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Novels Set in Prehistoric Timesand Time-Sweep NovelsFor news on the latest additions to this website, see the blog.
Jump to: Young Adult Novels of Prehistoric Times Prehistoric Europe
Time-sweep novels like those by James A. Michener and Edward Rutherfurd, which cover many centuries or millennia, are included in this section whether or not they begin in prehistory. Novels in a series are listed in the order they appear in the series. Jump to series: Jean Auel's Earth's Children series Prehistoric Europe
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Jean Auel, The Valley of Horses (1982), about a Cro-Magnon girl who leaves the tribe of Neanderthals who raised her; #2 in the Earth's Children series. Jean Auel, The Mammoth Hunters (1985), about a Cro-Magnon woman; #3 in the Earth's Children series. Jean Auel, The Plains of Passage (1990), about a Cro-Magnon woman; #4 in the Earth's Children series. Jean Auel, The Shelters of Stone (2002), about a Cro-Magnon woman; #5 in the Earth's Children series. Jean Auel, The Land of Painted Caves (2011), about a Cro-Magnon woman who settles down with her husband and child in a clan where she studies to become a shaman; #6 and last in the Earth's Children series.
Stephen Baxter, Longtusk (1999), about a bull mammoth's effort to lead his herd to safety on the Asian continent after human hunters arrive; #2 in the Behemoth trilogy. Stephen Baxter, Icebones (2001), about a cow mammoth who awakens from a thousand-year sleep to find her herd may be too weak to survive on its own; #3 in the Behemoth trilogy.
Jim Crace, The Gift of Stones (1988), about a boy from a Stone Age village who explores the world beyond the village and discovers people who know how to make and use bronze. John R. Dann, Song of the Axe (2001), about a pair of warrior-lovers threatened by invaders near the end of an Ice Age. John R. Dann, Song of the Earth (2005), about several generations of a family wandering from prehistoric Africa north into the European Continent. J. S. Dunn, Bending the Boyne (2011), about people of Bronze Age Ireland before the coming of the Celts. Margaret Elphinstone, The Gathering Night (2009), about a group of Stone Age hunter-gatherers in what is now Scotland, and the unusual decision of a woman to become a shaman after her son dies. Anthony Giarmo, Sweet Muse of Madness David Gibbins, Atlantis (2005), about an archaeologist who discovers the ruins of Atlantis under the waters of the Black Sea; present-day setting. William Golding, The Inheritors (1955), about two Neanderthals who survive an attack on their group by a band of Homo sapiens. Review Graham Hancock, Entangled (2010), a fantasy novel about a woman in Stone Age Spain and a teenaged girl from Los Angeles who join forces in a parallel dimension to avert an evil magician's plans to destroy humankind. Dorothy Hearst, Promise of the Wolves (2008), about a young wolf and her pack around 12,000 B.C., when the changes began that led to the evolution of the domesticated dog; #1 in the Wolf Chronicles series. Dorothy Hearst, Secrets of the Wolves (2011), about a young wolf around 12,000 B.C. who must find a way for wolves to live in harmony with humans, or face potentially disastrous consequences for the choices she and her pack have made; #2 in the Wolf Chronicles series. Cecelia Holland, Pillar of the Sky (1985), about the building of Stonehenge. Eileen Kernaghan, The Sarsen Witch (1989), historical fantasy about the building of Stonehenge. Björn Kurtén, Dance of the Tiger (1980), about Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons in Ice Age Scandinavia. Björn Kurtén, Singletusk (1986), about Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons in Ice Age Scandinavia.
Morgan Llywelyn, Silverhand Morgan Llywelyn, Silverlight Morgan Llywelyn, Bard: the Odyssey of the Irish (1984), about a bard in Celtic Iberia (now Spain) who has a vision of leading his people to the land that will become Ireland. Morgan Llywelyn, Only the Stones Survive (2016), about the ancient gods and goddesses of Ireland.
