Prehistoric fantasy is the genre of stories written in prehistoric times. But they aren’t just "caveman" stories. They are wonderfully written dramas that also take a good look at real anthropological and archaeological subjects.
The term "Prehistoric Fantasy" often brings to mind images from movies about cavemen, which are often comedies and parodies. But the genre of prehistoric fantasy is a wonderful, mature genre that often takes a serious look at anthropological and archaeological subjects and questions, then builds these questions into great dramas set in the prehistoric period. And the prehistoric period is a time of great drama where strange creatures roamed the earth, massive glaciers covered the top of the world, and behind every tree lurked the possibility of a hungry predator. It was seemingly a simpler time, yet so much more dangerous than modern times.
We can safely guess that everyday life in prehistoric times was a struggle for survival. How did people from these times cope with these struggles and what were their views on the world and on life in general? We can only speculate on these questions; and through archaeology and anthropology we have theories about these early people lived. And it is in these questions that an extra dimension is added to the genre of prehistoric fantasy. By examining and hypothesizing about prehistoric life we also shed light on how we came to be, how we live, and what are the things that drive us as a modern people and society.
The genre itself has been around a long time but it came to the forefront as a legitimate genre with the publication of Jean M. Auel’s book The Clan of the Cave Bear. In this book many themes are explored but the central theme was the question of modern man, how he possibly evolved from Cro-Magnon man and how the race of Neanderthal man died out. Auel takes a good look at the minds of these two races, how they differed in their thinking, and how the brain of cro magnon was clearly superior and destined to survive. And all of this is wrapped in a wonderful story of a five year old orphaned Cro-Magnon girl who is taken in by a clan of Neanderthal.
Auel has written a series of five books called the Earth’s Children series and these books take place in Europe during the Ice age. But the genre of prehistoric fantasy also covers the whole of the earth and another great series in the genre is the First North Americans Series by Kathleen and Michael Gear. This series of books takes place in many areas of North America toward the end of the last Ice age; A time when early Native Americans and Mammoths roamed the prairies and lands. This series of books is currently up to thirteen volumes and if you are interested in reading some of it the first novel in the series is called The People of the Wolf.
Prehistoric fantasy is a wonderful "thinking persons" genre because not only does it offer great drama but it also offers insights into the ways that we as humans lived in prehistoric times and how this shaped the way we as humans live and think in modern times. If you love fantasy but also would like to derive some very serious food for thought about life I recommend you try a prehistoric fantasy novel. You won’t be disappointed.
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This is an epic fantasy novel that doesn’t follow the now very over used formula that so many books in the genre follow yet it still stays comfortably within the genre. This makes a refreshing change. Add to this a heap of imagination and a talent for clear writing and you have a great book.
