Official Review: Hunters of the Columbian Mammoth

[Momlovesbooks]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Hunters of the Columbian Mammoth" by Adrian Del Valle.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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“Hunters of the Colombian Mammoth” by Adrian Del Valle

Hunters of the Colombian Mammoth is a detailed, yet captivating, historical fiction novel. The author, Adrian Del Valle, has used his imagination plus research of Paleo-anthropology to bring us an exciting story about an ancient man.

The tale follows the trials and journey of Man That Runs Too Fast (Lan). He is the leader of the Bandu tribe. In the spring of 11,980 B.C., Lan’s tribe is attacked by another warring tribe. These tribes have begun fighting among themselves to preserve their own tribes. They have depleted their natural resources, but fear of the unknown mountain ranges keep them from migrating eastward. However, when Lan’s village is destroyed, he makes the long journey on his own to rebuild his tribe.

As Lan travels to the forbidden land, he fights for his life and the life of his soul mate, Ayashe. They encounter dangers, such as saber tooth tigers, dire wolves and the huge Colombian mammoth. Lan tries to overcome all odds to reconcile with Ayashe’s former tribe and rebuild his own scattered people.

The author has created a unique story with action-packed scenes woven throughout a historically detailed novel. I could tell Mr. Del Valle has thoroughly researched the life of early man in the Paleolithic time period. The historical account was very detailed and informative. I felt as if I were there with the characters.

The main characters were well-developed and seemed to jump off the pages. Lan, the protagonist, was a powerful, mighty warrior. His partner, Ayashe, was a strong, help-mate. I felt her pain, sorrow and joy as they traveled through the unknown areas in search of home.

The book begins with a present archeological dig in which the main characters are discovered as skeletons. Although the story begins with dialogue, once the history of Lan begins, there is a long stretch with no dialogue. However, the great attention to detail and historical information kept me engrossed in the difficult lives these primitive people lived. For example, a description of a hunter’s camp began, “At its forefront, a row of tall posts stood as pedestals for the skulls sitting ominously on top of them. A saber tooth tiger, a grizzly bear and several dire wolf heads stared out from deep eye sockets along with their foreboding spirits.” This is the type of descriptive writing that kept my attention until the end.

Although this book seems to be professionally edited, I found several grammatical errors. The book would benefit from another editing. The appendix was helpful in following the tribal connections and the glossary helped with understanding the fictional words used.

Based on the above information and my enjoyment of this novel, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to mature readers, as there are a few sexual situations and graphic violence. Fans of adventure and historical novels will enjoy this book.

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Hunters of the Columbian Mammoth
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[Stephanie Elizabeth]

Sounds like an adventure-packed story! It's great that the author did substantial research on paleo-anthropology before writing this book. I am sure it made the characters easy to connect to.

Great review!

[Ellylion]

Sounds like a book based on a solid historical research! Paleolithic time period remains obscure, and it's always so interesting to learn more about it! Thank you for the great review!

[kandscreeley]

This isn't a time period I'm particularly interested in, and the graphic scenes would put me off. For those reasons I'll probably skip it, but it does sound interesting for those that enjoy stories of early man. Thanks for the review.

[ElizaBeth Adams]

As a fan of historical fiction, it is interesting to see someone setting a story for this time period. This one's not for me, but I can really appreciate how much research had to go into creating this particular work. Thanks for your awesome review.

[8amaseter]

I appreciate the author's work. His story took him backwards about 12,000BC, which involves a lot of research to make the book enjoyable to the reader. Its a great review as well.

[8amaseter]

I appreciate the author's work. His story took him backwards about 12,000BC, which involves a lot of research to make the book enjoyable to the reader. Its a great review as well.

[Amanda Deck]

This reminds me of the Clan of the Cave Bear books which I loved, so I assume I'll enjoy this one too. At first, I thought this was an archaeology book, non-fiction, wasn't interested. Glad I read the review.

[Janelle Juncos]

You describe it as very conceptually unique and detailed. This is a great review! It's not something I'd usually read, but you're very convincing.

[kdstrack]

Lan and Ayashe's adventures sound quite interesting, especially with the details the author adds from his in-depth studies. I enjoyed your comments about the author's descriptions. Thanks for this informative review.

[Prisallen]

This sounds like an intriguing book to read, since the author seems knowledgeable about that time period especially. Thank you for a wonderful review!

[HRichards]

I'm normally not into prehistoric historical novels, but this one sounds pretty interesting. I hope they get a little better editing and I might give it a shot.

[Pandora10]

I like the way the book began at a dig site at Pronghorn Plateau and the discovery of some ancient relics. The addition of the appendix and glossary which was pointed out, in the index is useful. It seems to be the tale of a number of Indian tribes, living at the end of the Paleolithic period, who after several generations had depleted their supplies of Deer and Elk and were not at war amongst themselves. The formatting in the Kindle edition is a little off, but it is interesting to learn the types of animals that may have lived there at one time.