The Pillars of the Earth

Kingsbridge, Book 1

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 40 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

An epic, spellbinding tale of ambition, anarchy, and absolute power set against the sprawling medieval canvas of twelfth-century England, The Pillars of the Earth is Ken Follett's historical masterpiece.

A Mason with a Dream

It is 1135 and civil war, famine and religious strife abound. With his family on the verge of starvation, mason Tom Builder dreams of the day that he can use his talents to create and build a cathedral like no other.

A Monk with a Burning Mission

Philip is the church prior of Kingsbridge. A resourceful man, he knows that if his town is to survive at all, it must find a way to truly thrive. He decides, then, to build Kingsbridge the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

A World of High Ideals and Savage Cruelty

As the prior recruits his mason, so begins a journey of ambition, anarchy and the struggle for absolute power. Facing enemies that would thwart them, they will stop at nothing to fulfil their grand plans of Kingsbridge. Soon build tensions between good and evil, turning church against state, and brother against brother . . .

The Pillars of the Earth is the first in The Kingsbridge Novels series, followed by World Without End and A Column of Fire.

©1989 Ken Follett (P)2007 Penguin Randomhouse LLC

Critic reviews

"Enormous and brilliant...this mammoth tale seems to touch all human emotion - love and hate, loyalty and treachery, hope and despair. This is truly a novel to get lost in." (Cosmopolitan)

"A historical saga of such breadth and density.... Follett succeeds brilliantly in combining hugeness and detail to create a novel imbued with the rawness, violence and blind faith of the era." (Sunday Express)

Very very surprised

I am usually a fan of thriller type books and have listened to authors like Charlaine Harris and Nelson Demille, who I rate very highly.... I drive roadtrains for 12 hour shifts so like going for longer type books, and saw this book was 41 hours long and had seen a good review for it...so I got it with my credit for the month since it cost a little more. I thought there was a good chance it was going to be a mistake... I mean set in the 12th century about building of a cathedral, haha, i am not religious or much of a history buff....
Well all I can say is "This is one of the best books I have listened to since joining audible.com and I have listened to heaps"... Totally engrossed in it from the first 30 pages and it never stopped..... Get it and listen to it you won't be dissapointed whether you are a harley riding dude or a chick working in a lawyers office, you won't regret it.....

As good the second time around...

I read Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth when it was published in 1989 - and the epic is no less engaging the second time around. Follett has woven in all the elements of a top notch tale - good, evil, justice, injustice, ambition, greed, redemption... The addition of Follett's preface adds insights into the creation of the novel and his transition from thrillers to the much more complex structure and story of Pillars.

Brilliant

Brilliantly written and well narrated.
For a moment I wished it wouldn't come to an end!

Exceptional

John Lee narrates incredibly well and Ken Follett writes the most brilliant stories. A must-read/listen.

Masterwork

Amazing performance, fantastic accent work with the story makes it all come alive. I found it hard to not listen when doing other things.

Up to expectations

This book is excellent. It lives up to the mouth to mouth fuzz that brought it up to my attention, 30 years after its release and halfway round the world. If you are a lover of historic fiction, this book will be right up your alley. It's accurate in all its facts, to the point where you really get a window into the time period its tells about. A gripping story all the way through, with two generations of people from different statuses, men and women, poor and rich, royals and church officials, ill and good intended. In the end, it's a story about humanity, and its struggle with the strength of great people who wheel the world on a certain direction, either for their own interest or for the greater good.

Excellent, if unexpected, book very well performed

Amazing portrayal of the politics, intrigue and drama surrounding the building of a cathedral in the 1100s. Truly unexpected Gem.

An epic tale

Wow what a fun time. This was the gift that kept on giving. Masterfully written and performed.

Good but not great.

This book is a good read (listen) and certainly is great value for money, but I listened to the Century Trilogy first and they were Great, so this was a slight backward step for me. I just felt it took a long time to warm to the characters and the story but once it all happened I enjoyed the story. John Lee is a great Narrator.

exceptional read

love the book. an enthralling story. almost as addictive as GOT series. can see myself binge watching the pillars of the earth series. it captures your imagination and makes you miss the characters as they fade away once you finish the book