This is a VERY long book, so be prepared. However, once you are in it, you will find yourself IN the midst of the Middle Ages. I feel as if I could see the people of this village, see the cathedral as it was being built, and feel the pain of injustice of the period. I came away knowing much more about the Church, the politics of the period (both Church and regional) and what drove the people during these epic times. I wish I had known such things when I was younger, studying history in school. It is a wonderful insight into the past, and while the characters and township are fictional, the enviornment is not. And for me, now, it is palpable and visible, and all the more fascinating. But I must caution you again, THIS IS A VERY LONG BOOK, and if you are not tolerant of such stories, you may want to wait for a better time to tackle this one.

Easily one of the top five books I've listened to. It is very long, but what an amazing story. I purchased this based on the fact that it came out on top for the Audible book face off competition. The story did not sounding particularly appealing at first, but Follett does such a wonderful job of story telling. He transports you back to the period and vividly presents the challenges of the characters. Well worth the 40+ hours of listening. When my MP3 player died, I found a paperback copy and finished it. Then I immediately purchased his next book World Without End, another amazing story.

I throughly enjoyed this story. I was hesitant to commit to a 40 hour audiobook and even more hesitant to listen to a story about a cathedral builder, but I am very glad I did. The characters were real and I ended up caring what happened to them. The story had enough twists and turns to keep it interesting, but not so many that it became unbelievable. I was sorry when the story ended and I immediately purchased the 'sequel', World Without End, which I enjoyed just as much.

Really enjoyed this book even more than I anticipated. Interesting characters and period setting, excellent narrator, suspense, drama...loved it. One word of caution: I wound up fast forwarding in a few places to avoid some of the animal-related violence. I (and I think the story) could have lived without it, but the book was good enough to get past. I still really liked this book, so much so that I immediately downloaded the sequel. Enjoy!

I really love John Lee as a narrator. Pillars has been on my list for a long time, so when I saw that Mr. Lee narrates, I went for the audio version. For audio, I am learning that there are 2 components: the story and the narration.

I give the story 4 of 5 stars. It is a good work of historical fiction that sometimes gets mired down in politics that I didn't find that interesting. I also really didn't like the introduction where Mr. Follett tells us that many people have told him that this was the best book they had ever read. I think that just sets the reader or listener up for gigantic expectations. And, it would be very easy to skip the intro, so I would actually recommend that, and then go back to it if you want to hear about it after you are done reading the book.

I think the overall book could have been tightened up a bit. Sometimes the story meandered into too many different directions. There is also a LOT of gory violence and I realize that is part of the times, but for me, sometimes it was just too graphic. If graphic violence is your thing, though, then you will like it.

Plus, the stories repeat themselves a bit much. The bad guys rape and pillage, the good guys put their lives back together, the bad guys rape and pillage and on and on.

And on.

But, the characters are very well fleshed out and the narration really makes that happen for me in a way that print cannot.

I love long books, but I prefer them to move forward as opposed to a circular fashion.

The narration is flawless. I will always be a big fan of John Lee and will continue to seek him out as a reader. I hope Mr. Lee continues to narrate great books. Listening to him is a complete pleasure. 5 of 5 stars for him!