The Kin

The Kin #1-4

by Peter Dickinson, Ian Andrew (Illustrator)

Four children embark on a quest for a new land at the dawn of human history

Africa, two hundred thousand years ago: Suth and Noli were orphaned the night the murderous strangers came, speaking an unfamiliar language and bringing violence to the peaceful Moonhawk tribe.

Determined not to die in the desert, Suth and Noli slip away with Ko and Mana. Suth, the eldest, leads them; Noli’s dreams of the future guide them. Ko gives them courage; Mana gives them peace. Their search for a new Good Place, one of food and safety, will take them across the valleys and plains of prehistoric Africa and bring them together as a tribe and as a family.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Historical, Africa, Childrens

640 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 9, 2003

About the author

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was a prolific English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.

Peter Dickinson lived in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He wrote more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel The Blue Hawk won The Guardian Award in 1975.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars? Three of us in this family admired and enjoyed this. Two want to reread it. For ages 10 up if they're good readers... it's complex and sophisticated enough for adults.

Reread for "Set in Africa" challenge. It's def. not a fast-paced adventure; however it is accessible and dramatic. Satisfying and enjoyable. A great book for a family read-aloud whilst shut-in, for ages 7 (?) up.

Also: Brilliant. Even if we do learn more about our remote ancestors, I do not believe the speculation here will be shown as off by much; it just makes so much sense from a psychological and evolutionary standpoint.

"There was a saying among the Kin, The hunter is strong--good. The hunter is swift--better. The hunter is still--best." (The idea that cleverness is of value was a concept only developing.)

"Men needed to stand about the fire and boast about what they'd done." So if prey is too abundant, the new challenge would be to hunt other men, raid other clans, make war....

In one story the two 'shamans' of feuding Kins want to end the hostilities. So they count deaths, wounds, and blows administered by each group to the other. They find that it's a tie but for one blow, so the spiritual leader of one Kin, who happens to be a girl-child, "With a child's strength she struck him. He fell down. He howled.... She stood over him, ... shook her fist in the air, she triumphed. A boy laughed. All heard him. They said in their hearts, This is laughter stuff. They all laughed." The feud was over.

Btw, the illustrations are more ornamental than illustrative. I do think, however, this is a visual story and should be considered for a movie or a graphic novel adaptation. (I wonder if there's fan art... off to check....)

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Voto = ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
Qualche anno fa mi aveva entusiasmato il primo romanzo di una serie di grande successo, ambientata nella preistoria che ha come protagonista una bambina chiamata Ayla, della scrittrice americana Jean Auel e sulla base di questa precedente avvincente lettura, mi sono lasciato irretire da un altro romanzo di simile ambientazione scritto da Peter Dickinson [1927-2015] che ho appena terminato di leggere: il romanzo racconta le vicissitudini cui vanno incontro un gruppo di ragazzini che, rimasti staccati dagli adulti superstiti del loro villaggio sorpreso dall’omicida razzia notturna di nemici, vagano in una terra poco ospitale dell’Africa di 200.000 anni fa nella speranza di ricongiungersi prima o poi col resto del loro popolo. Un romanzo di piacevole lettura, mette in mostra la buona vena narrativa dello scrittore, la coerenza del racconto e i buoni sentimenti.

[Nick Swarbrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stories around a surviving group of early humans, 200,000 years ago. "I believe that we have always wondered how we came to be here, and why things happen," writes Peter Dickinson in the introduction, "One of the ways we wonder is to invent stories." Dickinson writes an origin account of a small group of scattered clan, "The Kin," told as the Moonhawk children Suth, Noli, Ko and Mana grow and learn - and maybe learn for all of us - what it is to be human. Suth learns what it is to belong and to lead; Noli learns through her shamanistic powers about how a transcendent being may (or may not) arise from the expectations of the people; Ko learns about the team and his place, and ambition, and about (intriguingly) the other hominins in his world; Mana learns about moral choices and values, abut killing and nurturing. Interspersed with these are Oldtales, the Kin's origin-stories, from the great Black Antelope and creation of the various Kins (Dickinson is at his strongest here for me) through to the invention of war and peace as the Kin of Snake and Fat Pig come close to what we might anachronistically describe as sectarian violence. Dickinson is bold in writing us an origin story and then putting into the minds of his characters their own stories of creation and identity.

