A review by eggrolyn
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this story. The author succeeded in creating a dramatic, sweeping, story with breath-holding moments of tension and exciting action while still taking care to bring out the details in the everyday lives of that time period and fleshing out interesting and sometimes terrible characters. There were so many vivid details of cathedrals and buildings in general. I occasionally raced through those paragraphs to get to more action, but did appreciate and visualize the scenes in my mind when I had the patience. What really came through and stood out to me were the passions of each of the main characters - Tom and his immense dedication to his craft, Aliena and her will to survive, and Prior Philip's neverending faith. Also, I was just amazed at the author's ability to create such intricate plots within the larger story structure, and how he easily kept the story moving forward so much that I couldn't stop reading. It's not often that I get pulled into a story so quickly and consistently throughout, and Ken Follett did a phenomenal job.
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