Ocean City Free Public Library Book Blog

Every once in awhile, I enjoy a nice long saga. Double points if it's historical fiction. In the past, I've enjoyed Ken Follett's historical works Pillars of the Earth and World Without End , so I figured I'd check out his latest book Fall of Giants , which is the 1st book in his new Century Trilogy. Fall of Giants details the events leading up to and including World War I through the eyes of several different characters. What's interesting about FoG is that these characters are all not only from different socioeconomic situations (e.g. an Earl, a suffragette, a poor mining community), but also from different countries as well (Allies as well as German), so it was definitely enlightening to view the war through various lenses. The bulk of the novel deals with a lot of military talk, so if that's your thing, great. For me, at times, it seemed a little tedious. Despite that, Follett is a decent storyteller and his depictions of battle were very cinematic. As pa...

Acting as a follow up to the epic Pillars of the Earth , World Without End continues to follow the lives, tragedies and successes of the citizens of 14th century Kingsbridge. This time around, Follett's main characters are a group of young friends - brothers Ralph and Merthin, independent Caris and crafty Gwenda. As the four age throughout the book, each character becomes intertwined with each other as they each take different routes in life - knight, builder, healer and farmer. Kingsbridge is well known throughout the area for having a beautiful cathedral (built in POTE ) and there is much drama when it comes to how the priory is run. Things don't get any better when the Plague hits. Though this is a really really lengthy work, it goes by exceptionally fast. I still have the same qualms with this one that I did with POTE (unrealistic dialogue and character life spans, etc), but it was still a very enjoyable read.

Boy, this was a meaty read - full of violence, sex, mystery, love, murder, betrayal, war...the list goes on. Spanning 3 decades, Pillars explores life in the middle ages in England as the small town of Kingsbridge struggles to build a grand cathedral. For a book this size, there are a few main characters - Prior Philip, who must navigate corrupt waters to get his cathedral built, Tom Builder and his stepson Jack, who are master masons, and Aliena, a steely and independent woman. Does the cathedral get built? You'll have to read to find out... The book is close to 1,000 pages long, but it's worth the time. You can see why Oprah selected it for her book club.Follett, who usually writers thrillers, does a pretty good job with this one. My only complaint is the fact that his characters live to be like 60 or 70. I'm pretty sure in 1142 AD, you were lucky if you made it to 40.