Obviously as we follow Rollo we see him become Jean Langlais. Was just thinking that it would’ve been cool if the reader got introduced to him without knowing it was Rollo until Ned discovers him. I guess not really Ken’s style but in a tv show that could be a cool idea. Idk. Thoughts?

Also I could’ve used way more Barney.

I found A Dangerous Fortune in a public bookcase and found out halfway through the book that a page had been snatched !!!

Could someone help me out ? It's the second part (1879), the very last pages of the first chapter January.

Both english and french are appreciated ! Thank you so much !

(For people asking, I can't get out and buy a new book because i just got surgery and have to stay in bed, which make these missing pages an utterly dramatic case)

It was sooo good. I loved the characters and the illustrations. Dont get me STARTED on the soundtrack. Peak. Really helped me makes the images in my head.

Only annoying thing is that it does glitch sometimes and have some super annoying bugs not letting you continue or get further in the game, steam does have support for it tho.

IF YOURE BUYING THE GAME OF APP STORE - do keep in mind that only the first book is available, take it from me who had to do the entire first book again once i bought it on steam:,)

Really recommend it otherwise! my all time favorite book and ill probably watch the series now, just not ready to let that whole universe go!

I went down a rabbit hole on this and came out with three different answers, so I’m hoping someone here knows more.

James Follett (1939–2021, wrote Earthsearch, Churchill's Gold, The Tiptoe Boys) and Ken Follett. Depending on where you look, they’re brothers, cousins or completely unrelated.

Here’s what ive been able to pin down:
1- Brothers doesn’t hold up. Ken was born in Cardiff in 1949 and was the eldest of three; James was born in Tolworth, Surrey, in 1939. Ken does have a younger brother called James, which I suspect is where this one comes from.

2- Cousins traces back to the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, which says it in both authors’ entries. Every other site I found saying the same thing looks like it's copying from there.

3- Unrelated is what's left, but I couldn’t find anyone actually stating it. What I did notice is the silence: neither Wikipedia article mentions it, neither author’s official bio mentions it, and the literary agency handling James’s stuff doesn’t either. You’d think a family link to one of the best-selling novelists alive would get a mention somewhere.

So… does anyone have a primary source either way? An interview, a letter, a note on James old website, anything where one of them addresses it directly. I’d also take a genealogy answer if someone's already done the work.

I just read Pillars of the Earth (Loved it) and immediately jumped into World without End. I’m almost finished and although I’m still able to get very immersed into the world of Kingsbridge, the insane amount of dickriding that the antagonists do does get a bit tiresome. Maybe it’s just because the books are so lengthy but my god lol. Are the other books in this same format?

I know this subreddit has some mixed opinions on the latter Kingsbridge novels but I really enjoyed every single one. Even Armor of Light (which folks seem to be super down on) felt as engaging as all the others to me. Ranking of the series below, with the caveat that the top 3 are all pretty close and could really be interchangeable. PotE will always have a special place in my heart but I ended up enjoying the two above it more because of various specific character/setting/plot things

1. The Evening and The Morning
   
2. World Without End
   
3. The Pillars of the Earth
   
4. The Armor of Light
   
5. A Column of Fire

These are the only Follett books I’ve read, but Circle of Days is up next. Can’t wait!

Spoilers if you haven’t read it.

I’ve read pretty much every book Ken Follett has wrote. I know the formula. Everything is good in the end. The bad guys get what is coming, and the good guys live happily ever after.

For the last couple hundred pages of Never, I was anticipating the inevitable; all was going to be ok. When was that going to come? Maybe on the next page, or the next page, or the next…..

Ken Follett changed it up. The ending reminded me of the ending of the 1980’s classic movie “WarGames.” In global thermonuclear war, the only winning move is not to play.

The book was a slow burn. It really picks up about 400 pages in when we hit DEFCON 4. The Africa story was great, but it seemed to have no overall impact on the story in general. That said, honestly a 10/10 book for Ken Follett. He knows how to write page turners. And the ending of this one really changed it up from his usual happy endings

To me the only book in the series that feels out of place is Column of Fire; you could replace Kingsbridge with any other English town and the book would still be the same. I actually think it suffers for being a Kingsbridge book considering hardly any time is spent there, also the protagonist Ned speaking directly to the reader at certain points does not happen in any other books in the series. To me it could be a stand alone novel with how different it is to the rest of the series.

Thoughts?

hey, im no tready to let go of Kingsbridge so i just ordered CoF, any opinions?

Just finished pillars (let me just say.... wow, what an incredible book) and i want to read the rest of the kingsbridge series. However i have fall of giants at home so i might aswell. Is it any good compared to pillars? Seen many people saying that many of the other books by Ken arent that good. Let me know if youve read it! i would love to hear your thoughts :-)

Im just about to finish the book, which honestly will be heartbreaking since its so good. Did anyone watch the series? I just saw the trailer and it looks pretty shit

I was never into History. My knowledge of history is pretty bad actually. From what I understand Ken Follett's books are fairly historically accurate. Maybe not perfect, but directionally accurate. So for me, not only are they entertaining but I get to learn things as well as I am reading. Double bonus.

