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Caveman
Trent Marshall, an American archaeologist, enters a mysterious cave in eastern France and is unexpectedly transported back in time to 40,000 B.C.E. With him is a talented and beautiful linguist, Bridgette Genet. At once they find themselves in the middle of a small-scale “war” between the dominant Cro-Magnon tribe and the hill-dwelling Neanderthals.
388 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 19, 2018
227 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 1, 2018
I can’t recall the last time I read a fiction novel. Since I can remember I felt like I was wasting time and not really learning anything significant by reading them. Now I’m wondering what I’ve missed all these years by only sticking to non-fiction. I found this book not only entertaining but educational in a profound, unexpected way. I liked this book a lot because it did a great job connecting me to a much earlier version of what it meant to be human and by taking me to that forgotten world.
This book takes root by phenomenon: When two vastly different time periods appear to run parallel and sync at a specific place which causes present-day homo sapiens to be transported back 40,000 years when the Cro Magnons and Neanderthals walked the Earth. And when it was a very different world.
I appreciated the ‘history lessons’ where it was clear Tenney did his research while paying close attention to fill in the blanks of what is unknown of these people with creative imagination and flair.
Tenney’s story came across smooth and well thought out as I not once thought something didn’t add up or make sense. It’s a cool, intelligent read that did not cause me to think/feel awkward; no ridiculously overused clichés or just plain silly scenarios and thus, thankfully, no reflex eye rolls. All while, and get this, managing to encapsulate a relatable realness to the characters where many of them expressed vulnerability and had heart.
The kicker for me and is why I will seek out more of Tenney’s books is that he often wrote lines that were not only genuinely authentic but sounded like it would make a damn good quote. Poetic if you will. Often of the sarcastic nature that makes you chuckle out loud.
I found the more I read this book, the more I liked it. When I got to the end, I found my heart pounding and I was reading stupidly fast. (Where I had to go back and reread because I got nothing.) The story is relatively long for a novel, but I ended up being glad for that. By the end, I felt like I had all the info I needed not to leave me wondering what the hell happened.
This book takes root by phenomenon: When two vastly different time periods appear to run parallel and sync at a specific place which causes present-day homo sapiens to be transported back 40,000 years when the Cro Magnons and Neanderthals walked the Earth. And when it was a very different world.
I appreciated the ‘history lessons’ where it was clear Tenney did his research while paying close attention to fill in the blanks of what is unknown of these people with creative imagination and flair.
Tenney’s story came across smooth and well thought out as I not once thought something didn’t add up or make sense. It’s a cool, intelligent read that did not cause me to think/feel awkward; no ridiculously overused clichés or just plain silly scenarios and thus, thankfully, no reflex eye rolls. All while, and get this, managing to encapsulate a relatable realness to the characters where many of them expressed vulnerability and had heart.
The kicker for me and is why I will seek out more of Tenney’s books is that he often wrote lines that were not only genuinely authentic but sounded like it would make a damn good quote. Poetic if you will. Often of the sarcastic nature that makes you chuckle out loud.
I found the more I read this book, the more I liked it. When I got to the end, I found my heart pounding and I was reading stupidly fast. (Where I had to go back and reread because I got nothing.) The story is relatively long for a novel, but I ended up being glad for that. By the end, I felt like I had all the info I needed not to leave me wondering what the hell happened.
July 28, 2020
An adventure for the mind
Liked the story a lot. Early man is my favorite subject so the book had me by the neck from the beginning. The story is fun to follow, the writing very well done. The author has talent for sure. It's a fast easy to read book. If you let your mind relax and become part of the story you are in for a treat, but, you may be up late reading. Glad I got this book.
Liked the story a lot. Early man is my favorite subject so the book had me by the neck from the beginning. The story is fun to follow, the writing very well done. The author has talent for sure. It's a fast easy to read book. If you let your mind relax and become part of the story you are in for a treat, but, you may be up late reading. Glad I got this book.
