A fantastic story, complete with multiple arcs, memorable characters, and an engrossing plotline. There are very few works that capture my curiosity to the point of obsession, needing to finish the entire work before I can focus on something else. This is one of those.

Highly recommended for any reader interested in medieval historical fiction, the tension between church and state, or the building of cathedrals.

I only hope its sequels capture at least some of the magic of this book. ( )

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I finished it. Finally! That's not a negative testament about the book, but be forewarned. This epic closes in on 1,000 pages, so if you're a slow and spotty reader like me, be prepared to invest a good deal of time to finish it.

This is my first Follett, and there is a lot to like about the book. The passion of the characters and the way that they are all brought together because of the decades long construction of a cathedral would be a daunting job for any writer, and Follett lives up to the challenge. The story is relatively easy to follow, especially for a reader like me who reads in spurts over long periods of time even when the book isn't thicker than a brick.

The one element I didn't necessarily appreciate about the story though is personal with me, and it has to do with stereotypes and common tropes. Without giving anything away about the story, the good guys and the bad guys are clearly defined at the outset without much question. Taking a comparative example from television that has nothing to do with this story but has everything to do with complex characterization in general, there are no Walter Whites in this story. There are no Jamie Lanisters - maybe that's a better example. There are no morally conflicted characters; the good guy doing bad things for the wrong reasons, or bad guys doing the wrong things because they believe in their heart that they're right.

But that's okay. There are tons of characters that we root for or boo in books, movies and TV because they fulfill the stereotypes that we are comfortable with. This book has plenty of those types of characters, and it provides a worthwhile escape. ( )

Twelfth century England is wracked by civil war. Tom Builder, sons, his wives, the prior of the local monastery, the local lord and the bishop are bound up in a complicated plot.

First edition fine