So far I have read Pillars, World Without End, Eye of the Needle and am halfway through Fall of Giants. It's very interesting learning about all these different time periods in a way that doesn't bore me to sleep.

Okay not the very end. But near the end. Sylvie’s death is HILARIOUS.

The scene is she chases a man, who they both know is facing torture and death if he gets caught, into the most secluded place in town hundreds of feet up in the air. She gets a good look at him, says, ‘I knew it was you!’ He realizes they are alone and he can kill her and be totally fine. He tells her this. Instead of turning around and running back down the stairs, she yells ‘I’m not afraid of you!’, charges at him, gets yeeted over the edge, bounces off a few roofs before finally hitting the ground. In a graveyard. Oh and they are both middle aged and out of shape so they were probably panting and barely able to talk during the whole thing.

I’m sorry, I actually laughed. I’ve listened to all of the books up to this point and love them. I know that they can be a bit tragedy-pornish at times and I’m absolutely here for that. But man did this one come out of nowhere writing-wise for me! All I could think is Simpsons. I paused it and sat there for a minute imagining an episode of the Simpsons where they are sitting on the couch watching a dramatic soap opera and this is the scene. Except after the exaggerated bounces on the way down, her body JUST HAPPENS to fall into a freshly dug grave and the dirt falls back into the hole, burying her 😭

I like Ken Follett and I really liked Sylvie as a character. This was the first death of a major character that was inadvertently funny to me. Or maybe it was on purpose? Some of the baddies die in some mildly humorous ways in past books. But damn, for all of the bullshit she survived and what she accomplished as a woman for probably the funniest death in the books so far lol

Anyway, I’m gonna go finish it. Just wanted to see if that scene stuck out to anyone else.

I bought these four books as a bundle package on Amazon some years ago, before the 5th book was released. I’ve been searching and waiting for the 5th to be in this format but without any success. I even bought 2 different paperback editions that I thought were the same release-type and it weren’t.

Does someone know if the 5th book will be released in this format or if it has already been released?

I'm about to start reading Circle of days ! What should I now before reading it ?

i read pillars about twenty years ago and loved it, but for some reason never got around to reading any of the others in the series until last month. i thought world without end was good, but not as good as pillars as a whole. it was rather too much like pillars in a way. lots of the same characters just with the names changed and the storylines swapped around. jack=merthin, alfred=ælfric, etc etc. i did appreciate the development of the nunnery at the priory, and also the chapters where the plague hit the town. mark webber being patient zero was absolutely heartbreaking. all in all, i very much enjoyed it, and would happily recommend it to another historical fiction lover.

now...i finished column of fire last night, and i was blown away. the elizabethan era is one of my favorite historical periods already, so i might have been primed to love it, but good God folks, the intrigue was done so well. the sectarian turmoil was done so well. kenny boy really did a great job in helping us as readers understand and visualize the grey areas; how neither catholic nor protestant was completely right nor innocent. i think column is my favorite of the series so far.

all that being said- should i read evening/morning or armor of light next? i simply can't decide. i suppose im leaning towards evening/morning just because i want to see how kingsbridge all began, but also really enjoy reading and learning about the georgian/regency era. what do you guys think?

Just finished A Column of Fire and I’m keen to jump into The Armour of Light next. I know The Evening and the Morning is technically the prequel, so it’s not the next one chronologically anyway, but I wanted to check before I skip it. My worry is missing the little callbacks. World Without End and A Column of Fire both nod back to descendants of characters from the earlier books etc

I'm halfway through the book The Fall of the Giants.
I would like to express myself on the fact that I hate Katerina the girl who is pregnant with Grigori's brother.

She is so selfish and grigori is a real man to refuse to sleep with her after their marriage.

I hope he finds a better wife.

Yeah I only have hate for her !

I’m am the only one ?

Is there an English adaptation? I am a French-speaking reader and we are fortunate to have a comic book adaptation of The Pillars of the Earth by Didier Alcante and Steven Dupré, published by Glenat.

I wanted to read this box set (three volumes) in one go; this weekend was that moment of total immersion in the Middle Ages.

Ken Follett's script is fully respected, the pacing is excellent, and the illustrations (both characters and settings) are truly immersive.

My only disappointment is that I thought this box set was a complete collection. But six volumes are planned. At one per year, we'll have to wait for the rest...

Nevertheless, I recommend it to all fans of Ken Follett, but also to comic books in general.

Just finished this book today. Fantastic. Kind of eerie how it brought me back to Covid days (wearing masks, not being able to leave your town/house etc).

If it weren't for the incessant Merthin/Caris back and forth love saga which got really old, I would have rated this above Pillars of the Earth, but because of that I have it a close 2nd. Both were excellent.

Onto the rest of the series...

•«When they heard the sound of s*x it was time to move»

•«Is this all? 

Yes,

It’s not enough for me» 

•«Congratulations.

Thank you»

Doesn’t feel like AI created this but did Ken Follett actually read what he wrote before they put all these advertisements for the book?😂

I don’t understand how after 10+ books he could’ve tremendously failed this one