Reviews - Le Crépuscule et l'Aube

1.45k reviews for:

Le Crépuscule et l'Aube

Ken Follett

4.22 AVERAGE

readingwithrogues's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

readby_ryan's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-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

kaanivajjithalo's review against another edition

3.75

dark hopeful sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

'The Evenings and The Mornings' is yet another addition to the lores from the Kingsbridge. Positioned as a prequel to the much acclaimed The Pillars of The Earth, the book presents the life and strife of the people of England, who are just emerging out of the Dark ages but see themselves bludgeoned by the swords of the Vikings.

We start our journey with the story of Edgar- 3rd son of a boatbuilder but the first one to acquire the talent his father had. We see him prepping his boat, to elope, with his true love. But disaster strikes when the city is ransacked by Vikings and his love is murdered. Also, his father is killed and their business plundered.
On the advice of the Bishop Wynstan, he along with his family moves to Dreng's Ferry where they are to look after the farm of the Nobles.
The 2nd narrative is of Ragna, a noblewoman from Normandy, a strong head fast woman who prefers to administer than be dolled up. She falls in love with an English noble named Wilwulf, Wilf, in short, and she chooses to move to England to marry him.
The third story we learn is about a monk named Aldred, who wishes to establish a centre for learning and scholarship at his Abbey. He wants to establish a school, a library and a scriptorium unlike anything ever seen in the area.
The three stories start at different places but converge at one place, through one common enemy, Bishop Winston.
What follows is a tussle between the greedy, power hungry, corrupt, narcissist, remorseless who wish to satiate their insatiable hunger for power and between the 3 main protagonists who wish nothing but to do their job and help people.
The writing is uncomplicated and the pacing of the story is brisk. The impetus is more on relaying what the person in focus is thinking and feeling rather than dumping descriptional information about the environment which bears no necessity to take the story forward. And this makes us empathetic to the difficulties faced by the 3 main characters and a certain resentment towards the oppressors. It is this mode of narration which connects the overall story to the title of the book- which is a biblical reference!
The book acts as a perfect icebreaker to the entire Kingsbridge series and to The Pillars of the Earth which is one of the Magnum Opus of Ken Follett.