Love or hate: anthropology in fiction, esp. prehistoric
What does everyone here think about books like Jean Auel's Earth's Children series? (Mary Sue tendencies aside)
I'm asking because it looks like there's another one on the horizon: Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes.
Personally I used to love them until I actually went to uni and studied some arch & anth. Now I tend to avoid everything due to uncontrollable nitpicking and plot devices that make me face!palm. I've got to admit a love for Stargate, but that show doesn't try to make you relate to the random prehistoric hero[ine] (usually) and the alternative cultures tend to live on another planet - blatant fiction, not "this is what life used to be like" (or, tangentially, Dan Brown's "look what Jesus really did!" approach).
As usual, I'd like to give Great Sky Woman a shot when it comes out, but am worried by this comment from Barnes: "always, my thought was to make the tale a simple one, to conceal the magnitude of the research and anthropological speculation from my readers so that they could just enjoy the adventure." Hmm.
(btw, if anyone has some recommendations that won't have me wondering where the author got their library card, I'd love to give them a try!)
I'm asking because it looks like there's another one on the horizon: Great Sky Woman by Steven Barnes.
Personally I used to love them until I actually went to uni and studied some arch & anth. Now I tend to avoid everything due to uncontrollable nitpicking and plot devices that make me face!palm. I've got to admit a love for Stargate, but that show doesn't try to make you relate to the random prehistoric hero[ine] (usually) and the alternative cultures tend to live on another planet - blatant fiction, not "this is what life used to be like" (or, tangentially, Dan Brown's "look what Jesus really did!" approach).
As usual, I'd like to give Great Sky Woman a shot when it comes out, but am worried by this comment from Barnes: "always, my thought was to make the tale a simple one, to conceal the magnitude of the research and anthropological speculation from my readers so that they could just enjoy the adventure." Hmm.
(btw, if anyone has some recommendations that won't have me wondering where the author got their library card, I'd love to give them a try!)