Smorgasbord Book Reviews – #Prehistoric #Adventure #Fiction – Natural Selection (Dawn of Humanity Book 3) by Jacqui Murray

Delighted to share my review for the long anticipated third book in the Dawn of Humanity trilogy by Jacqui Murray. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first two books I was excited to catch up with Lucy and her group in Natural Selection (Dawn of Humanity Book 3)

About the book

In this final book of the trilogy, Lucy and her tribe leave their good home to rescue captured tribemembers who are in grave danger. Since leaving her mate, Lucy created a tribe that includes an eclectic mix of species–a Canis, a Homotherium kit, and different iterations of early man. More will join and some will die but that is the nature of prehistoric life, when survival depends on a mix of man’s developing intellect and untiring will to live. Each brings unique skills to the task of saving Raza and his Group from sure death. Based on true events from 1.8 million years ago in Africa, Lucy and her band of early humans struggle against the harsh reality of a world ruled by nature, where predators stalk them and a violent new species of man threatens to destroy their world. Only by changing can they prevail. If you ever wondered how earliest man survived but couldn’t get through the academic discussions, this book is for you. Prepare to see this violent and beautiful world in a way you never imagined.

My review for the book October 22nd 2022

Although this is the final book in the trilogy, the author introduces both previous events and the characters smoothly, bringing both previous and new readers up to date before beginning a new adventure. There is also a very helpful introduction section answering FAQs and explaining how the communication between evolving species of humans and other creatures might have been established.

The quest of Lucy, and those who now form a strong and united group, is to rescue previous members of her tribe, and to do that differences have to be put aside. If they are to be successful they need to learn from each other, particularly those who have evolved along a different path. This at times requires them to adapt their physicality to acquire new skills, and to accept that friendship and loyalty is possible between species, even those who have been mortal enemies.

This is an unforgiving environment and these new skills and alliances are essential if the group is to find food and shelter and to survive all they will encounter on this almost impossible expedition.

There is little time for the group, or the reader, to relax and enjoy the ever changing scenery from barren plains, lush valleys and harsh volcanic mountainsides to life giving rivers. There is danger at every turn for the unwary, and there are some heart-stopping moments as the group encounter physical and emotional challenges that threaten their lives.

The characters are suberb and diverse, both those from the previous two books and the newcomers. It is fascinating to see how they evolve as part of this eclectic group gaining new perspectives and discovering an awareness and understanding about their own lives and those they now consider family. This is also the case for the animal members of the group who have bonded with Lucy and the other humans bringing their strength and loyalty to form a formidable unit.

This is an adventure of epic proportions. As always when I read a book by this author, my respect for our early ancestors and their resilience in the face of continuous danger from both the environment, hostile tribes and dangerous creatures grows stronger.

I am sorry to say goodbye to Lucy and her extended family but I am certainly very glad that I met them and travelled this exciting and fascinating journey beside them. I can highly recommend the previous two books in the series as well.

Head over to read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US And: Amazon UK

A selection of books by Jacqui Murray

Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Jacqui: goodreads – Blog: Worddreams – Twitter: @WordDreams

About Jacqui Murray

Jacqui Murray is the webmaster for Worddreams, her blog about all things writing. She is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the upcoming prehistoric fiction, Born in a Treacherous Time. She is also the author/editor of over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for Ask a Tech Teacher an Amazon Vine Voice a columnist for TeachHUB, monthly contributor to Today’s Author, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics.

Thanks for dropping in today and I hope you are leaving with some books.. thanks Sally.