summer fields. She's not really against it, but when Joboam (tough guy who plays supervisor, even though he has no such responsibility) treats her badly (we can only imagine from how Tillu responds), she's not so keen anymore to move. (However, with Carp back in the picture and Kerlew feeling more alive, she objects first, but then decides to join the fold after all.)

Carp eventually does make a comeback in the story and it's via Heckram that he meets with Tillu and Kerlew again. Kerlew is of course ecstatic when he sees his old tutor. Tillu can't do much more than let the two go their way. On a sidenote: Kerlew isn't all that stupid, somehow. His shamanistic teaching made him do things you wouldn't expect from a ten-year-old.

While she is taking care of Heckram's facial wound, something grows between them. But what will come of it?

The ending is strange. Kerlew's shamanic lessons allow him to communicate with animal spirits, and it seems he operates from behind the scenes. He's not always in the spotlights, but certain events seem to be been influenced or caused by him.

The story continues, of course, in book 2: [b:Wolf's Brother|11297112|Wolf's Brother|Megan Lindholm|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1334087883s/11297112.jpg|1193400].
Will it shed more light on Carp's influence on Kerlew?
Will Heckram and Tillu live together?
Wil Tillu accept Kerlew's change in behaviour, now that Carp is back?
Will Carp leave her alone or hasn't he changed a bit when he wanted her as his wife?
What will Capiam (leader of the tribe) say of Carp's proposal (shaman of the tribe)?
And more...

While I had trouble getting into the story for the first tens of pages, it does get better when there's a bit of action going on. Especially when the contact between Tillu/Kerlew and Heckram/Lasse/Elsa becomes more frequent. So, yes, 4 stars here, but barely. ( )

It's obvious that this book was written by the author of Assassin's Apprentice; the two novels share similar styles and themes. But this book isn't nearly as good. It was a pleasant enough diversion for a couple of days, but I doubt I'll pick up the sequel. Still, if you love the setting of The Clan of the Cave Bear, you might like this one. ( )

So it has been quite a while since I actually read this book, but I was going to start reading the next part of the story very soon, and so I thought I'd put some kind of perfunctory review for the first part.
The upshot is this: I really enjoyed this book, more than I thought I would. Honestly, the rating kind of threw me off before picking this up, but I am very glad I did. The writing was fabulous, the characters likeable and weird and just fitting with this prehistoric, dark atmosphere that permeated everything.
This read had a strange effect on me: it was like I was under, or drugged, and just read this from beginning to end with a sort of foggy fascination. At the moment I finished the book, I snapped to, blinked my eyes, and was just: Wow...
Hopefully, I will enjoy the second part just as much if not more. And I really hope that everything will end up okay, though I have a nagging conviction that that will not be the case.
I can't wait to see what happens next. ( )

Op zoek naar een boek met dieren op de cover voor de februari-challenge op de ff-leesclub, kwam ik dit boek tegen op mijn NTL-stapel. Ik moet het al zeker 18 jaar daar hebben staan, dus het werd wel tijd. Dit boek viel me in het begin wat tegen, want ik verwachtte een Robin Hobb te lezen (Megan Lindholm aka Robin Hobb). Het is duidelijk anders, maar zeker niet slecht. En tegen het eind zelfs nog spannend genoeg om het snel uit te willen lezen. Ik ga zeker door in deel 2. ( )

It's obvious that this book was written by the author of Assassin's Apprentice; the two novels share similar styles and themes. But this book isn't nearly as good. It was a pleasant enough diversion for a couple of days, but I doubt I'll pick up the sequel. Still, if you love the setting of The Clan of the Cave Bear, you might like this one. ( )