April 30, 2020
Very much recommend!
Jeffrey W. Tenney's book "Caveman" kept me turning pages into the late evening. I enjoyed the story. The character development over the changes in situation were well detailed. I must admit, the last section was a surprise. I wasn't sure how the story would end. It ended in a satisfying way.
With any science fiction story, one often must accept one suspension of disbelief. I would not put this story into an SF category, but it has one suspension required, time travel. Accepting that, the story flowed well and believable. Perhaps the one flaw is the characters not knowing how the time travel worked, but somehow knowing they were 40,000 years in our past. Not 35 or 45, but 40. If they were guessing based on knowledge of the archaeology of that region, they might have stated a range. Very minor nit.
How does one develop a culture from 40,000 years ago? Our known history only goes back 7 to 8 thousand years. Tenney's background in anthropology probably helps. He handled the issue well.
This is no "Clan of the Cave Bear", which I found a bit clumsy. This story is well handled throughout its course.
Worth the read!
Jeffrey W. Tenney's book "Caveman" kept me turning pages into the late evening. I enjoyed the story. The character development over the changes in situation were well detailed. I must admit, the last section was a surprise. I wasn't sure how the story would end. It ended in a satisfying way.
With any science fiction story, one often must accept one suspension of disbelief. I would not put this story into an SF category, but it has one suspension required, time travel. Accepting that, the story flowed well and believable. Perhaps the one flaw is the characters not knowing how the time travel worked, but somehow knowing they were 40,000 years in our past. Not 35 or 45, but 40. If they were guessing based on knowledge of the archaeology of that region, they might have stated a range. Very minor nit.
How does one develop a culture from 40,000 years ago? Our known history only goes back 7 to 8 thousand years. Tenney's background in anthropology probably helps. He handled the issue well.
This is no "Clan of the Cave Bear", which I found a bit clumsy. This story is well handled throughout its course.
Worth the read!
October 22, 2019
4 Stars
Note Kindle users this book does not tell you how many minutes is left in a chapter just how many left in the book.
Mason and Bridgette are tricked into going into a cave which sends them 40,000 years into the past where she tries to make peace between tribes of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.
Note Kindle users this book does not tell you how many minutes is left in a chapter just how many left in the book.
Mason and Bridgette are tricked into going into a cave which sends them 40,000 years into the past where she tries to make peace between tribes of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons.
February 20, 2020
Great read
Well written and fairly fast paced. I liked the surprises that come along as the storyline twists and turns. A neat and interesting way to travel back in time. Good character development.
Well written and fairly fast paced. I liked the surprises that come along as the storyline twists and turns. A neat and interesting way to travel back in time. Good character development.
February 21, 2019
i thought this book very real and informative of prehistory living.
July 13, 2019
Very good
Very good story I enjoyed it very much. Good descriptions of people of the time. Lots of action and good characters. If you like time travel you will like this story.
Very good story I enjoyed it very much. Good descriptions of people of the time. Lots of action and good characters. If you like time travel you will like this story.
May 9, 2020
Edit
They were as dangerous as the hungry lion, perhaps moreso.
This was a fun read and an inventive story. I recommend.
They were as dangerous as the hungry lion, perhaps moreso.
This was a fun read and an inventive story. I recommend.
January 12, 2022
Too much for one book
I read the entire book mostly to see what the heck was going on, thinking there would be some big reveal. It actually irritated me that It never happened because I enjoyed the concept of the book. My head is still spinning at the amount of conflict that went on and was resolved in a merely a couple of chapters for each conflict. We learn little to nothing about the people's ways of life. Neanderthals are mentioned in the beginning and cro-magnon. However tribe names are used for most of the book and you never know who is what. The ending was short and entirely random taking place some 15 years later with little mention of what went on in between and again resolving in a few chapters. The ending alone could have been an entire book of its own. There was entirely too much crammed into one book. It's essentially an entire book of different prehistoric tribes fighting with some modern humans watching and not really helping but I think they're supposed to be helping. You never learn enough about the characters to know anything about them. There are ALOT of characters and the modern ones last names and first names are used independently, often which is confusing at first. This could have been a very good series of books with a defined storyline that was fleshed out. As it stands I definitely wouldn't recommend.
I read the entire book mostly to see what the heck was going on, thinking there would be some big reveal. It actually irritated me that It never happened because I enjoyed the concept of the book. My head is still spinning at the amount of conflict that went on and was resolved in a merely a couple of chapters for each conflict. We learn little to nothing about the people's ways of life. Neanderthals are mentioned in the beginning and cro-magnon. However tribe names are used for most of the book and you never know who is what. The ending was short and entirely random taking place some 15 years later with little mention of what went on in between and again resolving in a few chapters. The ending alone could have been an entire book of its own. There was entirely too much crammed into one book. It's essentially an entire book of different prehistoric tribes fighting with some modern humans watching and not really helping but I think they're supposed to be helping. You never learn enough about the characters to know anything about them. There are ALOT of characters and the modern ones last names and first names are used independently, often which is confusing at first. This could have been a very good series of books with a defined storyline that was fleshed out. As it stands I definitely wouldn't recommend.
July 19, 2021
Interesting premise
There is a cave system in Southern France, that allows a select few individuals to move from current day to 40,000 years BC. Not really clear how the first traveller was able to find her way through, or how her son came back through, since the original (referenced) traveler was locked up in the cave system and it was sealed. But.. there are some interesting personalizations made throughout the book, both on the 'modern' group as well as the prehistoric individuals and their interactions. Little reference is made to the supposed Neanderthal propensity for sign language or even mind-reading as a possiblity... the CroMagnons and Neanderthals are able to communicate adequately with each other and with the modern folks after time for learning languages is given... Good first novel, I believe.
There is a cave system in Southern France, that allows a select few individuals to move from current day to 40,000 years BC. Not really clear how the first traveller was able to find her way through, or how her son came back through, since the original (referenced) traveler was locked up in the cave system and it was sealed. But.. there are some interesting personalizations made throughout the book, both on the 'modern' group as well as the prehistoric individuals and their interactions. Little reference is made to the supposed Neanderthal propensity for sign language or even mind-reading as a possiblity... the CroMagnons and Neanderthals are able to communicate adequately with each other and with the modern folks after time for learning languages is given... Good first novel, I believe.
February 24, 2020
Good, but not great
I enjoyed this book. It took a little different approach to time travel. There was no attempt at explaining a mechanism for the time travel, which is okay, but there was also no acknowledgement of the contamination modern people would bring to the world of 40,000 BCE.
I enjoyed this book. It took a little different approach to time travel. There was no attempt at explaining a mechanism for the time travel, which is okay, but there was also no acknowledgement of the contamination modern people would bring to the world of 40,000 BCE.
February 20, 2022
Caveman different
This book is easy to read and smooth. The author did not use the same time tunnel. Other authors jumped around like jumping beans. It's an easy time to get lost in the book
This book is easy to read and smooth. The author did not use the same time tunnel. Other authors jumped around like jumping beans. It's an easy time to get lost in the book
April 16, 2019
A little far fetched.
A little far fetched and sketchy. Not coherent at times. It is worthy reading however. I had a hard time visualizing the environment.
A little far fetched and sketchy. Not coherent at times. It is worthy reading however. I had a hard time visualizing the environment.
June 15, 2021
Shelved it. No character development, weak plot, I couldn't follow what the author was trying to say. I didn't enjoy the unnecessary torture right at the start of the story.
September 20, 2022
Ages ago
I enjoyed the trials an d tribulations of the various folk elements who try to make a living under primitive conditions.
I enjoyed the trials an d tribulations of the various folk elements who try to make a living under primitive conditions.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews