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  • The Valley of Horses

  • Earth’s Children, Book 2
  • By: Jean M. Auel
  • Narrated by: Rowena Cooper
  • Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (497 ratings)

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The Valley of Horses

By: Jean M. Auel
Narrated by: Rowena Cooper
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Publisher's Summary

Forced to leave the Clan and her young son, Ayla sets out alone to travel the frigid steppes until she finds the valley of horses. Unable to find people like herself, the Cro-Magnons, she settles there and seeks friendship elsewhere. First she adopts a young filly, then a wounded lion cub. But far to the west, two young Cro-Magnon brothers have begun a journey. One of them is Jondalar, whose destiny is bound inextricably with Ayla's.

Jean Auel's imaginative reconstruction of pre-historic life, rich in detail of language, culture, myth, and ritual, has become a set text in schools and colleges around the world.

©1982 Jean M. Auel (P)2003 AudioGO Ltd

Critic Reviews

"A panorama of human culture in its infancy ... The Valley of Horses is great fun." ( New York Times Book Review)
"Holds the reader in a powerful spell." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about The Valley of Horses

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Absolutely loved continuing the story. Couldn't stop listening. The detail when explaining scenes and narration are wonderful.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great story but too much erotica

Great continuation of Ayla's story and interesting new characters. I love the descriptions of the natural environment and geological formations etc too. I like how you're able to know and get inside the character's heads.
I only didn't give 5 stars because sex scenes happened too often. Not bad if you like erotica, but I would prefer the story with much less frequency.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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can not stop listening

Read the first book The Clan of the Cave Bear and hoped the second book was going to be as good... IT WAS INCREDIBLE.. About to download the third in the series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Can recommend this book

Very much enjoyed this book. Very relaxing and easy to listen to. Good car trip book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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I adore this whol series, this is my favourite book

I have loved listening to the story, after having read it at least 30 time. I just had to skip over the saucy bits, too much listening to those!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book

Just as amazing as the first book. Can’t believe I haven’t found this series before now

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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another fantastic book on the series

loved it, will listen again. good reality break.
hard at times to differentiate between characters by voice.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Work of Genius

When Jean Auel first began putting pen to paper, a miracle of wordsmithing began to manifest. Beautifully written, Auel's command of written language is extraordinary. This series of books are more than a crash course in anthropology. They are entertaining and emotionally gripping: written with verve and sensitivity. The Valley of Horses, the second in the series, takes up the story of Ayla, a young woman who must draw upon every resource she possesses in order to survive in a harsh and hostile environment. Drawing upon a truly astonishing and wide-ranging knowledge of hominid anthropology, herbal medicine, psychology, environmental science and 'primitive' survival skills, Auel weaves a story that examines the lives and concerns of our distant anscestors and the world in which they live. Make no mistake, these novels are a crash course in anthropology, and this was obviously a concern that propelled Auel to begin this series. Yet it is the personal story of Ayla that draws the reader in and which propels the story. Auel has produced a work of art that is entertaining and engrossing, whilst being simultaneously educational. There have been few writers in history who have been able to handle such a task so effectively. Auel is therefore not only a great writer, but also a great teacher. My only wish is that Auel had have fleshed out the segue between the two brothers arriving at the village at the end of the river and leaving for their aimless journey East. The narrator, Roweena Cooper, is almost up to the task of reading these immensely imagined novels, however it is a big task. My only real criticisms are minor: Cooper mispronounced a few words; something that a little research could have avoided. However these errors, whilst they do interupt the flow of the story, are rare and easily forgiven. Auel has an extraordinary vocabulary. Otherwise, Cooper's reading of the texts is an excellent performance. To be true, I found the middle class accent a little difficult to get used to at first, being essentially emotionally reticent in timbre. However, after a few minutes of listening this began to be less of a concern. Cooper's reading is beautifully voiced, consistent, and clearly articulated. I just wish there was a little more warmth in her voice. Overall, this is one of the best audio books any reader can hope to purchase. I highly recommend the full series to anyone who wants a great story to listen to - a story of profound humanity, empathy and sympathy for those people, our long-forgotren anscestors, whose struggles for survival we owe our very existence.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Great book, well researched and informative, as well as being excellent escapism. Excellent performance - the narrator has beautiful enunciation and a delightful voice, only slightly marred by a few isolated pronunciation problems with some words.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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my favourite ever

my most favourite books of all time. can't get enough - listening to this story instead of reading it is even more magic

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.