There are wonderful details, such as the interrelationship of the marsh people who have no words with the homo sapiens sapiens of the main story, or the bewilderment of the Kin when they are attacked by a killing-obsessed other clan. I loved the friendship between Noli and her counterpart Goma, and the denouement where Mana realises something vital about choice, about nature and nurture - but most of the delights and surprises constitute "spoilers" to me, so I won't reveal them here. This is well-thought-out, inventive stuff, and I am now going to look at the Oldtales again, trying to tease out their themes of power and magic and divinity and history.

So four stars? I did like this book, I really did; when, however, close to the end of the fourth story (and the umpteenth Oldtale) I wondered if we were almost in a prolonged sermon on "What Makes Us Human," I did wonder if Dickinson weren't being a tad heavy-handed. Perhaps it was the Oldtales which by this point seemed just a bit convoluted.

I can't leave it on such a down-note, but have to end by saying that Dickinson manages one fundamental thing very well: without being patronising to a young readership he is able to discuss sexual politics, religion, ability/disability and race (or at any rate skin colour and language and story) with an authority and clarity that are enlightening - and nevertheless depict a society that gives hope for inclusivity and love in our own world.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and thought provoking. This book gets to the root of what it is to be a person. Told through the eyes of four children we get different perspectives of the story as it unfolds. Really enjoyed it.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has taken me a while to read this book but this is not because of it being dull of drawn out but rather a case of wanting to be in the right frame of mind when reading its 600+ pages. I have read Dickinson before in the excellent The Ropemakerand Tulkuand this next epic story, set 200,000 years ago in Africa, may be his magnum opus. In terms of scale with regards to arc of story, pace over time, exploration of early man, language and myth, The Kin, is outstanding with characters, ideas and moments that drew me in deeply as soon as I began reading.
Following a splintered group of children from the Moonhawk tribe, Dickinson presents us with four books from which four different stories are passed on through the narrative of four different children. Suth, Noli, Ko and Mana, two boys and two girls, each give us an insight into a time and place in which language was beginning to develop, imagination and creative thought separated the weak from the strong and the passing down of knowledge through stories was at its birth.
I cannot praise this book enough. A triumph.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a speculative-history novel with some fantasy elements, VERY speculative history (speculative pre-history, really) so there was plenty of leeway to make things up. Some of it was interesting and some was tiresome.

Minor spoilers ahead.

What worked:
-The 4 voices and following a small, core group even as they move through other groups over the course of the story
-The survival story (everyone loves a good survival story and this is probably what kept me reading despite some of the eye-rolls and wanting to know what happened next)
-The parts where characters are beginning to grapple with big concepts like who is "people", nature vs. nurture, death, and war
-The Oldtales between the chapters provided some speculative early mythology, worldbuilding, and hints about what was going to happen in the next real-time chapter. They also provided a little bit of suspense (wanting to know what happens next in the real-time story and in some of the oldtales but not being able to skip the in-between chapters because of the exposition and context. The myths and how the culture reflected them were probably the most interesting part of this book, along with the actual magical aspects. At first I assumed the First Ones were just going to be fictional gods and that "Moonhawk showed me" was just an interpretation of "I saw it in a dream / it was a coincidence / I had an idea and attributed it to a god", but the First Ones in this book can actually affect the real world somewhat and are able to literally talk through people. I'm not sure what this means for the genre classification. It also made me wonder about the myths themselves and where they came from. The author's note says they are "stories the Kins made up to explain things to themselves", but the more you read the more you think they must be rooted in something more than just imagination, since something supernatural does seem to exist in the actual plot (and we readers aren't given any extra information about how the characters could get visions of the future and become channels for voices that aren't their own if the First Ones, or some supernatural beings interpreted as the First Ones, don't exist). I also like how it leans toward an explanation of their existence as coming from the people themselves, and how the existence and strength of the First Ones depends on people and places. But again, this is more literal and more fantastical than just a metaphor for how gods come from the imaginations of groups of people.
-Surprisingly, using bad or unusual grammar to represent early language actually worked. I was skeptical about it, and while it was sometimes a little distracting (you find yourself asking "would something this complicated really have developed in early language?" a lot for the long phrases that weren't clearly meant to work around a gap in vocabulary), but not nearly as distracting as I expected, and the rules seemed fairly consistent (although I wasn't keeping close track of it and there may have been some inconsistencies with things like past tense).