Mary Mackey, The Horses at the Gate (1996), about a priestess of the Dark Mother and her lover struggling to survive when nomads attack their people; #2 in the Earthsong trilogy. Mary Mackey, The Fires of Spring (1998), about a warrior woman's efforts to rescue the kidnapped son of her queen; #3 in the Earthsong trilogy.
Cristi Fernández Narvaiza and Martin Bless, Spirits of the Mothers (2009), a book that alternates nonfiction chapters on archaeological discoveries about Ice Age Europe with fiction chapters about a young woman's trek through Europe at the end of the Ice Age. J.P. Reedman, Stone Lord J.P. Reedman, Moon Lord Kim Stanley Robinson, Shaman (2013), a coming-of-age story about a young shaman in prehistoric Europe. Review at The Guardian William Sarabande, Wolves of the Dawn Brenda Gates Smith, Secrets of the Ancient Goddess, about a woman in prehistoric Turkey whose tribe turns against her when she refuses to sacrifice her baby. Brenda Gates Smith, Goddess of the Mountain Harvest, about two powerful women competing to become high priestess as warlike horsemen threaten their village; sequel to Secrets of the Ancient Goddess.
Judith Tarr, The Shepherd Kings Judith Tarr, Lady of Horses (2000), about the anger of the Horse Goddess when male shamans try to alter history by declaring that a male was the first to ride a horse; #3 in the Epona series. Judith Tarr, Daughter of Lir
Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, The Animal Wife Lindsay Townsend, Bronze Lightning (2009), historical romance about a woman in Minoan Crete and a man from the area of Stonehenge, set in 1562 B.C. Harry Turtledove, Beyond the Gap (2007), a fantasy novel about mammoth hunters at the end of the Ice Age; #1 in the Gap series. Harry Turtledove, The Breath of God (forthcoming in December 2008), a fantasy novel about mammoth hunters at the end of the Ice Age; #2 in the Gap series. Martin Walker, The Caves of Périgord (2002), about an art historian and the owner of a mysterious painting on a slab of rock; set in the present, the World War II period and approximately 15,000 B.C. Hebe Weenolsen, The Forbidden Mountain
Joan Wolf, The Horsemasters (1993), about a young man driven out of his matrilineal tribe in prehistoric Southern France; #2 in a series. Joan Wolf, The Reindeer Hunters (1994), about a group of warring tribes in prehistoric southern France who make peace in order to resist invaders from the north; #3 in a series.
Prehistoric North America
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Amanda Cockrell, Wind Caller's Children (2006), about two sisters and their brother around 3000 B.C. who must fend for themselves after their father is blamed for a drought and killed; #2 in the Deer Dancers series. Amanda Cockrell, The Long Walk (2006), about a woman with a small child who discovers she has the ability to draw pictures; #3 in the Deer Dancers series.
Vince Ford, Set in Stone (2008), about twins who contact a northern tribe with the goal of stealing knowledge of a weapon their own tribe wants to help it survive; #2 in the Chronicles of Stone trilogy, also published in a single volume as Chronicles of Stone. Vince Ford, Tribal Ash (2009), about a man returning to his own tribe with a valuable object, in the hope that they will not reject him for breaking the tribal laws; #3 in the Chronicles of Stone trilogy, also published in a single volume as Chronicles of Stone.
Caleb Fox, Shadows in the Cave (2010), about a boy who is forbidden to use his shape-shifting abilities after his mother is killed while in the form of an owl; sequel to Zadayi Red.
Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Fire, about prehistoric North America; #2 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Earth, about the beginnings of agriculture in North America; #3 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the River, about the Mound Builders of the Mississippi Valley; #4 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Sea (1993), set in North America during the time when the mammoths were disappearing; #5 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Lakes (1994), about the prehistoric people who lived by Niagara Falls; #6 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Lightning (1995), set in prehistoric North America; #7 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Silence (1996), about a girl who flees her village after a dying Anasazi chieftain orders that she be found and killed; #8 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Mist (1997), about the prehistoric people of the Chesapeake Bay area; #9 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Masks (1998), about the Iroquois people; #10 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Owl (2003), about a young man in prehistoric Louisiana who inherits his dead brother's wives; #11 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Raven (2004), about the Pacific Northwest and what the life of "Kennewick Man" may have been like; #12 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Moon (2005), about the Anasazi of Chaco Canyon; #13 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Nightland (2007), about the people of the Great Lakes region as the end of the Ice Age looms, threatening the potential catastrophe of the melting of an ice dam; #14 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Weeping Eye (2008), about a journey to the head of the Mississippi; #15 in the First North Americans series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, People of the Thunder (2009), about three travelers crossing Choctaw country and heading into the midst of a violent confrontation involving the mound-building peoples of fourteenth century Mississippi; #16 in the First North Americans series.
Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, The Dawn Country (2011), about children held captive by an evil witch, and their efforts to free themselves; #2 in the People of the Longhouse series. Review Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, The Broken Land (2012), about a disgraced warrior of the Iroquois whose vision of a great darkness spurs him to band together with his childhood friends to resist a powerful enemy; #3 in the People of the Longhouse series.
W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, Fire the Sky (2011), about an exiled Florida Indian and his wife who lead a small band against Hernando De Soto's brutal party of explorers; #2 in the Contact series. W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O’Neal Gear, A Searing Wind (2012), about an exiled Florida Indian and his wife who must walk into the camp of their enemy, Hernando De Soto, in order to save their people; #3 in the Contact series.
Kathleen O'Neal Gear, It Wakes in Me, a tale of the occult about a High Chieftess; #2 in the Black Falcon series. Kathleen O'Neal Gear, It Dreams in Me, a tale of the occult about a High Chieftess; #3 in the Black Falcon series.
Sue Harrison, My Sister the Moon, about a young Ice Age woman abused by her tribe who struggles for love and her children's future; #2 in the Ivory Carver trilogy. Sue Harrison, Brother Wind, about a North American woman during the Ice Age; #3 in the Ivory Carver trilogy. Sue Harrison, Song of the River, about a boy in prehistoric Alaska who was abandoned to die at birth and the vengeful woman who finds and raises him; #1 in the Storyteller series. Sue Harrison, Cry of the Wind, about a storyteller in prehistoric Alaska, his vengeful mother, and the woman he loves who is married to another man; #2 in the Storyteller series. Sue Harrison, Call Down the Stars
Ardath Mayhar, Island in the Lake, about a woman of the Mound Builders in what is now East Texas and a man who escaped an Aztec sacrifice as a child; #2 in the Mesa series. Ardath Mayhar, Towers of the Earth, about a woman who leads her people on a dangerous trip westward after drought destroys their homeland; #3 in the Mesa series.
Lynn Armistead McKee, Daughter of the Fifth Moon Anne Montgomery, The Magician Charlotte Prentiss, The Island Tribe Charlotte Prentiss, The Ocean Tribe Cha Rnacircle, Right of Way Cha Rnacircle, Against All Odds Judith Redman Robbins, Coyote Woman, a coming-of-age story about an Anasazi girl in prehistoric Chaco Canyon; #1 in the Anasazi trilogy. Judith Redman Robbins, Sun Priestess, about a prehistoric Anasazi woman who returns home to become a priestess; #2 in the Anasazi trilogy. Judith Redman Robbins, Moon Fire, about a prehistoric Anasazi woman with a gift for communicating with animals; #3 in the Anasazi trilogy. Patricia Rowe, Keepers of the Misty Time, about about the woman who leads a migratory tribe in the Columbia River area 9,000 years in the past. Patricia Rowe, Children of the Dawn, about a woman in prehistoric America; sequel to Keepers of the Misty Time. Sharman Apt Russell, The Last Matriarch
William Sarabande, Corridor of Storms (1988), about a man and his family who lead their people across the tundra to a winter camp for a mammoth hunt, where they encounter a magician intent on their destruction; #2 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, Forbidden Land (1989), about a headman who must journey with his family to a new land after his tribe turns against him; #3 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, Walkers of the Wind (1990), about an Ice Age hunter leading a group of his people to the forbidden "home of the wind;" #4 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, The Sacred Stones (1991), about a young shaman trying to prevent the destruction of the last mammoths during the waning of the Ice Age; #5 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, Thunder in the Sky (1992), about a young shaman leading his people along a trail made by a white mammoth, which he believes will lead them to a place of safety and plenty; #6 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, The Edge of the World (1993), about a shaman driven by a vision to break a taboo; #7 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, Shadow of the Watching Star (1995), about a shaman who leaves his people to go on a lone quest to save the last surviving mammoths; #8 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, Face of the Rising Sun William Sarabande, Time Beyond Beginning (1998), about the last mammoth and a shaman who goads his people to kill it at the close of the Ice Age; #10 in the First Americans series. William Sarabande, Spirit Moon (2000), about a headman who sets out with his people on a journey to the Great River of the White Whales amid predictions of doom and the risk that a broken truce could lead to warfare; #11 in the First Americans series.
