According to goodreads, I first read this book in 2008. It's why, when I first started reading my copy from netgalley, the book seemed so familiar to me. I wouldn't have requested it from netgalley if I had realized it was the exact same book I read years ago, but I didn't review it five years ago, so it doesn't hurt to reread and review now.

Mother Earth is a well written "prehistory" book - a time period I was fascinated by when I was a teenager / young adult. The dawn of time... dawn of civilization and of humanity, how can one not be intrigued?

Chagak's story is compelling, well written, well researched, and is the start of a series. There's a great cast of supporting characters, but not so many that you can't keep track of them (a pet peeve of mine in other series books).

It is important to note that this book is intended for young adults / teenagers - the plot is slower than Jean Auel's series, but it's supposed to be. I find this more readable and in the end, more likeable (even though I had originally forgotten that I had read this years ago).