Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining
Review: This book is an entertaining piece of literature, if you could call it that. However, it also has quite a lot of drawbacks.Let me start with the good things of this book. Ken Follett is a very talented writer. He manages to keep the reader hooked. And this characteristic is by no means missing in this novel. Also, this book has needed some thorough historical research for its setting. The storyline is very engaging. Also, Ken Follet divides his chapters into smaller sections, making the reading task not a pedantic one. However, there are a few drawbacks for this book, hence the reason for the missing star. The main drawback, in my opinion, is that the story is a bit too farfetched. It's too unrealistic how the characters is in the story are somehow interconnected in different ways, and it's also unrealistic that so many things happen to the same few people. Also, the book slacks a bit half way through. I have to admit that the first half was better. Another drawback for this book is the flatness of certain characters and the non-development of others. Let me give a few examples: 1. Tom Builder ... the book focuses too much on the building skills of this character, and very little on the human side of him 2. Martha ... being Tom Builder's daughter, I think she deserved more importance than being just another side character with very little relevance to the story. 3. William Hamleigh ... this person is just too two-dimensional, with absolutely no redeeming factors in his character. I found that rather unrealistic. 4. Jonathan ... Tom Builder's illegitimate son, has a very flat character, and although frequently given a mention throughout the book, is only given importance at the very end. On the other hand, I have to say that the characters of Jack, Ellen, Richard, Aliena, Bishop Waleran Bigod and Philip the Prior were very well developed and given that three-dimensional feel. All in all, this is a very good and entertaining read. It just has those flaws which keep it a step away from being a masterpiece.
Rating: 
Summary: Non-stop entertainment for book lovers.
Review: Ken Follett sets this story in twelfth century England, where Kings rule, but not necessarily lawfully, and Bishops corrupt, Earls change hands as fast as in a poker game, and the suspense is fabulous! I will admit to one point of "get on with it", but it was brief, the entire book is filled with excitement and suspense. Prior Philip has just been made Prior of Kingsbridge, but he knows little of what is in store for him as he takes over the tiny church and tries to govern his monks with a firm hand while building a village and priory he can be proud of. Tom Builder has wanted nothing all his life but to build a fine cathedral, but a sword of sorrow seems to keep piercing his heart as he first sets out with his pregnant wife Agnes, and child to find work. From that small but interesting starting point, the plot deepens until one cannot stop turning the pages. We meet the ruthless William Hamleigh, the villain you love to hate, as he takes over the Earl of Shiring, while the daughter of that Earl becomes his life's obsession. Aliena has plans of her own though, a death bed vow to her father and a brutal memory of the castle take over with William Hamleigh at the helm will spur her to heights hitherto unknown to women in that age. Her strengh and courage bring forth renewed hope time after time in this epic saga that is nearly one thousand pages long and worth every page. The Middle Ages will come alive for you as soon as you start page one. So what are you waiting for? Enjoy the rarity of a novel with the perfect setting, the most thrilling characters, and one of the best plots (and subplots) waiting to absorb you. In this novel, we learn something very special about the human heart. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing Story
Review: I have never read a story quite like this one. There have been many books that I have read where I wondered how things might have ended if the story had only gone on. This book did that for me when done I felt I was a part of the story living these peoples lives through so much love, strife and stuggle. This is a story about many different families including a Cathedral Builder, Royalty, A Monk and Monistary, and the building of the most beautiful Cathedral of its time. I believe this story is fiction but is based upon a real Cathedral that the author studied. No book will touch your heart quite like this one because you will travel with each character through some life experiences we couldn't even imagine in this day and age. A must for anyone who loves stories about Kings, Royalty, Medieval, History or just a really really good book!
Rating:
Summary: Great vacation read
Review: I took this book along on a vacation to England. I grabbed it purely because of its length (almost 1000 pages), not knowing what the story was about. It was the perfect book to have along though, because as I was visiting cathedrals in England, I could picture Tom and Jack building them. It really brought alive the culture of 12th century England.