What didn't work:
-The sexism and constant obsession with men. This was VERY distracting (I often had to just roll my eyes and force myself to ignore it so that I could get on with the story) and unrealistic. Yes, we don't know anything about the culture back then, but we do know that in a survival situation you can't afford to reject a good idea about something like where to go or how to get food just because a girl came up with it. I got the sense that the author just passively absorbed the idea that "earlier=more sexist" without actually examining the concept, where it came from, and whether it actually makes any sense in context. There was no explanation as to how or why sexism would have developed so early in prehistory (other than "some early anthropologists were projecting the issues in their own cultures onto early humans and the author was too lazy to question it"). There's no agriculture, no excess, everything they do is about survival; these prople just don't have the luxury of sexism. The same goes for the obsession with "men" not just as opposed to "women" but also as opposed to "boys". In a struggle for survival with a small group, you can't afford to play favorites.
Bal, the initial leader of the Moonhawks, acts like a spoiled child and pretty much exemplifies the concept of toxic masculinity (even hitting a young girl). The author ends up killing him off, but there's no explanation of how someone like that became a leader in the first place, and why the other Moonhawks continued to follow him after his constant displays of untrustworthiness. Nobody ever holds him accountable for giving the order to abandon a bunch of orphans, and nobody holds the rest of the group accountable for doing it. The Moonhawks get better after getting rid of Bal, but the way they got rid of him was a total copout on the author's part and opened up a lot more questions than it answered.
Suth, the main character of the first part of the book, somehow becomes the leader of the new mini-group even though Noli is the one who takes all the initiative in the first chapter. Everyone else goes along with it just because he's a boy and he's the closest thing they have to a "man" (even the children are obsessed with the concept of being a man).
There's also a part where Mana and Noli are talking about the demon men and decide that fighting for no reason came about because men are just naturally boastful and need something difficult to brag about. This is just speculation on the characters' part, but still... ???
-The occasional modern phrases in the narration. Every once in a while the narration (but not the speaking or thinking voices of the characters, obviously) uses a figure of speech that pulls you out of the narrative. These weren't frequent or bad, but they were slightly distracting and I would have preferred more neutral phrases. Idioms = voice, and in these passages (where no character is really thinking or talking) there shouldn't be any voice. This book basically has three modes: neutral narration, character perspective (smaller vocabulary, shorter sentences, etc.) and character speaking (very small vocabulary, limited/different grammar). The character perspective is the one with the most voice because of how limited the speech is.

Random comment: I didn't know he was married to Robin McKinley until I read the back cover, so... that's an interesting tidbit.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed this book

There is good, there is bad, and all the nuanced things between. Infinite nuances. And I needed this book to help me navigate through life.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's kind of like The Clan of the Cave Bear but watered down a bit for the younger set. Honestly at the age this was targeted for I was already reading the Earth's Children series so not sure what that says, if anything. I will say, however that if I had known about this book around the time of reading Earth's Children, I probably would've read it. Pre-historic fiction remains one of my favorite genres.

Now, onto the review proper. What I liked about this book:
The stories between chapters.
I'm a sucker for myths and legends and a sucker for well built worlds and cultures.

The culture
Yup, I'm a sucker for it and I thought Dickinson did a great job considering he openly admits at the beginning that he pretty much made everything up. I liked the way the clan spoke, the rhythm. It is good, good. I liked that each culture encountered throughout the series had it's own distinctions as well. It was pretty cool.

Suth and Noli's Stories
AKA the first half of the book.
I was a huge fan of the first half of the book despite some issues I had with it. In fact, I started reading this book before going to bed and ended up reading the first half because I was so caught up in it.

Things I didn't like:

It was a little contrived
As much as I liked the first half of the book, it was a little contrived and a little too convenient with some of its plot points. Our heroes not only survive and attack on their people, a trek through the desert, a return trek through the desert, finding a new people who want to kill them at first, an attack by a leopard, a volcanic explosion, a flood, a man-eating lion and several other disastrous events. While I don't like characters getting killed willy-nilly, it seemed a little *too* convenient that all these children, a vulnerable population, were able to survive all that intact.

Ko and Mana's Stories
To be honest, this book could have ended with Noli and been just fine. Everything wrapped up well. The last half of the book further extends the story of the Kin and what happens to them. It was alright. Ko's story wasn't terrible, it's more that Ko is just kind of an annoying little punk. Mana was my least favorite of the four and I'm not sure why exactly. It wasn't the subject matter, I just found it to be kind of tedious.

