Earth's Children hexalogy reading order

A plan for the whole series

6 volumes, 4,432 pages, about 80 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 4 months.

• The thickest volume runs 953 pages. One volume is one stage: a break after it, not the next volume.
• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 4, “The Plains of Passage” (by 31%).
• Readers scored volume 3, “The Mammoth Hunters”, below its predecessor (7.6 after 7.9). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you.

Stages

6 stages, with 5 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around March 16, 2027, about 4 weeks later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 110 h13 daysby November 11, 2026

   • 1. The Clan of the Cave Bear1980 · 536 pages · 10 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 15, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 211 h14 daysby November 29, 2026

   • 2. The Valley of Horses1982 · 588 pages · 11 h
4. Short breakThe Emperor's Soul · Brandon Sanderson · 96 pp. · score 8.82 h, by December 3, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 313 h18 daysby December 20, 2026

   • 3. The Mammoth Hunters1985 · 723 pages · 13 h
6. BreakMaus · Art Spiegelman · 295 pp. · score 9.05 h, by December 30, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
7. 4
   Stage 417 habout 3 weeksby January 22, 2027

   • 4. The Plains of Passage1990 · 953 pages · 17 h
8. BreakBorn a Crime · Trevor Noah · 304 pp. · score 8.96 h, by January 31, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
9. 5
   Stage 515 h20 daysby February 21, 2027

   • 5. The Shelters of Stone2002 · 832 pages · 15 h
10. Short breakOn Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century · Timothy Snyder · 128 pp. · score 8.42 h, by February 25, 2027. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
11. 6
    Stage 615 h20 daysby March 16, 2027

    • 6. The Land of Painted Caves2011 · 800 pages · 15 h
12. The end of the series

    March 16, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: a drop at the end. The last scored volume (7.4) has the lowest score in the series.

Best volume: The Valley of Horses (7.9, 146 ratings). Weakest: The Land of Painted Caves (7.4). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 3 and 4: 31%. The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting.