I haven’t read a story like this in a while. You know, I was concurrently reading a Rushdie book and had to put Salman's efforts to sleep for a couple of weeks – yes, this was that good. This book is based in the Dark Ages, a period after the Romans left England, and nothing much was happening apart from religion, superstition, in-fighting and Viking raids. We cover the years 997 – 1007 CE. Our two main characters are Edgar, a bright young man, the son of a boat builder and Ragna, the daughter o...

Why I chose to read this book:1. even though I really enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, I wasn't too crazy about Ken Follett's A Column of Fire. I thought I would give Follett one more chance with this prequel; and,2. my audiobook hold became available.Praises:1. unlike ACoF, I appreciated that this story returned to Kingsbridge (known as Dreng's Ferry during the Dark Ages); and,2. narrator John Lee does a very fine job.Niggles:1. in typical Follett fashion, our protagonis...

Quite interesting prequel, long but worth the time it takes. I guess it was my first HF on the times before Hastings, so I award the fourth star for the historical backgound.
The story of Kingsbridge begin seventy years before the Norman invasion, and the relations with the Normans, differences in law, cultural clash, Viking raids etc are neatly integrated into the story.
Time well spent, especially in company with Mr Lee's voice.

Escapism from the first page............Just what the doctor ordered and perfect October reading. A vivid, absorbing and dark historical fiction tale of good versus evil, love and hate and a time when corruption and injustice was the norm. An unputdownable saga and yet horrifying in places. It certainly took me out of my comfort zone but I loved escaping back to the dark ages with this one every evening after work. It make me realise that life in 997 certainly wasn’t for the faint hearted or fo...

I am officially in a book coma now... after reading all 3 previous books in the Kingsbridge series, was there any chance I'd miss the newest one, the prequel, entitled The Evening and the Morning? Nope... it was gonna happen as soon as possible. NetGalley declined me. I waited until the library had it available because I promised myself no new books until I read some on my TBR. I thought it would take 2 months to get to me on the list, then four days ago, NYPL told me I was next on the list. So....

It took a while to be pulled into this story, but once I was - I was in for the over 900 pages ! The novel follows the stories of three main characters and how their lives cross, and there’s a slew of other characters in England from 997 CE to 1007. This was a chaotic time filled with violence and power struggles over land and other riches. The power of men vs men, men vs the church, men vs their king, men vs women, slavery, the have and the have nots, deceit, violence, brutal punishments, lies,...

I wasn't sure if I was going to review this book because, honestly, I feel pretty ambivalent towards it. I liked The Evening and the Morning more than A Column of Fire, but still quite a lot less than the previous two books. I agree with the reviews that say this has a closer feel to the first two books than A Column of Fire. It has that pastoral, everyday life feel that I came to love so much in The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I felt like CofF spun off in an entirely new directi...

4.5 stars raised to 5 for its entertainment and enjoyment value. At first glance, the book seems formidable with 928 pages. Once I started it moved swiftly with scarcely a dull moment. It begins in the year 997 when the Dark Ages are drawing to a close and the start of what we refer to as Medieval times. The growth and transformation of a crude, small village to the thriving town of Knightsbridge, England, the setting of Pillars of Earth, is described through the hard work, tribulations, joys, ...

Such a disappointment. It’s Follett’s usual intermingling of characters’ stories but it fails to engage. The characters lacked depth and the plots lacked momentum. Overall, this is just lacking.

It's 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages in England and one man is attempting to make his Abby a center of learning while others are fighting/manipulating/using corruption for Control. Who you marry is hardly ever a choice but an arrangement, there are power plays, wars, corruption and greed. There is also a sense of family, love, hope, survival and friendship.This book is the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth (which happens to be in my top 10 favorite books of all time). Needless to say, I quick...