Name: Emma Lechner's review of The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
Item: The Evening and the Morning
Rating: 5
Author: Emma Lechner

Ken Follett

#1 New York Times Bestseller An Amazon Best Book of 2020 The thrilling and addictive prequel to The Pillars of the Earth--set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages "Just as transporting as [The Pillars of the Earth] . . . A most welcome addition to the Kingsbridge series." --The Washington Post It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined. A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when his home is raided by Vikings, forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in. . . . A Norman noblewoman marries for love, following her husband across the sea to a new land, but the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different, and it soon becomes clear to her that a single misstep could be catastrophic. . . . A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe. And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power. Thirty years ago, Ken Follett published his most popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth. Now, Follett's masterful new prequel The Evening and the Morning takes us on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate, that will end where The Pillars of the Earth begins.

The Evening and the Morning

Kathleen Burroughs

"It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east ... In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined: A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided by Vikings, forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in. A Norman noblewoman marries for love, following her husband across the sea to a new land. But the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different, and as she begins to realize that everyone around her is engaged in a constant, brutal battle for power, it becomes clear that a single misstep could be catastrophic. A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe. And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power ... [This novel] takes us on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate, that will end where The Pillars of the Earth begins"--

TW: I do mention sensitive topics in this review.

Nobody writes historical fiction like Ken Follett.

This book felt so real, I feel like I learned so much about a time period that we have so little actual history on, and I really love that about the way Follett writes. You feel as though his characters are all real people, you understand their minds, their ambitions, their wants, their likes and dislikes. All while weaving in historical details and events that place you write in the center of some of the most interesting conflicts going on at the time.

The way he slips in the most minor of details, such as the Vikings selling their slaves in Bristol (look up Bristol merchants if you want to get into a gruesome rabbithole), adds to the accuracy of the time period.

These books are not for the faint-hearted, they include murder, r*pe, lots and lots of violence towards people. But at the same time he manages to capture love, acceptance, and goodness in his characters, and I know no othe author that manages to make you hate some characters and love others equally, despite their strengths and their flaws. 

In short, Ken Follett writes the human experience in one of the most visceral ways I've ever seen.

Emma Lechner

TW: I do mention sensitive topics in this review.

Nobody writes historical fiction like Ken Follett.

This book felt so real, I feel like I learned so much about a time period that we have so little actual history on, and I really love that about the way Follett writes. You feel as though his characters are all real people, you understand their minds, their ambitions, their wants, their likes and dislikes. All while weaving in historical details and events that place you write in the center of some of the most interesting conflicts going on at the time.

The way he slips in the most minor of details, such as the Vikings selling their slaves in Bristol (look up Bristol merchants if you want to get into a gruesome rabbithole), adds to the accuracy of the time period.

These books are not for the faint-hearted, they include murder, r*pe, lots and lots of violence towards people. But at the same time he manages to capture love, acceptance, and goodness in his characters, and I know no othe author that manages to make you hate some characters and love others equally, despite their strengths and their flaws. 

In short, Ken Follett writes the human experience in one of the most visceral ways I've ever seen.

From the bestselling author Ken Follett, The Evening and the Morning is a historical epic that will end where The Pillars of the Earth begins. A TIME OF CONFLICT It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages, and England faces attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Life is hard, and those with power wield it harshly, bending justice according to their will – often in conflict with the king. With his grip on the country fragile and with no clear rule of law, chaos and bloodshed reign. THREE LIVES INTERTWINED Into this uncertain world three people come to the fore: a young boatbuilder, who dreams of a better future when a devastating Viking raid shatters the life that he and the woman he loves hoped for; a Norman noblewoman, who follows her beloved husband across the sea to a new land only to find her life there shockingly different; and a capable monk at Shiring Abbey, who dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a centre of learning admired throughout Europe. THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE Now, with England at the dawn of the Middle Ages, these three people will each come into dangerous conflict with a ruthless bishop, who will do anything to increase his wealth and power, in an epic tale of ambition and rivalry, death and birth, and love and hate. Thirty years ago we were introduced to Kingsbridge in The Pillars of the Earth, and now in this masterful prequel international bestseller Ken Follett will take us on a journey into a rich past, which will end where his masterpiece begins.

The Prequel to The Pillars of the Earth, A Kingsbridge Novel

Daniel Toke Hansen

Always nice to read about the people in Kings Bridge. Made me want to read the pillars of the earth again.

#1 New York Times Bestseller An Amazon Best Book of 2020 A thrilling and addictive new novel--a prequel to The Pillars of the Earth--set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages "Just as transporting as [The Pillars of the Earth] . . . A most welcome addition to the Kingsbridge series." --The Washington Post It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined. A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided by Vikings, forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in. . . . A Norman noblewoman marries for love, following her husband across the sea to a new land, but the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different, and as she begins to realize that everyone around her is engaged in a constant, brutal battle for power, it becomes clear that a single misstep could be catastrophic. . . . A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe. And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power. Thirty years ago, Ken Follett published his most popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth. Now, Follett's masterful new prequel The Evening and the Morning takes us on an epic journey into a historical past rich with ambition and rivalry, death and birth, love and hate, that will end where The Pillars of the Earth begins.

