Auel seems to have listened to some of the complaints about her earlier books and taken them to heart. There are none of the long, plodding pages of travel - in fact, at one point, 4 years pass between the turn of a single page! All of our favorite characters are here, and we get to see Ayla continue to work at fitting in with her adoptive people. All in all, a quite enjoyable read except for the multiple repetitions of Mother's Song - in its entirety. I have to admit skimming after the second repetition.
The story ended so that this could be the last book in the series - but there's also room for another sequel. Since I read an ARC, there's no information about possible upcoming books. Strongly recommended for anyone who has been following this series, it is also possible to read this as a stand alone - although you'll appreciated the characters more if you've followed their story from the beginning.