Prehistoric fiction

May 23, 2005 2:31 PM

What fiction covers prehistoric and early historic societies?

Guns, Germs, and Steel convinced me to write some prehistoric fiction, vaguely like Terry Pratchett (satirizing real-world history and concepts) but without the fantasy and in an earlier age. But I'd like to see what other major fiction involves tribes. I want to try both comedic and serious works.

Sci-fi may apply if it only involves one or two races and no supertechnology. I want to sample styles and techniques that could theoretically be used in historical fiction about 10,000-2,000 BC.

Exemplary short stories would be ideal. I mainly want to see what's already out there in my intended genre, so I can learn from it and make sure my story does something new.

posted by NickDouglas to writing & language (19 comments total)

Jean M. Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear is notable -- and I think she has a bunch of other books about this stuff as well.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553250426/002-3249916-6007243?v=glance

(Sorry, crappy work browser, can't easily embed link)
posted by Heminator at 2:39 PM on May 23, 2005

I'll start with the obvious: Jean Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear and sequels. They were my first exposure to pornography. Jondalar make Ayla woman! Hee.

You didn't say these had to be good, right?
posted by bibliowench at 2:41 PM on May 23, 2005

Check out The Inheritors, a short novel from The Lord of the Flies' William Golding. Though not everyone agrees, I think it's a great read. Fascinating. Well worth a Sunday afternoon.
posted by jdroth at 2:43 PM on May 23, 2005

Damn those unclosed italics!

Also, I got to thinking: I think that Gene Wolfe has some short fiction that deals with primitive peoples, though probably on other worlds. I distinctly remember reading something by him along this line...
posted by jdroth at 2:48 PM on May 23, 2005

Philip Jose Farmer did a lot of interesting things with neolithic folks in a lot of his work. Check out the Riverworld series (which is great, but not really set in the past, though it is set in a non-technological world for the most part), and his convoluted takes on Tarzan as the descedndant of a special group of pre-humans (who at one point in the future got onto a time travel experiment and went back 30,000 years, only to live all through history and back to the present again). The latter, along with the Doc Savage ones he did, are hard to find, but Riverworld should be easy.

And Joe Miller, the eight-foot tall titanthrope with a lisp and best friend of Samuel Clemens, is a priceless character.
posted by the_savage_mind at 2:50 PM on May 23, 2005

Neanderthals has some short stories about Neanderthals in it, though not all of them involve Neanderthals back in the day. Actually, while doing a google search for that book, I stumbled upon this, which may be helpful to you. Also, from here: Björn Kurtén’s Dance of the Tiger: A Novel of the Ice Age (1995), Jean Auel’s The Clan of the Cave Bear (1981), and William Golding’s The Inheritors (1955) (of which Auel's book is already mentioned).
posted by EatenByAGrue at 3:26 PM on May 23, 2005

Jean Auel's first book is actually very good, though long winded, about a CroMagnon girl growing up in a Neanderthal tribe.

Her second, third, and fourth books are alright, and do have a lot of thinking about prehistoric societies, along with the now infamous (and actually very well written) sex scenes.

Her fifth book is terrible - no plot, no good character conflict. Not even very much sex. An anthropology textbook would be a better read.

All are very well researched, though of course written with artistic license. None have any sense of humour.

By the way, one of Terry Pratchett's favorite books is The Evolution Man. Not very well researched, but with a good sense of humour (if a bit dated).
posted by jb at 3:55 PM on May 23, 2005

Alan Moore's Voice of the Fire has a first chapter devoted to a first person narrative from that period. The vocabulary is...interesting.
posted by samh23 at 4:24 PM on May 23, 2005

Scroll to the bottom of this list for some ideas.
posted by Rumple at 4:25 PM on May 23, 2005

It's not quite what you asked for, but if you "want to see what's already out there" on the prehistoric comedy front, the bleakly hilarious title story in George Saunders' Pastoralia might be worth a look. Two wageslaves play Neanderthals in a forgotten corner of a decaying theme park, see...
posted by mediareport at 4:44 PM on May 23, 2005

Gene Wolfe wrote two excellent books about the early Greek period, Soldier of the Mist and Soldier of Arete. I don't know if they are what jdroth was referring to, but most of Wolfe's other work (specifically, the Torturer series, Long Sun series, and New Sun series) are not historic, while the Soldier books are.

Robert Silverberg has also written some good books set in early Roman times.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:56 PM on May 23, 2005

Kirth: I thought of the second story in Fifth Head of Cerberus at the mention of Wolfe stories regarding primitive peoples. Although Fifth Head is a smashing read, I doubt it's what NickDouglas is looking for.
posted by agropyron at 8:34 PM on May 23, 2005

I forgot to mention it, Tapes, but the Bible will actually provide a lot of my source material. But yeah, I should have said, the Bible basically covers the time frame I'm looking for, especially the history in Genesis and the Chronicles and Kings. I attended a Christian school and college, so over the years I gathered plenty of biblical-history resources and need no recommendations there.
posted by NickDouglas at 10:10 PM on May 23, 2005

Sci-fi may apply if it only involves one or two races and no supertechnology. I want to sample styles and techniques that could theoretically be used in historical fiction about 10,000-2,000 BC.

Huh, I just re-read the question, and the second story in Fifth Head of Cerberus may actually be just what you're looking for. Give it a try! Note that all three of the FHoC stories interlock and depend on each other, so you might want read the whole thing to understand it properly. It's only 150 pages or so.
posted by agropyron at 10:18 PM on May 23, 2005

Satirising real-world history and concepts but without the fantasy and in an earlier age? Sounds like the Flintstones...
posted by Skyanth at 11:17 PM on May 23, 2005

Just about anything by Mitchner hits on pre-history and/or history.

I'll never forget "He wore skins" getting about 3 pages of explanation.
posted by thedevildancedlightly at 1:24 AM on May 24, 2005

The first chapter or so in Rutherford's Sarum and London take place in pre-historic times. They're big books to buy for just a chapter or two, but they remain interesting reads as their time lines progress.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 4:20 AM on May 24, 2005

Singletusk is a novel set in the ice age written by a paleontologist. I read it as part of a physical anthropology course. It's not bad, but not terrific. More factual than Clan of the Cave Bear.
posted by plinth at 7:14 AM on May 24, 2005

There are the People of the X series about prehistoric native North Americans. Written by professional archaeologists the books I have read are mostly factually correct, but not the most dramatic writing.

Of course there are all of Mitchener's books, like The Source that deal with prehistory and history.

And here is a very extensive list of other Native American fiction, much of it prehistoric
posted by Tallguy at 11:15 AM on May 24, 2005