Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Ivory and Bone

Ivory and Bone (Ivory and Bone, #1)

Ivory and Bone is an interesting book. It's set during prehistoric times, roughly in the Ice Age period I guess, and is told from the perspective of Kol, the son of the clan elder. The problem Kol and his brother Pek have is there are no women to marry, to continue their family- but Mya and Seeri show up with their brother from another clan, maybe their problem is solved? Pek and Seeri hit it off right away, but Kol and Mya... that's a complicated road. 

I guess this is like Clan of the Cave Bear meets Pride and Prejudice? I've seen it referred that way and it's apt. Kol is a good guy- they're not savages in this- in fact even though they live in a prehistoric era they seemed remarkably civilized. Perhaps too much so. One of the issues I had with this was that they used modern language and speaking styles, and actually referred to the cooking area as a kitchen. It just seemed incongruous with the era. But like I said Kol is a good guy- he likes to lay in the grass and listen for the bees, so he can find honey- he's not a spear throwing stereotype. 

Kol and Mya do not hit it off- think angst and misunderstandings and all the rest- but when another clan appears, led by Lo- a woman who has a history with Mya's group- things get dicey. Mya and Lo have a history that could be a problem for Kol's clan, and he doesn't know who he can trust. I thought Kol's whole clan was pretty decent- again they seemed remarkably civilized, not really warlike in any way- and this is about family and clan as much as about prehistoric action. In fact there's not a ton of action- other than some sabertoothed cats and mammoth encounters, there isn't much. I was still invested in the story and I kept waiting for Kol and either Mya or Lo to get together and quit messing around. 

One thing that might be an issue for some readers is the perspective. Kol speaks as if he is speaking to Mya, so occasionally he refers to the reader as "you" and that threw me off a bit. I've seen other reviewers mention that as well. It's kind of a gutsy move to write the story that way, since it could be problematic for some, but other than being occasionally jarring it didn't wreck the book for me. There's a reason for it and I thought it was effective. 

On balance I liked this a lot. I thought the prehistoric world was drawn well, you could feel the isolated nature of the clans, and both Kol and Mya were relatable (although with Mya it takes a while). You know there's something there- she's like the Mr. Darcy of the story with her silences and cutting words that have more behind them- but I was pulling for her once I knew what was happening. Again it reads a little too modern for an Ice Age environment but beyond that this works, and I thought it was quite good. 

33 comments:

  1. Hm. What an interesting concept. The prehistoric aspect of it is really pulling me in. Glad that you enjoyed it for the most part! Thanks for another great review. :)

    Cass @ Words on Paper

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    1. The prehistoric part was really good, although again there was a realism factor with kitchens lol.

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  2. It looks interesting and different for a change. Never read something like that so why not

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  3. No, I mean the premise is cool but come on! A kitchen!? *snorts* it would annoy me too much. I would just feel like the author read a wiki article on the ice age and then nothing more

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    1. I know, I had hard time w/ that too. Every time they mentioned "kitchen" I was like, no. Stop it.

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  4. I do remember reading Clan of the Cave Bear and loved it. This sounds interesting, but the problems you mentioned, well, sometimes ya just have to go with it. After all, it is fiction and some of things I read are so far out there, if I didn't let my imagination take over they would all suck. LOL
    sherry @ fundinmental

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    1. I never read Clan. Love the idea though. And yes in spite of my gripes I did enjoy it, on balance.

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  5. Ice age...huh. This sounds baffling yet interesting lol

    For What It's Worth

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  6. YIKES Greg, a kitchen?!(lol) Back in the day when I was reading about pirates, Scottish clans and vikings, I probably wouldn't even have noticed, but nowadays because I read more books with a history tie, it would jump out like a pink thumb. Also, I'm not sure my brain could handle the pronoun thing. That being said, I do like the idea of the story, because it's pretty creative. You're really giving me some new perspectives with books which is pretty cool. Hugs...

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  7. The world in this book sounds so interesting to me! I'd definitely give it a shot eventually.

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    1. It was kinda reading about a prehistoric world, with the clans so isolated.

