The Pillars of the Earth Review

The Case

Ken Follett is known for his thrillers. He loves to write the spy stories! But with The Pillars of the Earth, Follett ventured from his normal venue of espionage and intrigue and took the historical fiction world by storm. It was a daring move. As Follett himself has said, "In the book business, when you have had a success, the smart thing to do is write the same sort of thing once a year for the rest of your life...I should not have risked my reputation writing something out of character and overambitious."

Pillars could have been lauded as the biggest mistake of his career. It could have been terrible. It could have been disastrous. It could have been embarassing. It could have been all of those things and more, but it wasn't. Put quite simply, Pillars was, and is, a masterpiece. (It's also Follett's best-selling novel to date!)

The Plot (Spoiler-free!)

Pillars opens in the year 1123, at a hanging. The whole town turns out to see the event, though no one knows the condemned. A knight, a monk, and a priest also attend, and while there, they are cursed by a small woman imbued with malice, scorn, and an odd sense of righteousness...

Fast forward twelve years. We meet Tom Builder - a mason on the hunt for work - and his family: wife Agnes, son Alfred, and little daughter Martha. We meet William Hamleigh, the only son of a corrupt lord and his loathsome wife. We meet Aliena and Richard, children of Bartholomew, Earl of Shiring. We meet Ellen and Jack, castaways from society. And we meet Philip, a humble monk who is trying his best to serve God in a time rife with strife and godlessness.

Over the course of more than 50 years, these characters' paths will merge, tangle, clash, and swirl as their stories weave and intertwine with the construction of a true architectural feat: the medieval gothic cathedral. They will change the course of each others' lives, and they will set the stage for one of the grandest sagas of historical fiction ever written.

The Good

I hope you're aware by now that this is my favorite book of all time. Period. Words like 'brilliant,' 'flawless,' and 'phenomenal' don't quite do it justice. It must be read to be appreciated. And no matter what you like to read, Pillars will have it. Danger, mystery, passion, horror, intrigue, romance, drama, action, scope, you'll get it all. Honestly, I've never heard a bad word uttered about this book, and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon, either. If there's one word that fits, it's 'satisfying.'

The plot is intricate, sprawling, complex, tightly crafted, and seamlessly interwoven throughout the years and decades of the story. The characters are just as rich and deeply layered as the saga they create. The pacing is superb, the writing is solid and easy to read, and the backdrop upon which the story plays out is surprisingly accurate when it comes to the history of the period.

Basically, The Pillars of the Earth freakin' rocks!

The Bad

It ended.

The Verdict

Five stars! If there's only one more book you read in this lifetime, make it The Pillars of the Earth!