Rating:
Summary: great story but mediocre writing
Review: This is undoubtedly a great story. You follow characters, who are common folk, through the stories of their lives -- through their trials, difficulties, successes, and rewards. The story starts off with a handful of characters, but it picks up quite a bit of volume and depth, covering the lives of many people and many sub-plots. Some here have said that the characters are simplistic and artificial, but I do not believe this is the case: the characters are realistic, but it is the *writing* that is weak. Let me repeat myself: the story is wonderful and captivating. But yes, the writing is weak. The writing seems somewhat "dumbed down" and simplified, as though the author were writing to grade 8 students. He reports situations, scenarios, and conversations in sufficient detail for the careful reader to pick up all the subtleties - but then right after, he provides a summary/analysis of what just happened, giving you the "correct interpretation" of his prose. This I found excruciatingly annoying, and bordering on insult. Most authors give sly clues about characters and possible plot developments, but evidently, he didn't want to take any risks, and so he spells it all out for the reader, time and time again. This was by far the most bothersome aspect of the novel. It may be useful for someone who is indeed in grade 8, but I'd like to believe that I can read and interpret books for myself - and if I'm wrong, it'll all turn out in the end anyways. (I believe this is a part of the adventure of reading a novel.) However, as a story the flaws are rare (though some might argue that it is a tad unrealistic and formulaic - but then many novels are). The story brings out many emotions, most notably sympathy for the characters (there is much brutal violence and misery), but also inspiration for righteousness and justness. I can wholeheartedly say I am a better person for having read it. In conclusion, if you are a novice reader but wish to tackle a book with a deep and complex story, then this book is the way to go. If, however, you like to discover a novel on your own, then you will find this book too frustrating to make it all the way through 973 pages. Instead, I recommend the best historical fiction I have read to date: "Aztec" by Gary Jennings. It is similar in size and scope of story, but it is much more professionally written.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book of all-time
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. It was built-up highly so I had high expectations. Those high expectations were met and exceeded. Although the book seemed long when I first started (nearly 1000 pages), I dreaded the book coming to an end. The story is so exciting and the characters are so well-crafted that I wanted the book to continue. The story has a lot of characters and the story is weaved together flawlessly. The characters are vivid; they are not dull and boring. The story spans many years and many locations. It has exotic travel, love, war, feuding, troubles and victories, espionage and so much more. I read the book rabidly and found it very difficult to stop reading (even though I sometimes read far into the night). I highly recommend this book to everyone and know you will not be disappointed with this fantastic book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best in its genre
Review: Fantastic! A real, honest-to-goodness page-turner. George Orwell says that the best books are those that tell you what you already know. Well, if that is the case, the second-best books are those that teach you while thoroughly entertaining you. Follett is a genius when it comes to this. The reader feels both fulfillment and hunger when finishing this book--fulfillment because his or her mind has been expanded with knowledge of history while being held in the grips of a truly mesmerizing story, and hunger to read more of Follett's books. Do yourself a favor; don't be put off by the length of the book--you won't even notice it once you get started.
Rating:
Summary: Easily the best book I've read in the past ten years
Review: This was one Ken Follett book that I'd resisted buying (I should have read the reviews on Amazon and I wouldn't have waited so long), because it was such a departure from his other work that I'd enjoyed. How could I possibly enjoy a book that centered around the building of a cathedral? I finally bought it and was blown away - there has not been a book in the last ten years (if ever) that I have cared more about the characters, and was so hungry to find out their fates. This book was written with a richness that lets you see the characters, and share in their lives. I've already ordered a used copy of the hardcover, and have began re-reading the copy I already have. I can honestly say that my only dissapointment was that when I finished this novel, I knew that it might be another ten years before I read a novel as rich as this.
Rating: 
Summary: Follett's best, for what it's worth.
Review: Those of you who say this is the best thing you've ever read, I have to ask, have you read anything else? I'll not deny the novel was entertaining and a decent crash course in Vague Cathedral Building, but the writing is so inadequate and flat and much of the plot so obvious that anyone out of their teenage years should be raising an eyebrow. I enjoyed his characters, even though I often didn't find them entirely believable, especially the women. You know how one-joke characters in sitcoms wear out really fast? Welcome to Follett's England. However, I thought Philip was rather more deftly written: pious enough to be convincing as a good monk and worthy prior, but not irritatingly or angeringly so, and with enough earthly faults to be endearing. But I was distracted by Follett's annoying way of always and only using cliches to describe them: "massed curls," "angry scar," etc. This is further indication that he's really out of his depth here. But the end of the novel, the new (and yet very, very old) betrayals and catastrophes and plot twists start to feel tired and worn-out -- or maybe that was just me who was tired. Follett falls into the common trap of drawing medieval England in 20th-century English lines, from the characters' actions, conversation, theories and hopes; and he never really delves into medieval life, only skims the surface. These are pretty much 20th-century people trying to act like medieval ones in a tv movie. Much of the plot doesn't make sense, and he strains a little too hard for medieval intrigue. What's the difference between fiction and reality, according to Tom Clancy? Fiction has to make sense. So little about this book does. For light reading or if you've got a long trip on the train or something, you can't much go wrong with this, but you can't really go right either. And as always, I really have to wonder about all you who click "no" on the little button. The curiousity is killing me. Is it just because you disagree with my review (and you're American, so you judge merit by whether you agree with something)?
Rating:
Summary: Sucked into his world...
Review: I don't think there is much I can say that hasn't already been said. I was given a copy of this book by a friend a few years ago, and it has haunted me ever since!
This strange yet eerily familiar world that Follet has created sucks me in repeatedly! The characters are so fluid, reasonable, and just multi-layered that I feel like I am thinking with them. The way the multiple plots melt into one another is just fantastic enough to be romantic, and yet plausible enough to feel historical. I would recomend this book to anyone who is painfully enduring a class on Old English Literature or the middle ages in Europe. It will bring that old dead world to life for you! I PROMISE!!
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