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  8. Pride and Prejudice in prehistoric times? Interesting. Second person narrative is sort of fun because we don't get it much. I'll have to check this out. Great review, Greg! :)

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    1. I know, I saw that description and I was like huh? Although I kinda saw it? And yes second person is pretty uncommon. It was a good book on balance though!

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  9. Oh, this book. It pains me, because is there a more amazing premise than this? But it just ended up feeling to me like it could be a romance/survival story written literally anywhere in any time. Like you said, it seemed WAY too modern to be prehistoric. You're planning on reading (or have read) the sequel, right? I am curious about it, kind of wondering if it is worth it. Because I want so badly for this series to work! Great review, I am glad you enjoyed it despite some of the shortcomings!

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    1. I know, LOVE the premise. Give me Ice Age goodness and sabertooth and all that. But yes it seemed way too modern. I get that it was a deliberate choice and I think I know where the author's going, but it was tough. And I did read the sequel and I liked it more. It's from Mya's perspective, which I wasn't sure I would like, but it has more of an isolated feel with the setting (an island) and I liked it more.

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  10. I'm glad you liked this, Greg! It's a wonderful premise, and I'm definitely intrigued -- a bit leery of the modern bleeding through into the prehistoric, but you've made me curious. Thank you for the wonderful review :)

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  11. Sounds SO interesting, Greg. Your review made me want to read this book as soon as possible. I'm so curious. Thanks for sharing. I'll check this out, especially the author. Awesome review. :)

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  12. Well that's very different. I've not read anything place quite so far out. Too bad on the modern vibes spilling in but still sounds really good.

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  13. Haven't completely given up on this one but I had a really hard time getting into it

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  14. You pretty much had me at Clan of the Cave Bear meets Pride and Prejudice. That's not a combination I've seen before! I'm always torn on the modern speaking and acting. In someways it is jarring but it does make for an easier read. This does sound good and definitely unique! I'll have to look for it.

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  15. I didn't realize this was set in prehistoric times. How neat! I've never read anything in that setting. But I can see how the language would be a problem. It would kill the vibe and throw you out of the story if it were too modern. Kol sounds like a sweetheart though!

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  16. This book sounds interesting, I mean, I have it sat on my shelf from a bookbox I received, but I don't know if it's a read I would enjoy. I think the way it's written may frustrate me, but more importantly the fact that this supposed ice age world is so very civilised and modern. I don't think I'd like that. I've got it on my shelf so I may read but we shall see.

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  17. I've seen this everywhere and I've never read the blurb, it sounds so interesting though! And can I say that I really like how you review books without a rating, so refreshing although I don't think I could do it, I'm so used to rating it's hard to let go.

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  18. I confess, I don't know what to make of a prehistoric story, never mind one likened to Pride and Prejudice.

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  19. Having the story set in the prehistoric times is an interesting time frame and could make for a really unique setting but if the language being more modern would definitely bother me. Like you said, I'm 99% sure they didn't use the word "kitchen" back then. This sounds like it had potential but I think I'll probably have to pass on it. Thanks for the review!

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  20. Hmmm... with what you are saying about the language and terms like "kitchen" I think if I need a prehistoric fix I'll go back to reading the Clan Of the Cave Bear books. I stopped after the third one. Maybe I should give the fourth one a try. :)

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  21. Nice review! I've been interested in this book for a while (I just love the tile for some reason, lol) and your review is really helpful. Although that perspective thing would annoy me, too, I think!

    Amy @ A Magical World Of Words

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  22. I didn't realize this one was set in prehistoric times, that is long ago, but it does sound original. I think it would be difficult to really fantom what people from that time would be like, but that's too bad it seemed a tad too modern.

    That perspective with the you does sound like it would bother me a bit as well. but the rest does sound very interesting. The characters sound nice too and it seems original it's set in the Ice Age.

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  23. Great review! And I especially the idea of Clan of the Cave Bear meets Pride and Prejudice. Definitely a comparison you don't see everyday!

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  24. I didn't know that this one is set during prehistoric times. I haven't read any books set during that time period before and this one looks interesting.

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