CATEGORY

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Takes you on a journey, 1 November 2008
I am not a huge Ken Follett fan. That being said, I thought this book was fantastic.
I picked it up not expecting it to grasp me the way that it did. It was detailed and took you on a journey. The lives of different people and how they all relate to this one spot, building and place in time.
It reminds you how the decisions you make affect not only you later in life but others on the same (though not always seen) path
I highly recommend, such a fantastic read.


Quick shipment of cancelled order, 1 November 2008
The seller was very quick to ship my order. In fact, if I had known my book would arrive signigicantly earlier than they had predicted online, I might not have cancelled the order since I was on a short timeline. I cancelled my order a couple minutes after I placed it because I would not be able to receive the book soon enough to read it in time, but Amazon did not convey my cancelled order to the retailer who sent the book anyways in very short time.


Wordy, 1 November 2008
1. Historically an a+ as to my opinion, being no medieval scholar.
2. Plot, predictable and complex at the same time. You know so and so is going to get it, you just don't know how or when, but the alternatives suggest themselves.
3.WORDY my GOD it is reminiscent of Dickens, who according to someone I know wrote in installments and so got "paid by the word". It was a good book, but I scanned whole paragraphs at a time to avoid the tedium of reading them and find out what the flip happened. To the books credit, again, I DID want to find out, but, it was hard going. It would have been a great book if it were 2/3rds shorter.




Dis-oriented, 29 October 2008
Did anyone else spot Tom Builder's mistake? He rose at dawn and set out two stakes in the direction of the rising sun and used these as the axis of his new cathedral, believing that they pointed due east, as a church should be oriented. Sorry Tom, the sun rises in a different place every morning, and in Kingsbridge's northern latitudes it is never due east. Otherwise a wonderful book and I cant wait for the sequel.


Built like a cathedral..., 28 October 2008
With so many reviews and 90% of them are 4 or more 5 stars, what else can be said? This is indeed storytelling at its best. I am not sure and I don't care if it is a literary masterpiece or if it will ever be a classic, but it is very entertaining and revealing.

I just have a few comments about the book's structure.

***PLEASE BE AWARE. THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW***

In my opinion, the first act is the book's biggest strength. Not only most of the action is here, but the rhythm of the writing is amazing. Every scene has a built-in suspense (Tom and his family in the forest, the son's birth and Agnes's death, the second family coming in, Tom in the city and the killing of the pig thief, William taking over the Earl's castle, Aliena in the city looking for money and his father, Aliena ascent, William in the battle and, finally, William's attack on Kingsbridge and Tom Builder's death). It is one of the unusual cases when there is no shortage of description ...