In conclusion:
If you like this type of thing, read this book. I, Abigail, say this.

[Cameron Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kin by Peter Dickinson was a good read that was worth the while. I personally thought that is was an excellent book. the book is about a group of people in an ancient Africa who are trying to survive the harsh lands. The book is split up into four different sections to tell one big story. the book is split up into stories told by the perspective of four different characters. the characters telling the story are Suth, Noli, Mana, and Ko.

Out of the four stories the one that I really enjoyed was the one from the perspective of Suth. Suth and the rest of his clan, the Moonhawk, are leaving their homeland after their village has been burned down. Theirs is eight kins people, but they are all small children. the oldest one of the people is Suth who is around thirteen at the time. since his village was burned down he could not go through the rights to become a man.

Suth leads his people through harsh and nicer parts of Africa to try to lead his followers to a good place where they can live ad relax. at one point they find another tribe of people who is troubles by an leopard. the men of the tribe and Suth engaged the leopard and they killed it. the leopard gave Suth a scar on his cheek, a scar that meant he started to become a man

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This must be why Peter Dickinson is known as a master storyteller. His world-building is AMAZING and he vividly brings to life the story of a group of children trying to survive in a prehistoric world. The Kin is an omnibus edition of four novels, each told from the perspective of four characters: Suth's Story, Noli's Story, Po's Story, and Mana's Story. The setting is Africa, millennia before our time when early peoples moved in bands called "kins" from Good Place to Good Place in search of sustenance. The characters are abandoned members of the Moonhawk kin, who must somehow brave the harsh terrain to find the next Good Place. Through their travels the come across other kins that are not quite like them. One group can't talk - does that make them "people"? Or are they animals? Dickinson presents questions like these in compelling coming of age stories, which despite the distance in time, connects with us on a human level so that you feel as if you are present with the characters on their adventures and daily life. Bonus points for the creative mythology interspersed between chapters that tells of the history of the Kin. A wonderful read and highly recommended.

[Robin Helweg-Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speculative fantasy set in our distant past, when early humans were walking out of Africa, this brilliant quartet of children's novels (one from the point of view of each of four connected children who are forming a new tribe) takes you into the mind and mythological worldview of primitive proto-people.

(In that sense it is like a kids' version of another of my all-time favorite books, The Inheritors by William Golding - a Neanderthal's view of the coming of modern humans.)

But The Kin has another layer of brilliance: each of the four novels has a complete mythic tale woven through it, each chapter followed by a page or two of the myth, the two being thematically related and illustrative of the interplay of early human action and early human imagination.

A unique work by a wonderful author of a wide range of novels.

[Samantha W · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing, imaginative creation by Peter Dickinson that will not disappoint. The characters are so unique and the twists and turns they take throughout the book keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next. The very best kind of read, in my opinion, as it offers a true escape to the land of imagination.

[Emily Beckman · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an adult reading a children's book, I guess take this with a grain of salt, but this is not a book I would want my kids to be reading. The premise is great (which is why two stars) and could have been so well done, but I feel like it sets a bad example for kids including sexism, ableism, and possibly racism. Maybe this book just hasn't aged well or wasn't researched thoroughly, because it seems like it just takes the "Argh, I'm a rough and tough cave masculine cave man," stereotype and runs with it.

Sexism - From the very beginning, the author made it very clear that only men could be the leader and that women were subservient. When the group of kids are first separated, Suth decides he's the leader because he's the oldest male. The fact that Noli, a girl only a little bit younger than him, has to "kneel in front of him and patter her hands on the ground" as an apology for exploring their next path is absolutely disgusting. As the story progresses, women almost always have to do this ritual to speak at their fire circles, especially when the men are "boasting." When the (very abusive) leader of the Moonhawks dies, none of the women are considered for the position as leader. There is also a constant repetition of what is "man stuff" (hunting, being loud, acting tough) and "woman stuff" (caring for kids, having babies, etc). Various quotes along the lines of "she was just a child, a girl child, so no one would listen to her." Sometimes the men become enraged and go try to do stupid stuff like charge a group other humans. This is described as a "hero's charge" or the like while I would describe it as not managing emotions well.
Now, I get that there were likely gender roles in prehistoric society. I do not have an issue with women doing more of the foraging and men doing more hunting (although modern studies have shown women were hunters in some cases too). But studies of modern hunter/gatherer societies show that a lot of them are more egalitarian. Many people believe that major power structures and patriarchy emerged about the time that goods could be accumulated with the advent of agriculture. The whole idea of women having to act all subservient for the leader to even listen to them is stupid. Even if we assume that there were major sexism issue in prehistoric society, this is a kids book. Kids should be learning from it. All I picture is some boy reading this and thinking that he should be in charge of the girls because he's a tough cave man. It's not like this book is meant to present a perfectly accurate portrayal of early hunter/gatherer societies. I mean, seriously, they have gods taking over a single member of each group and making them speak with a different voice to deliver a message. It wasn't just some sort of, "oh, they misunderstood what dreams were," type thing. The kids also managed to survive a volcano eruption when they were in the crater at the time it started erupting. So I think the author could have managed to be a little bit flexible and teach kids that everyone is valuable and no one is subservient.

