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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
Como “Los Pilares de la Tierra”, este libro no da respiro. Es una “telenovela” medieval, con muchos conflictos, romance, rupturas y traición.
Es un libro para dejarse llevar por historias que pudieron haber ocurrido en un tiempo que parece muy lejano, pero que en realidad fue hace muy poco y del cuál no se conoce mucho, pero que el autor trae a la imaginación de una manera tan vívida que pareciera que se puede recorrer y palpar.
Las únicas manchas que encontré fueron dos. Primero, la forma como en ciertos momentos algunos personajes parecen llegar mágicamente a conclusiones correctas, y la forma en que Follett trata de hacer parecer esas conclusiones como obvias.
Segundo, la alineación tan perfecta que tienen en varios momentos algunos personajes con el “bien” y el “mal”. Aunque el autor es un estudioso del medioevo y las épocas adyacentes a él, y reconociendo que las razones por las cuales alguien podría considerarse un hereje entonces eran muchísimas más, dudo que todos los malvados fueran 100% malvados, y que los buenos fueran siempre ángeles. El único personaje que pareciera moverse en una zona más gris e interesante es el monje Aldred. Ojalá Ken Follett hubiera explorado esas disonancias más en los otros personajes principales.
Es un libro para dejarse llevar por historias que pudieron haber ocurrido en un tiempo que parece muy lejano, pero que en realidad fue hace muy poco y del cuál no se conoce mucho, pero que el autor trae a la imaginación de una manera tan vívida que pareciera que se puede recorrer y palpar.
Las únicas manchas que encontré fueron dos. Primero, la forma como en ciertos momentos algunos personajes parecen llegar mágicamente a conclusiones correctas, y la forma en que Follett trata de hacer parecer esas conclusiones como obvias.
Segundo, la alineación tan perfecta que tienen en varios momentos algunos personajes con el “bien” y el “mal”. Aunque el autor es un estudioso del medioevo y las épocas adyacentes a él, y reconociendo que las razones por las cuales alguien podría considerarse un hereje entonces eran muchísimas más, dudo que todos los malvados fueran 100% malvados, y que los buenos fueran siempre ángeles. El único personaje que pareciera moverse en una zona más gris e interesante es el monje Aldred. Ojalá Ken Follett hubiera explorado esas disonancias más en los otros personajes principales.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am inclined to give it two stars, but as Kenneth, called Ken, kept me reading I will give it a bonus star.
So why three (actually two)? The plot is simple and thin, the sex is usually unnecessary, and the story could have been told vividly in half the pages.
It mainly takes place in three places: Combe, the Shiring and Dreng's Ferry, and characters of significance can be counted on two hands, which is not a lot for an 800 paged historical novel. Now, I may be considered a literary snob, but even a season of Vikings has more sophistication.
Also character development is weak. Edgar McGyver seems to able to build almost anything just by looking at examples and the bad guys are static. Good versus Evil is brought black and white. And oh my, how witty Ragna and Edgar are, how annoyingly smart, they just can't help themselves.
It is a page turning thriller (which kept me reading), with some usual character issues, add sex scene, some quibbles, add sex scene, very few battles, add sex scene, few Anglo-Saxon references, add sex scene, and very few Viking mentionings (they are more a faceless, background shadow).
It was not what I had hoped it would be.
Ps. Ethelred was called 'the Unready' about 150 years after his death. The reference in this book is not historically correct. No biggie, but an unnecessary comment in this historical novel.
So why three (actually two)? The plot is simple and thin, the sex is usually unnecessary, and the story could have been told vividly in half the pages.
It mainly takes place in three places: Combe, the Shiring and Dreng's Ferry, and characters of significance can be counted on two hands, which is not a lot for an 800 paged historical novel. Now, I may be considered a literary snob, but even a season of Vikings has more sophistication.
Also character development is weak. Edgar McGyver seems to able to build almost anything just by looking at examples and the bad guys are static. Good versus Evil is brought black and white. And oh my, how witty Ragna and Edgar are, how annoyingly smart, they just can't help themselves.
It is a page turning thriller (which kept me reading), with some usual character issues, add sex scene, some quibbles, add sex scene, very few battles, add sex scene, few Anglo-Saxon references, add sex scene, and very few Viking mentionings (they are more a faceless, background shadow).
It was not what I had hoped it would be.
Ps. Ethelred was called 'the Unready' about 150 years after his death. The reference in this book is not historically correct. No biggie, but an unnecessary comment in this historical novel.
Fun engrossing read and the setting, while familiar in some ways to Pillars, felt very different and alien due to being pre-Hastings. I haven’t read many books set in Anglo-Saxon England and it is just pleasantly weird. This had all of the hallmarks of good Follett books - a great story well told. Four stars instead of five due to the annoying sex scenes.
The Evening and the Morning (Book 4 of the Kingsbridge series). Ken Follett. Viking, 2020. 928 pages.
I am a huge Ken Follett fan. His Kingsbridge series and Fall of Giants trilogy are, in my opinion, some of the greatest historical fiction ever written, with fantastic historical detail and exciting stories packing every page. The Evening and the Morning, published in 2020, is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth, and book 5 is set to be released this fall (already pre-ordered). I decided it was time to catch up and get around to reading Evening, set from the late 990s into the early 1000s.
Well, it's another tour de force in storytelling as one would expect from Follett. However, honestly, there are lots of familiar notes. There's the extremely bright and talented peasant boy who falls in love with a beautiful, assertive, young woman who challenges all of the traditional roles and expectations of the time and is far above his station. He's friends and allies with a low ranking cleric who lives an exemplary life. Practically every other nobleman and church official is evil and corrupt, terrorizing, brutalizing, raping, and murdering anybody and everybody beneath him. And, of course, there are a few painfully awkwardly written sex scenes - I think Follett is one of the worst writers of sex scenes ever.
Nevertheless, this book is a must-read for Follett fans, Pillars fans, and lovers of medieval history.
I am a huge Ken Follett fan. His Kingsbridge series and Fall of Giants trilogy are, in my opinion, some of the greatest historical fiction ever written, with fantastic historical detail and exciting stories packing every page. The Evening and the Morning, published in 2020, is a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth, and book 5 is set to be released this fall (already pre-ordered). I decided it was time to catch up and get around to reading Evening, set from the late 990s into the early 1000s.
Well, it's another tour de force in storytelling as one would expect from Follett. However, honestly, there are lots of familiar notes. There's the extremely bright and talented peasant boy who falls in love with a beautiful, assertive, young woman who challenges all of the traditional roles and expectations of the time and is far above his station. He's friends and allies with a low ranking cleric who lives an exemplary life. Practically every other nobleman and church official is evil and corrupt, terrorizing, brutalizing, raping, and murdering anybody and everybody beneath him. And, of course, there are a few painfully awkwardly written sex scenes - I think Follett is one of the worst writers of sex scenes ever.
Nevertheless, this book is a must-read for Follett fans, Pillars fans, and lovers of medieval history.
This was an easy read, fiction to get lost in - and enjoyable. I would hesitate to recommend the book to most people I know because it made me feel like the author must be at best sexually frustrated, the sex scenes were cringy and ridiculously frequent. I could have done without pretending that everyone was sex obsessed in the dark ages.
But, other than that, I did enjoy the book as a quick, easy read of historical fiction.
But, other than that, I did enjoy the book as a quick, easy read of historical fiction.