∎ PDF Free A Column of Fire A Novel Kingsbridge Ken Follett 9780451477996 Books

A Column of Fire A Novel Kingsbridge Ken Follett 9780451477996 Books

Download As PDF : A Column of Fire A Novel Kingsbridge Ken Follett 9780451477996 Books

A Column of Fire A Novel Kingsbridge Ken Follett 9780451477996 Books

So! The third installment of Kingsbridge is HERE and I am absolutely loving Column! 5 stars all the way, everything you'd want from Ken F. in a book. I want to talk directly to the reader who has not yet read any of the 3 Kingsbridge books. You must start with Pillars of the Earth. It's the greatest book I've ever read and it unearthed my passion for historical fiction. Even IF you're not into historical fiction, it's impossible that you wouldn't love this book or its series or any of Ken's novels. Pillars has had a lifelong impact on me. It's that book that just stays with you after you've finished the amazing journey it will lead you on. I'm not a master with words or reviews, but if you've yet to read any of these all I have to say is: you're in for a treat!


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A Column of Fire A Novel Kingsbridge Ken Follett 9780451477996 Books Reviews

Like so many, I am a tremendous fan of Ken Follett, and have read and re-read Pillars of the Earth and World without End. I enjoyed them as much for their rich characterization as for the splendid history immersion. Like many, I am very disappointed with Column of Fire and also will not finish the book-it compares so poorly with the first two Kingsbridge books. There was a clue upon opening the book the big, wide spaces between the lines of the type set. The book has as much empty space as the type set. Although there was, of course, the occasional Follett brilliance, overall the book seemed to be only a very good rough draft. Like another Reviewer, I was dismayed with the occasional use of modern slang. I am rating it 3 stars only because Follett at his worst is better than most at their best. This book will be donated to the library.
Spoiler alert.......I am a huge fan of Mr. Follett and have read many of his novels over the years. I was super excited about this novel and started reading it as soon as the book was delivered. I finished a few days later and am sad to say I had to force myself to finish the book. I struggled to connect to any of the characters in the story......and sort of got lost with multiple storylines and minor characters. The love story between Ned and Margery started out promising.....but then became a minor plot point for most of the book. It was similar to the Jack/Aliena and Caris/Merthin plot lines (from the previous Kingsbridge books) but with much less detail. I found that I wasn't even rooting for the romance to prevail. Let's not forget the main character missing for most of the book.......Kingsbridge itself. Most of the story is in other places and I found myself constantly wondering what was going on back in Kingsbridge. I am going to reread the book, maybe it will be better the second time.
Though I've read the earlier novels in this series I was not and am not obsessed with them, nor am I obsessed with Ken Follett despite having read many of his books. Having said that
THIS NOVEL IS JUST PLAIN EXCELLENT and sadly, very timely. The overall theme is tolerance vs. bigotry. Centered in Elizabethan England and peopled primarily with English characters, it portrays the conflicting views (not all that many when you come down to it) between Catholics and Protestants and the ensuing horrible bloodshed through much of the 16th century. A significant portion of the novel is set in France, with smaller episodes in Spain and the Netherlands.
Protagonist Ned, after witnessing Catholic excesses (triggered more by greed and hopes of material gain than by religious belief) decides to devote his life to promoting tolerance and fighting excesses. Joining up with Princess/Queen Elizabeth he works in multiple capacities to support her policy of comparative tolerance. Evil Pierre, whose entire being is permeated by greed rather than religion, conspires with supporters of Catholicism in France (who are power-hungry rather than religious believers), triggering multiple episodes of bloodshed.
Ned and Pierre are juxtaposed against one another as are the two women in Ned's life. English Margery is a true believer in Catholicism and is ready to do what she can to preserve the faith, legal or not. French Sylvie is Protestant and ready to do whatever it takes to assist other Protestants. Both become involved in illegal activities because of their beliefs. They are essentially alike.
A host of other characters, some historical and others fictional, take the reader from the coronation of Elizabeth to the Guy Fawkes plot and hopefully remind readers that religious (and racial, too, for that matter) differences are really superficial and that a great deal more unites people than divides them. Take notice World of 2017!
Pillars and World Without End are my favorite books of all time. I'm also very interested in religious history and persecution, so I highly anticipated the release of this book.

Unfortunately, it was just really bad. The book had nothing to do with Kingsbridge, which was disappointing, but I could have gotten over that, IF the book had contained rich characters and plots like the first two books. Instead, this book featured super boring characters who meandered their way through 900 pages of ABSOLUTELY NO PLOT. Additionally, there were about five new people introduced per page, all with similar names (Francis, Henri), and you never knew if they were going to be major characters, or if they would never be mentioned again. I seriously started taking notes. I have about five handwritten pages of names....and I'd say about 10% turned out to be recurring characters. The other 90% had no impact on the plot.

Unlike Pillars & WWE (and most of follett's other wonderful books), I never cared about any of the characters, or knew what motivated them. I found myself constantly thinking "wait, why are they doing this?" Or "wait, when was the last time these two characters interacted with each other? It doesn't make sense that they're enemies!"

This was just a complete mess. I really looked forward to this book for months, and I hesitated to write this review until I was finished with the whole thing...hoping against hope that it would get better. It didn't. I'm so disappointed.
So! The third installment of Kingsbridge is HERE and I am absolutely loving Column! 5 stars all the way, everything you'd want from Ken F. in a book. I want to talk directly to the reader who has not yet read any of the 3 Kingsbridge books. You must start with Pillars of the Earth. It's the greatest book I've ever read and it unearthed my passion for historical fiction. Even IF you're not into historical fiction, it's impossible that you wouldn't love this book or its series or any of Ken's novels. Pillars has had a lifelong impact on me. It's that book that just stays with you after you've finished the amazing journey it will lead you on. I'm not a master with words or reviews, but if you've yet to read any of these all I have to say is you're in for a treat!