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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Follet copypasted the plot from The Pillars of the Earth, wrote bad characters, wrote cringey unrealistic dialogue, and lied to us about what this book was about (Vikings basically don't appear at all, it's the same destitute lonely peasant falling in love with the unhappy princess plot).
Still, a fun read, so 2/5 seems fair.
Still, a fun read, so 2/5 seems fair.
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely not a patch on the rest of the Kingsbridge books
Pillars and World are amongst my favourite books for their richness. They are monster books, but completely worth every page, so I was expecting something similar for Eve and Morn but it was sadly lacking.
1) The characters were far less fleshed out. Follett fell into the trap of just killing off characters rather than working them into the story in a new role (something I loved especially about World)
2) The writing was nowhere near the quality I expected from Follett. There are so many adverbs and a repetitive use of ‘said’ in almost every piece of extended dialogue. In the other Kingsbridge books, there is so much description as to what the characters are doing, it is wonderful to read (and listen to on audiobook) and this book didn’t hold anything like the same charm. It felt the whole way through like it was a draft, not the finished product
3) Huge plot points felt contrived. The plots of the other Kingsbridge books have been so strong and really demonstrated Follett’s experience as a thriller writer to keen the plot fresh. Where was that in this book? Coincidences are fine to use - occasionally. Not every time the protagonists need something good happening. It made it hard to feel any tension as by 50% of the way through, I knew that any problem would be magically solved without too much heartbreak
4) Follett unfortunately seems to have bought into the idea of the Dark Ages which may explain why the world building seems...meh. This was a time when English/insular culture was thriving and Follett seems to go ‘we know nothing so I’m just going to say they all lived in huts and peasants were simple’ instead of creating a rich tapestry of side characters like he has done previously. Like, if Manda Scott can flesh out pre-Roman Britain solely on archaeology, you can try a bit harder!
Having said that...
I did enjoy the pace of the book, considering it only covers 9 years, which could also explain why it isn’t quite so epic in scope. It avoided the stalling that happened in the middle of Pillars and World
I also really appreciated that Follett did not include graphic rape scenes in this book. I love historical fiction, but it is a real thing I hate within the genre amongst (predominantly) male authors. We know what is happening - we don’t need a detailed account. I’m pleased that Follett didn’t include them in this book
I do think if this book was by someone else, I would have enjoyed it more because it isn’t a bad book. However, it was so closely linked to Pillars in its advertising that it set a high bar that unfortunately it fell short of
Pillars and World are amongst my favourite books for their richness. They are monster books, but completely worth every page, so I was expecting something similar for Eve and Morn but it was sadly lacking.
1) The characters were far less fleshed out. Follett fell into the trap of just killing off characters rather than working them into the story in a new role (something I loved especially about World)
2) The writing was nowhere near the quality I expected from Follett. There are so many adverbs and a repetitive use of ‘said’ in almost every piece of extended dialogue. In the other Kingsbridge books, there is so much description as to what the characters are doing, it is wonderful to read (and listen to on audiobook) and this book didn’t hold anything like the same charm. It felt the whole way through like it was a draft, not the finished product
3) Huge plot points felt contrived. The plots of the other Kingsbridge books have been so strong and really demonstrated Follett’s experience as a thriller writer to keen the plot fresh. Where was that in this book? Coincidences are fine to use - occasionally. Not every time the protagonists need something good happening. It made it hard to feel any tension as by 50% of the way through, I knew that any problem would be magically solved without too much heartbreak
4) Follett unfortunately seems to have bought into the idea of the Dark Ages which may explain why the world building seems...meh. This was a time when English/insular culture was thriving and Follett seems to go ‘we know nothing so I’m just going to say they all lived in huts and peasants were simple’ instead of creating a rich tapestry of side characters like he has done previously. Like, if Manda Scott can flesh out pre-Roman Britain solely on archaeology, you can try a bit harder!
Having said that...
I did enjoy the pace of the book, considering it only covers 9 years, which could also explain why it isn’t quite so epic in scope. It avoided the stalling that happened in the middle of Pillars and World
I also really appreciated that Follett did not include graphic rape scenes in this book. I love historical fiction, but it is a real thing I hate within the genre amongst (predominantly) male authors. We know what is happening - we don’t need a detailed account. I’m pleased that Follett didn’t include them in this book
I do think if this book was by someone else, I would have enjoyed it more because it isn’t a bad book. However, it was so closely linked to Pillars in its advertising that it set a high bar that unfortunately it fell short of
Really enjoyable. Can I give half stars? It's got nobles being evil, people falling in love, and some religious people being evil while other religious people are being saints.
I remember taking a class in college and reading a book about life in a medieval village. Most of it is lost to me now, but this novel seems fairly similar for what I do remember. Also reading about Eleanor of Aquitaine by Allison Weir at the same time gave a bit of insight into what life was like back then, even though she lived like 175 years later. Things didn't change all that quickly back then.
I'd rank this one above Columns of Fire, but below Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I'm nervous to read the next book. Might be a bit too modern for me, taking place in the 1700s or something.
I remember taking a class in college and reading a book about life in a medieval village. Most of it is lost to me now, but this novel seems fairly similar for what I do remember. Also reading about Eleanor of Aquitaine by Allison Weir at the same time gave a bit of insight into what life was like back then, even though she lived like 175 years later. Things didn't change all that quickly back then.
I'd rank this one above Columns of Fire, but below Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I'm nervous to read the next book. Might be a bit too modern for me, taking place in the 1700s or something.
I loved this book, all 913 pages of it. It is very much a Ken Follett book in line with Pillars of the Earth. Just excellent storytelling and characters who I came to care about. If you love Pillars of the Earth or are looking for a book that you can settle down with for a nice long while, this is your book.
Very entertaining and lots of fun historical details but holy shit is this problematic.
This is less a prequel to Pillars of the Earth and more the plot of Pillars of the Earth retold with different names and circumstances a bit earlier in history, in the same geography. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, the genius' are misunderstood.
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes