Fascinating

Fully enjoyed this book. I have a long commute and I fall asleep listening to books and couldn’t wait to do both, which is a testament to how good the book is if I can look forward to commuting! Love the history and drama. Well worth reading!

4 people found this helpful

Audio Glitches

Sad to see Audible letting so many audio errors go un-repaired. I now wonder if I made a mistake in picking Audible for my audiobooks. I normally don’t give reviews, but I feel someone should point this out. This is a great book ruined by sloppy handling by Audible.

2 people found this helpful

Excellent!

Wonderful historical novel. Terrific story, interesting characters, great narration.

I had read the book several years ago and listening to the audiobook reminded me of that enjoyable experience. Wonderful to listen to when commuting or relaxing.

Highly recommended.

#Audible1

2 people found this helpful

Good but overlong

I have no objection to big long books, as a rule; in fact, I quite enjoy them. However, I must say that this one, although largely quite entertaining, accumulated a particular flaw as it lengthened. For some reason, the author seemed to feel that every so often we needed a recap of previous events, so one or another of his characters would fall into a reverie and tell us what had been happening since the beginning of the story. I found it a little annoying at first, but increasingly irritating as it was repeated. My husband suggested that perhaps, like the serial writers of earlier times, the author was being paid by the word.

<spoiler> I also spent nearly the entire book expecting the conniving Waleran to put Ellen on trial for witchcraft, and I still can't imagine why he did not - or why the conspirators didn't just kill her. </spoiler>

I did also begin to weary of the repeated and predictable cycle of crisis/averted/all is well/crisis/etc.

Still, the characters were engaging and I liked how the "good guys" didn't all get along but had some serious conflicts among themselves. And the historical setting was rich and immediate, especially at the end.

I liked the reader, John Lee, although I was puzzled by his pronunciation of "refectory", which he consistently pronounced "ref'ettry". I was prepared to believe it was an older, or more British, pronunciation, but I searched quite a number of dictionaries, including the OED, and could find no other pronunciation than the usual "refec'tory", except a passing mention in the OED that "the stressing re'fectory was at one time somewhat prevalent". In any case, other than that, I found his reading very good indeed. I loved Phillip's Welsh accent, and in general how well Lee managed to provide distinctive voices to the many different characters with mostly quite subtle shifts in his pitch and rhythm.

2 people found this helpful

Pleasantly surprised

I have read some of the Ken Follett’s spy and thriller books in the past and always linked him to that genre. As an avid reader of historical novels I was pleasantly surprised - the story grabs you and never lets go. I found myself thinking about it and wanting to know more, it was hard to resist pausing the narrative. I am definitely going to buy his remaining three books with a historical theme.

1 person found this helpful

Wonderful

This book is a fantastic glimpse into daily life of medieval England. Follett masterfully weaves the political, economic, and religious intrigue of the time with the ordinary ambitions and relations of common life. Lee’s performance, too, is noteworthy, as the characters and story are brought to life.

1 person found this helpful

Good, but so long!

Great narration, kept me interested. But the story was just so long, seemed to never end. Most seemed irrelevant too :(

An epic story

I’ve listened to this twice and I’m sure I’ll return to it again. I love the story and how it spans decades. A story well told and wonderful written.

Excellent story and a great reader!

John Lee is perfect for this book, and he was able to keep the story interesting even though dry bits. The story itself was great however portions of it (around Thomas Becket) felt a little clunky. It almost seemed that Ken Follett added sections to give the story a bit of historical significance.

Read the book and listened to it again. Epic.

Ken Follett's historical fiction is incredible. I get bored pretty easily but his writing just moved along and creates such incredible worlds.