The Pillars of the Earth (original 1989; edition 2002)

Ken Follett is very talented, able to give each character a completely different personality, feeling as if different writers gave the voices of each character, as much as they feel individual.
A charming and addictive book, I finished quickly. Leaving a taste for more.
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I really enjoyed this book. It is the story of the building of the cathedral of Kingsbridge, starring Philip the wise and just monk, Tom the builder, Jack his adopted son, and Aliena, trying to restore her families Earldom.

It is big and epic and easy to read, and makes you care about the heros as it takes them through a rollercoaster of Terrible Thing! Happy Thing! Terrible Thing! Happy Thing! Don't worry, the good guys win in the end, although it's a bit brutal on the way. ( )

Absolute page-turner, an absorbing medieval story of swords, monks, and the building of a cathedral. There is evil villany, battles, romance, treachery, intrigue, and pretty much non-stop action. The pacing is superb - great battle scenes ate followed by slower character development, then back to nail-biting action. I loved it up until page 920 or so. Part six was not necessary - the book dragged out too much, and some of the weaknesses that were barely noticeable before became apparent. Follett has a tendency to repeat himself, and the characters, while well fleshed out, do not evolve with the story - adult or older versions act the same way as their younger selves. My biggest gripe was the sex scenes - he writes them in mechanical detail, which works great for battles, but less so when a scene is supposed to be romantic.

Overall, if the book has ended with the consecration of the cathedral, it would have been perfect. I still give it five stars for 920 pages of riveting action, even though the end is a bit of a letdown - this was the type of book that reminds me how much pleasure it is to be absorbed in a good book. ( )

I didn't enjoy this book at all – some characters were fun, but the story was terribly flat, easy to predict and boring. Add in the length of the book and the semi-interesting rambling on architecture (seriously, I enjoyed a book on cathedral building a few years ago, but this pseudo mix of literature and facts was just annoying). Most characters were very flat aswell (good vs evil, bah), and overall I could have spent my time much better. ( )

Wouldn't recommend it. It did not interest me enough to persevere till the very end. ( )