In the backgraund King Henry I of England has died without a male heir. His daughter Maude and her first cousin, Stephen of Blois, vie for the throne in what becomes a civil war that makes the country a virtually lawless and tumultuous land until Maude's son Henry II ascends to the throne. Pillars is largely concerned with people who are more concerned with the events of day to day life. In the fictional town of Kingsbridge, the church burns down. Tom Builder, whose lifelong ambition is to put up a cathedral, now has his chance. The story follows Tom and a host of other characters whose live entwine in its construction. It tags along with the generations to come as the book's 1000+ pages encompass the 40-50 years it takes to complete the cathedral. Murphy's Law rules supreme and at times I was nearly convinced everything was just about to fall apart. The characters are all rich and complex (with the possible exception of Hamleigh, which could just be because of the borderline gratuity of his abusive sex acts, which are designed to make readers hate him). The storytelling is epic historical fantasy at its very best.

Any fan of historical fiction. Anyone curious about historical fiction. Anyone looking for a good book to make time seem to run away. I wouldn't pick this up unless you are okay with devoting every waking moment (and some where you know you should be sleeping) to reading it.

The characters, the storytelling, the inherent majesty of Tom's undertaking.

At times the narrative became tedious, but I'm hard pressed to give a specific example. I know I felt it at some time or another, but it is mostly killed in the post-read glow.

Find a way to convince myself that somewhere out there is another piece of historical fantasy that does what Follet manages with this one.

Inspired.

Is first and foremost a peddler of suspense/thriller/action novels. I was apprehensive when I picked this up. But my dad recommended it, and then my mom, and then my aunt, and as they all passed it around (all have very different tastes in books) I just had to know what it was all about. At times you can see Follet's penchant for adding tension by making yet another thing go wrong, but for the most part it's forgivable.

The pure entertainment value. As a wannabe author, it's difficult to find books where I can turn the 'writer' in me off to just enjoy a good story. This made me remember the pure joy of just reading.

There are a few inconsistencies and things that might make you go "wha--?". At the beginning of the journey a young boy's ear is cut off...later on in the story he's missing the other ear instead--little things mostly. Don't be discouraged by the size of the book. I read this one more quickly than the last three 300 page books I picked up put together. I hear there is to be a sequel coming out fall 2007. It is one of the few books I have found worthy of anticipating, and spending the extra $ to buy a hardcover in the first week of issue. I'm saying this again because it bears repeating: Follet's storytelling in Pillars is epic historical fantasy at its best (or very near to its best).

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Created Jul 10, 2007 at 3:05pm • Submit your own review...