Ableism - Most of this comes from Tinu, the girl with the "twisted" mouth. One major thing that stands out to me is the fact that she didn't get a book from her perspective. I thought the author was going through in age order, but nope he skips right over poor Tinu. She's a genius and I would have loved a book from her perspective. In general, the main groups of kids treat her well enough but there are many instances where she's ignored and they talk about the fact that they're worried that no one will choose her as a mate because of her deformity, which by the way doesn't impact her survival skills at all. It just makes her a bit harder to understand. At least they do have a boy "choose her" of his own accord.

Racism - I guess this one is sort of a maybe. I will say at least the author didn't make the Kin lighter skinned than the groups who hadn't developed language yet. But the "demon men" in the last book are described as being darker than the Kin. There was also a random note in two places right at the end where the author briefly mentions that they found a "small, dark woman with enormous buttocks." What the heck was that all about? It was basically just two throw away lines that had no bearing on anything. Why would you put that in a kids book? You know they're just going to use that to make fun of some poor kid in their class who happens to have a large butt. Seriously? Reminds me of the early colonial obsession with portraying African women with exaggerated features.

So yeah, overall I'm not very impressed. I really wanted this to be a good book because the idea was amazing. I'd love a well-written one about prehistoric humans figuring out life, language, and what it means to be human.

[Rosalind Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a truly wonderful book: the imagined story of a people – the Moonhawk Kin - who lived 200,000 years ago amongst a continually evolving African landscape of deserts, mountains, forests and marshes. These particular people have a language, although many of those whom they meet and share the land with, don’t. Similarly, they have tools (eg fine stone cutters) which are more advanced than the tools of others. And, because they have a language, they have stories and a legendary history of their origins, fragments of which are incorporated into the main text. The book is divided into four parts, each written from the point of view of one of the members of the tribe, the girls Noli and Mana and the boys Suth and Ko, but the story advances throughout so that different ground is covered by each. The story is exciting as the Kin are continually on the move to find Good Places where they can live safely and forage for food and fuel, and they encounter dangers of various kinds along the way. It is the story of their journey, in more ways than one, and I found all of it incredibly believable and was able to immerse myself completely into its world. The writing style is simple and clear, but powerful; it marvellously reflects the simplicity of the Kin’s own manner of observation, thought and speech patterns in a world where everything depends purely on the fight for survival. The way the Kin look after each other is beautiful and inspiring; the joys of a new birth, the sorrows of a death are shared amongst all of them, as are all the difficulties they come across on their journey where problems are tackled together and ideas grow. I have only recently discovered this book and am astonished that I had not heard of it before. Even though made-up, it is a deeply revealing story about humanity. In my opinion it deserves to be as well-known as any of the great children’s classics and have a permanent and special place on all children’s bookshelves, library or otherwise.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was assigned in my 9th grader's homeschool curriculum. We had actually decided to skip this book for school and I assigned a different one, but I was interested in the premise of the book so I read it anyway.

I am a huge fan of prehistory. I love learning about early human life and culture and imagine what life might have been like for my ancestors tens of thousands of years ago. This particular book is set 200,000 years ago, which is the dawn of our species. At that time, there were several other Homo species alive at the same time. In the book, there were some people who had words and some who did not. We aren't quite sure when humans first began to speak, or whether other Homo species had the ability to speak, though there is lots of speculation about it. Were these people who did not have words members of a different species, or were they from the same species but hadn't invented speech in their own groups yet?

