[KristoCat]

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
Book, 973 pp

This is a novel set in 12th-century England, and the action and characters center around the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge. The novel is very large in scope (as you can probably tell from the page count) but it's really good and well-written, with a wide variety of 3-dimensional characters and an interesting story.

The characters include Tom Builder, a master builder and architect, his family, the monks of Kingsbridge including the intelligent, kindhearted, and devout Prior Philip, an evil earl named William Hamleigh and his family, a corrupt bishop named Waleran Bigod, and many others. They all have realistic goals and means, and the conflict between Waleran and Philip is especially fascinating.

The novel seemed to portray events in a realistic complex way, with everything in the medieval society having effects on everything else; for example, it showed the effects the Church had on politics, and the effects of politics on the economy. It was all very good, and although I'm not a great judge of what is historically accurate, I got the impression that it was a fairly good representation of what life was like in the period.

The only thing is, you may learn more about architecture than you really wanted to hear. Also, events don't always move along as quickly as I would like them to.

The bottom line: highly recommended. Good historical fiction.

This post has been edited by KristoCat: 21 January 2006 - 11:41 AM

[BoudiccasWrath]

KristoCat, on Jan 20 2006, 09:03 PM, said:

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
Book, 973 pp

This is a novel set in 12th-century England, and the action and characters center around the building of a cathedral in Kingsbridge. The novel is very large in scope (as you can probably tell from the page count) but it's really good and well-written, with a wide variety of 3-dimensional characters and an interesting story.

The characters include Tom Builder, a master builder and architect, his family, the monks of Kingsbridge including the intelligent, kindhearted, and devout Prior Philip, an evil earl named William Hamleigh and his family, a corrupt bishop named Waleran Bigod, and many others. They all have realistic goals and means, and the conflict between Waleran and Philip is especially fascinating.

The novel seemed to portray events in a realistic complex way, with everything in the medieval society having effects on everything else; for example, it showed the effects the Church hand on politics, and the effects of politics on the economy. It was all very good, and although I'm not a great judge of what is historically accurate, I got the impression that it was a fairly good representation of what life was like in the period.

The only thing is, you may learn more about architecture than you really wanted to hear. Also, events don't always move along as quickly as I would like them to.

The bottom line: highly recommended. Good historical fiction.

I had to read it in a medieval history class and it soon became a favorite book of mine. It's pretty accurate overall and yet is still a page turner. Despite the story more or less revolving around the building of a cathedral, it is still very engrossing.

I agree with KristoCat and highly recommend!

[kingmaker]

The Pillars of the Earth is great historical fiction and despite it's length a pretty easy book to read. I wondered at first how fiction about a catherderal could be any good, but following others' recomendations I read (and loved) this book!

This post has been edited by kingmaker: 21 January 2006 - 08:08 AM

[Adso de Fimnu]

So you all recommend it, eh? Perhaps I should give it a look-see.

[KristoCat]

Definitely give it a try! I don't know exactly how your reading tastes run but I think you'll like it.

[kingmaker]

I was wondering if anybody could recommend any similar books to Pillars of the Earth. (I like that sort of book )

Have you got round to reading it yet Kristocat?

This post has been edited by kingmaker: 26 February 2006 - 01:24 PM

[KristoCat]

Yep, I wrote the review after I had finished it.

I haven't read it but The Princes of Ireland by Edward Rutherford is supposed to be very good epic historical fiction along the lines of The Pillars of the Earth, and also set during the Middle Ages I believe.

[kingmaker]

Yeah sorry, that was a stupid thing to say I meant Adso de Fimnu!! lol