Who you marry is hardly ever a choice but an arrangement, there are power plays, wars, corruption and greed. Hopefully you newcomers found yourself as captivated as I was - because when you eventually finish, you’ll still have the rest of Kingsbridge series ahead of you (which, as one may expect, I am now quite excited to move on to).

By the time it was over, it turned out to be a most enjoyable escapist journey via historical fiction.When this novel begins, Kingsbridge does not exist; we have no bridge, no priory, no market, no guildhouses, no thriving point of commerce. That all changed after the Viking raid; they were forced to become farmers as opposed to the more loathsome option of slavery. Not much was written down, there were few pictures, and nearly all buildings were made of wood that rotted away a thousand years ago or more. This is a long saga, one that relates and intermingles the tales of a large number of people while focusing in on three main character. In a broad scope, those things don't change much over time: we yearn for power, wealth, love, vengeance, harmony.

Second, because I keep hearing about Pillars of the Earth and The Century trilogies and keep meaning to read them, but haven't yet.These three show how determination and a passion for others can shape the community in ways never thought possible. Follett has a remarkable talent for showcasing the priorities of people in history -- what was most important to them in their cultural context. The growth and transformation of a crude, small village to the thriving town of Knightsbridge, England, the setting of Pillars of Earth, is described through the hard work, tribulations, joys, and sorrows of three main characters. As is often the case, the author creates strong women and paints for us a vivid picture of life in the Middle Ages with all its intrigue, jockeying for control, and the lowly part that women were held to during this time.

Her husband’s brothers have other plans after his death, leaving Ragna with little as she seeks to stay afloat. We meet soldiers, servants, slaves, thieves, ordinary workers and tradesmen, guards, a nasty alehouse keeper, and vicious villains. It's 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages in England and one man is attempting to make his Abby a center of learning while others are fighting/manipulating/using corruption for Control. Another masterful work of historical fiction by Ken Follett, and an improvement, I think, on 'Column of Fire'. I agree with the reviews that say this has a closer feel to the first two books than A Column of Fire.

We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. And as I stayed up increasingly later in the evenings to devour chapter after chapter, Follet’s style of descriptiveness had ceased to be a bother, and instead just made the characters’ world come incredibly alive through rich detail. There stories are intertwined with the development of the town, the governance of the regions and how these three main characters act and interact to the evils and disappointments that come into their lives. There’s always something exciting when reading a book by Ken Follett, as the reader is subsumed with history, drama, and wonderful storytelling.