This book did have a lot of sorrow and danger in it, which was surely a constant companion of early humans, as it often is for humans in 2021, as well. The author imagined a rich world for The Kin, what they might have eaten and how they obtained their food, what their interations with others might have been like, customs and culture, all primitive and ancient but also very human and relatable, and inbetween each chapter he imagined origin stories that The Kin might have passed along through oral tradition over generations. I actually think that Dickinson's imagined world and culture of ancient humans was probably not too far off the mark for what life was really like.

This book is a bit slow paced, but I feel like that is appropriate for a book of this nature. There was still plenty of action to keep me interested to the end.

[Gmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Kin (Kindle Edition)
by Peter Dickinson
640 pages, first published 1998

It is two hundred thousand years ago. A small group of children are cut off from their Kin, the Moonhawks, when they are driven from their "Good Place" by violent strangers. While searching for a new Good Place, they face the parched desert, an active volcano, a canyon flood, man-eating lions, and other Kins they've never seen before. Told from four points of view, with tales of the Kins' creation interspersed throughout, this epic novel humanizes early man and illuminates the beginning of language, the development of skills, and the organization of society. It is a triumphant book from one of the genre's most revered authors.

[Lori Laliberte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and decided that I needed to read it again. The premise is that a small group of early humans in Africa search for a new home after they lose their traditional territory. Since we know so little about early human culture, consider this a delightful piece of fiction and you will enjoy every minute. Look for accuracy and historic fact, and you will be frustrated. This story has a creative series of folk tales and creation myths, a supernatural subplot, and behaviors that we could never be certain existed. Enjoy the shifting perspectives, the range of personalities, and the satisfying plot progression.

This compilation was originally published as four young readers editions. I enjoyed them both times as an adult in a single read.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very fascinating book told through the perspective of four characters divided into separate sections where each character narrated what was happening. Suth is a young boy who leaves his Moonhawk Kin with Mala, Noli, and Ko to find water so they can survive. Noli is a young girl who Moonhawk speaks to and warns about upcoming dangers. Mala is a young girl who watches and learns from the others and experiences the guilt of killing. And Ko is a young boy who wants to become a man and speak a boast. These four stories intertwine with each other narrating the complex social lives of archaic humans.

[Debra Elsdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book group choice otherwise I don’t think I would’ve picked it up. But I’m glad I read it - the author manages to create a plausible prehistoric world which is nonetheless relatable to a 21st Century reader. I liked the myths interspersed with the stories of Suth, Noli, Ko and Mana which gave a compelling view of how consciousness of their humanity developed. It’s a long book - but not a difficult read. Lots of substance and craft.

[Cori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really thought I wasn't going to like it once I read the premise. I thought I'd give it a few chapters, and the set up threw me off at first, but it grew on me and added to the story how he had folktales every other chapter. It's impressive to create such complex characters when using such simple language as the story requires.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story begins with the children. They are left on their own after strange people kill men and take women from their Kin. The remaining people don’t think they can all survive. It’s a fascinating tale woven together with truth and humanity, seeing what is good in all of us.
I didn’t want it to end.

[Andy2302 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got this Trade Paperback in the Bonus Bundle for a new Little Free Library. A fave genre. Presented over four characters 'time'. Easy, well passed & imaginative. Somewhat white washed benevolent & reasonable point of view, though. Aimed at younger readers, I think. 3.5 stars

[Sherry Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting story

I have to admit that I barely scanned the "old stories" because I'm more interested in the interaction between characters, but the story was just as meaty without them (for me).

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gelezen toen ik 12 was, en het was z’n geweldig boek dat ik hem later nog een keer gelezen heb! Ook nu zou ik hem graag nog een keer oppakken! Je volgt een groep overlevende en tegelijkertijd gaat het in sommige hoofdstukken over hoe hun wereld instaan is!

[Randee Boulay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book back in middle school and really liked it then but didn’t remember much of it. Read it again to see if I would like it this time. I definitely was not as into it as I had been the first time around. Slow paced writing and story telling, but it’s different.

[Mark R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant if you live prehistory and family bonds this story is for you.

Thoroughly enjoy evey page!

[Pepe Orejel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time. Love how it depicts the beginning of humanity with full fleshed characters.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed the book. A real taste of human life at the most primitive times. Enjoyed the old tales as well!

[Pattie]

Unfinished

[Lucy Marchant · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me ages to read, and felt kind of repetitive, but overall I did like it!