Linda Lay Shuler, Voice of the Eagle, about a woman of the Anasazi people in the thirteenth century American Southwest; #2 in the She Who Remembers trilogy. Linda Lay Shuler, Let the Drum Speak, about a woman of the Anasazi people in the thirteenth century American Southwest; #3 in the She Who Remembers trilogy. Penina Keen Spinka, Picture Maker (2002), about a woman in fourteenth century North America who draws pictures that foretell the future, and her migrations northward and across the sea to Greenland.
Barbara Wood, Daughter of the Sun, a novel about an Anasazi woman potter captured by Toltec raiders, which offers a possible answer to the mystery of why the Anasazi abandoned Chaco Canyon. Barbara Wood, Sacred Ground, about an archaeologist who, after an earthquake in California, discovers a cave inhabited 2000 years before, and about the woman whose bones she found in the cave.
Mysteries: Prehistoric North America
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Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, The Summoning God (2000), the boundaries between past and present thin as an archaeologist studies the ancient bones of two adults and thirty-three children; #2 in the Anasazi Mysteries series Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, Bone Walker (2001), a pair of archaeologists are faced with murder, ancient and modern; #3 in the Anasazi Mysteries series
Prehistoric Africa, Polynesia and Elsewhere
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Steven Barnes, Great Sky Woman Steven Barnes, Shadow Valley
Clare Coleman, Sister of the Sun (1993), about a Polynesian chief's daughter who returns to her home island after years on Tahiti, to find unwelcome changes; #2 in the Ancient Tahiti series. Clare Coleman, Child of the Dawn (1994), about a woman who returns to Tahiti, to find that war has broken out in her absence and forced her lover into hiding; #3 in the Ancient Tahiti series.
Time-Sweep Novels
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Ann Brashares, My Name is Memory (2010), a love story about two high school seniors and their past lives beginning in the sixth century when he first fell in love with her, as he tries to connect with her in the present; #1 in a planned trilogy. Alex Haley, Roots (1976), about an African man captured by slavers in 1767 and brought to America, and his descendants into the twentieth century; based on the author's research of his own family history. Mick Jackson, The Bears of England (2009), a blend of history, fantasy and folk tale about "bears in chains, the circus bears of Bristol, the Victorian sewer bears and the spirit bears of the early years." Norah Lofts, A Wayside Tavern (1980), about the people who operate a tavern in Britain from the end of Roman times into the twentieth century. The Medieval Murderers, The Sacred Stone (2010), five linked mystery stories by authors Bernard Knight, Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Ian Morson and Philip Gooden, about the violent events surrounding an ill-omened "sky-stone," from its discovery in Greenland in 1067 through the next six centuries.
James A. Michener, The Source (1965), about the land that is now Israel from prehistoric to modern times. James A. Michener, Centennial (1974), about the people who lived in the location of the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado, from prehistoric to modern times. James A. Michener, Chesapeake (1978), about the people who lived in the area of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, from the days of the Indian tribes before European settlement into modern times. James A. Michener, The Covenant (1980), about South Africa from prehistoric times into the present, especially focusing on the Afrikaners. James A. Michener, Poland (1983), about Poland from medieval to modern times. James A. Michener, Texas (1985), about Texas from the time of the earliest Spanish explorers to modern times. James A. Michener, Alaska (1988), about Alaska from prehistoric to modern times. James A. Michener, Caribbean (1989), about the Caribbean Islands from the invasion of the Caribs in prehistory into modern times. James A. Michener, Mexico (1992), about the history of Mexican bullfighting and its antecedents from prehistoric to modern times.
