The Boy — James Strauss

In a time some 25,000 years ago, a small tribe located in a primal valley attempts to survive the many threats from the catastrophes of geological upheavals, where survival is wrested from the elements and life is to endure starvation. The perspective of this sweeping adventure is told from that of a young boy. The hard-learned lessons of life provide a romance of epic proportions in which `The Boy' fights for love and acceptance, while overcoming seemingly insurmountable tribal beliefs. Terrifying and beautiful, in a world full of cataclysmic change, prehistoric man and animals learn to accept and trust one another. Through these trials `The Boy' develops a sense of reason and respect for others which is founded on friendship and trust, rather than fear. At the turning of the last Ice Age, old tribal beliefs and customs are shorn from their fabric as homo sapiens evolve from the last vestiges of primitive man. The first novel of the five-novel series establishes a benchmark for tracing the beginnings of the meteoric rise of the homo sapiens species from their lowly beginnings to their eventual dominance over the planet.