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Cover of The Valley of Horses
The 6 books · right after book 1, on the steppes of present-day Ukraine

The Valley of Horses

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Ayla learns to live alone in a valley while two brothers cross the continent

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Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's part of the chronological order leading up to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Chronological2 of 6
Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

Cast out of the Clan, Ayla walks north for months until she reaches a valley on the steppes. With no sign of the Others, she readies a cave for winter and lives alone. She tames a filly, Whinney, and nurses a cave lion cub that becomes her hunting partner. Meanwhile Jondalar of the Zelandonii is on his Journey with his half-brother, Thonolan. Along the way he sees the Others treat the Clan like animals and starts to question it. A grown lion kills Thonolan and mauls Jondalar. Ayla saves him, and the two learn to talk. He drops his prejudice, she learns that what made her strange to the Clan is normal among the Others, and they fall in love. In the end they leave the valley and meet the Mamutoi.

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2 what changed in the movie

What changed in the movie

  1. Behind the scenesA finished script, no movie

    John Sayles adapted The Valley of Horses for the screen along with the first book. The 1986 film's box-office flop killed the plan.

    source ↗
  2. Behind the scenesTwo stories until they meet

    Much of the book alternates Ayla alone in the valley with the journey of Jondalar and Thonolan, told through his eyes. Jondalar is how readers meet the Others and the religion of the Great Mother.

    source ↗
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