Edward Rutherfurd, Russka: The Novel of Russia (1991), about the people of Russia from its early history into modern times. Edward Rutherfurd, London (1996), about the people living in the area where London would be built from the time of Julius Caesar's first invasion of Britain into modern times. Edward Rutherfurd, The Forest (2000), about the people of England's New Forest from the time of the Norman Conquest into modern times. Edward Rutherfurd, The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga (2004; titled Dublin: Foundation in the U.K.), about Ireland from prehistoric times to the time of England's Henry VIII and the only Irish attempt to invade England. Edward Rutherfurd, The Rebels of Ireland: The Dublin Saga (2006; titled Ireland: Awakening in the U.K.), about Ireland from the sixteenth century into the twentieth; sequel to The Princes of Ireland. Edward Rutherfurd, New York (2009), about New York City from its founding to the present day. Review or Author Interview Edward Rutherfurd, Paris (2013), about the city of Paris from its founding in Roman times into the twentieth century.
Patricia Wright, I Am England Patricia Wright, That Near and Distant Place |
(2012), about the priest of a father-worshipping religion and his young acolyte who travel to a goddess-worshipping farming community on the Plain of Thessaly in Greece at the time of a lustful and bloody seasonal festival; #1 in a planned series; self-published. 
(2012), a retelling of the King Arthur legend, set in 1900 B.C., with Stonehenge still in use; self-published.
(2012), a retelling of the King Arthur legend which imagines the fall of Stonehenge; sequel to Stone Lord; self-published.
(1983), about the building of Stonehenge.
(1991), a woman from a matriarchal culture in prehistoric southern France who is kidnapped by men from a patriarchal tribe after most of its women are killed in a disaster; #1 in a series.
(2008), about twins who set out to find a revolutionary new arrowhead they have heard about (today known as the "Clovis Point"); #1 in the Chronicles of Stone trilogy, also published in a single volume as 
(2001), about two storytellers in prehistoric Alaska who vie to tell the best story; #3 in the Storyteller series.
(1983), about a woman of the Cahokia people in what is now Illinois.
(2011; originally published 1997 as Mesa Verde), about the cliff-dwelling people of Mesa Verde.
, about an orphaned girl who lands on a prehistoric Caribbean island and the man who protects her.
(2013), about a present-day reporter researching an archaeological site and a magician living in the eleventh century in what is now Arizona.
, about a rebellious chieftain's daughter whose tribe casts her out.
, about a woman and her husband who turn away from warfare and attempt to form a peaceful new tribe.
(2012), about North Americans of 20,000 years ago who try to start a trading route; #1 in the Voice of the Ancients series; self-published.
(2012), about a healer in the far north who accidentally crosses into North America; #2 in the Voice of the Ancients series; self-published.
, about a prehistoric woman who lived through the disastrous time when the mammoths and other large land animals of North America were wiped out.
(1996), about the end of the Ice Age; #9 in the First Americans series
(2006), about a boy and girl in a prehistoric African tribe who climb Mount Kilimanjaro to seek help from Father Sky after the tribe is attacked by invaders.
(2009), about a young man and woman in a prehistoric African tribe who survive an eruption of Mount Kilimanjaro and lead a search for a new home for the tribe; sequel to Great Sky Woman.
(2012), about a Babylonian stable boy who must flee his home in 2138 BC after being accused of murder, and travels to the Indus Valley; self-published.
(1987), about the people who lived in a forest in Sussex from pagan times into the late sixteenth century.
(1988), about the people who lived in a forest in Sussex from the late sixteenth century into the twentieth, narrated by a pilot wounded in World War II; sequel to I Am England.