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The Thrifty Reader

Earth's Children hexalogy books in order

Earth's Children hexalogy by Jean M. Auel has 6 books, published 1980–2011. Reading all of them takes about 80 hours (4,357 pages). 6 can be borrowed free from Open Library.

1The Clan of the Cav… 2The Valley of Horses 3The Mammoth Hunters 4The Plains of Passa… 5The Shelters of Sto… 6The Land of Painted…
Spines are sized by page count. The orange dot marks a free ebook.

Reading order

  1. Book 1 · 1980

    The Clan of the Cave Bear

    524 pages, about 9.6 hours 4.1★ (75)

    BORROW FREE

  2. Book 2 · 1982

    The Valley of Horses

    580 pages, about 11 hours 4.3★ (21)

    BORROW FREE

  3. Book 3 · 1985

    The Mammoth Hunters

    719 pages, about 13 hours 4.0★ (22)

    BORROW FREE

  4. Book 4 · 1990

    The Plains of Passage

    917 pages, about 17 hours 3.9★ (13)

    BORROW FREE

  5. Book 5 · 2002

    The Shelters of Stone

    832 pages, about 15 hours 4.0★ (16)

    BORROW FREE

  6. Book 6 · 2011

    The Land of Painted Caves

    785 pages, about 14 hours 3.6★ (9)

    BORROW FREE

Questions people ask

How many Earth's Children hexalogy books are there?

There are 6 books in the series, published 1980–2011.

Which Earth's Children hexalogy book should I read first?

Start with The Clan of the Cave Bear (1980), book 1. The list above is the reading order.

How long does it take to read the whole series?

About 80 hours at an average pace of 250 words a minute, or 4,357 pages in total. The longest book is The Plains of Passage at 917 pages.

Can I read Earth's Children hexalogy for free?

6 books can be borrowed free from Open Library with a free account. The book pages have the links.