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)

A Huge Story!

This book was much bigger in scope than I originally thought! I feel like I've read 3 books rather than one. The characters felt like real people. I found the plot compelling. I highly recommend, particularly if you like epic books. I usually enjoy epic fantasy books and this was similar in a scope, without the fantastical elements.

Pillars of a great book

Where does The Pillars of the Earth rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's up there. Ken Follet is my new favourite author, next to Bryce Courtenay.

What other book might you compare The Pillars of the Earth to and why?

It's one of those books where you get the full story. From the start of the characters' lives to the end.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

John Lee is an excellent narrator. Can't fault him in any books I've listened to so far.

Who was the most memorable character of The Pillars of the Earth and why?

Jack, Aliena, Phillip, Tom, many memorable characters.

Stunned!

A joyous read 20 years ang and a stunning revisit this week on Audible!
Wow.

Master storyteller

What a piece of art! It is historically informative. I am taken ablast by the way the plots were woven together. Loved the narrator.

BEST BEST BEST BEST BEST EVER

If you could sum up The Pillars of the Earth in three words, what would they be?

Awesome addiction

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

It put my life on hold.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Who was the most memorable character of The Pillars of the Earth and why?

Any additional comments?

A story that had my attention throughout!

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read that kept me enthralled. A great read that I will recommend to all my friends.

Intriguing historical novel - action and romance!

A friend recommended this to me because I had recently enjoyed reading the Outlander (Diana Gabaldon) series of novels. This too has similar historical perspective, lots of drama, action, romance and violence thrown in for good measure too! It was my first Ken Follett ever, and it took a slight adjustment to get used to his style ... which almost has a rhythm with the times he is writing about i.e. Middle Ages England. An intriguing and compelling novel which started off a bit slow but picked up pace very quickly and kept me on edge for the rest! I will be reading more Ken Follets!

The story itself is an intriguing one against an intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life in Middel Ages England and Europe, and includes the intertwined lives of various characters and their dreams, their labours, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse; and various evil protagonists including 'Earl' William Hamley, 'Bishop' Waleran Bygod amongst others.

Narration was brilliant! The accents and characters added a heightened level of tension to the dramatic story and I really enjoyed this ... the sly tones of Waleran Bygod were tangible, and the pious and humble tonoes of Philip were richly infusewd with a lovely Welsh accent! Well done John Lee - full marks!

Hashtags: #HistoricalDrama; #MiddleAges; #Cathedrals; #Architecture; #StoneMasons; #EnglishWars; #Monasteries; #Monks

A Winner

I read this book many years ago and wanted to refresh my memory before I listened to the further books in the series - it did not disappoint and John Lee was a fantastic narrator - I would recommend this to all and sundry a great read as are the rest of the books in this series

simply brilliant, both the tale and the narration

loved everything about this. the tale is epic and exceptional, and the voicework is faultless.

very, very good

this is one of the best stories ever written in english. it took me a while to get into the narrator's voice but once I did I realized John Lee was an excellent choice. the writer Ken Follett is a very good story teller. the story was simply and very accessible to the reader but also complex and full of adventure. the only gripe is that we should have been given more of a chance to mourn Tom the builder. but the story is already written so that's that. I loved it.