A Novel

Kristen Claiborn

I have been looking forward to this book for quite some time. I LOVED The Pillars if the Earth and thoroughly enjoyed the sequel. I devoured this one as quickly as one can digest a novel of this size and was quite satisfied with all of it. While I didn't love it with the same enthusiasm as Pillars, it created the back story and left me feeling like the full picture had come together. My only complaint is that nothing good ever seems to happen to the good guys. It's just bad...after bad...after bad...all the time. It's sometimes disheartening. The end was rosy, however, which made plugging through ALL THOSE WORDS completely worth the time.

Jenna T.

I really enjoyed the first two instalments of the Kingsbridge series, and I ended up liking them a lot more than I thought I would; I'm not much into historical fiction, but there was just something about the characters and their worlds and seeing how it all changes along a continuum of years that really captivated me. I was less impressed with the third, 
  A Column of Fire
, not because it was a bad book at all, but more because it did not really feel like a Kingsbridge book. The time period just did not lend itself well to the Kingsbridge story, and it lost those key elements of the first two instalments. It hardly took place in Kingsbridge at all, and the focus was too far removed from the issues I had grown to expect from the series.
So I was both excited and a little wary when I heard there was a new Kingsbridge book, this one set in the past rather than trying to pull the Kingsbridge story any closer to the present. I wasn't sure if this would be a solution to the problem A Column of Fire suffered from, or if it would just exacerbate it. But I've got a soft spot for Vikings and the Dark Ages, so literally that would have been enough to get me to read this, even if it wasn't a Kingsbridge book.
I think this book definitely did a better job of pinning the story and the characters to that magic Kingsbridge formula; this felt like it was part of the same series as the first two books. However, I think this was a problem as well as a good thing; it adhered a bit too closely to that formula, in my opinion. You have the noblewoman in a dissatisfying marriage, Aliena Ragna, and then the shockingly talented and intelligent builder with a good heart, Jack Edgar, and lastly the pious monk who's just trying to get his church to not be a corrupt pile of garbage, Phillip Aldred. Kinda felt like they were just new names being plugged into an old equation, and that was a little disappointing. But I guess that proves why the third book felt so wrong; if you get too far from this structure, it ceases to be a Kingsbridge book in spirit. And it unfortunately also proves that there is only so much you can do with that magic formula.
All that said, I really loved this story. It was fun getting to see all of the foundations being laid for the series and books to come, without revealing anything too swiftly. The villains were kind of boring, but I liked the less cut-and-dried, morally gray characters such as Wilwulf and some of the villagers, because there was no way of knowing whether they would devolve or evolve from the start. I'm also so in love with the main three this book followed; I loved Aliena, Jack, and Phillip, as well as the teams from the other two books, but I found myself attached to Ragna, Edgar, and Aldred more quickly and more deeply.
My only two major complaints, outside of the overly similar structure of the plot to the previous books, are a) the treatment of Aldred and b) the prose. The prose is famous Follett style, I guess, but I wish he could figure out how to show better instead of constantly telling with his bland-ass sentences. A little flowery prose, a little imagination, a little style—they're not going to kill you, sir! The narrators felt like they all had the exact same voices and speaking styles. Sometimes it felt very mechanical and passionless, and I found it hard to move past the words and focus on what was actually happening, on occasion.
As for Aldred... All right, full disclosure: I am gay, and generally I appreciate how Follett treats his gay characters. I like that he isn't afraid to acknowledge them, point them out, and not make a big deal about them, even though they are never in the spotlight. So I was super excited when I realized that one of his main three in this story was a gay man. I let myself hope that he might actually get a happily-ever-after that didn't involve magically turning asexual. But alas... I should have remembered that Follett has a very particular way of treating his Pious Characters™. If a character can't adhere to the church lifestyle properly, including celibacy, then they are either killed off/punished some other way, OR they recognize that they do not belong in the church and leave (e.g. what happened with Jack and Caris). All the same, I was hoping maybe (view spoiler)[Aldred would find some way to have both his role as prior and a chance at true love. Frankly, with the way polygamous relationships were acknowledged and even approved of in some cases in this story, and with the acknowledgement that both Ragna and Aldred are in love with Edgar and that he likes them both, I was kinda hoping.......... that.............. maybe.................... (hide spoiler)]
...But alas, again. 'Twas foolish of me to hope the story might take that route, though that leaves me no less disappointed. At least the lesbians in the story were also acknowledged and given happy endings. Thanks for throwing a bone. (I guess.)
Anyway! Overall, I loved getting another chance to visit Kingsbridge, and I loved this story and these characters. But more importantly, I feel like I'm ready to say goodbye to it. A Column of Fire really just didn't feel like an appropriate send-off for this series, and I didn't want things to end there. But now, I'm happy. The foundations have been laid, the stage has been set, and the tale of Kingsbridge has finally come full-circle. Thank you for the journey.

The thrilling novel from the No.1 Internationally bestselling author Ken Follett. An epic, addictive historical masterpiece that begins in 997 CE and is set against the background of the medieval church and one man's ambition to make his abbey a centre of learning.

Alice Belle

Katie Allard

I loved this book. It brought everything back that I loved in the series from the first two books that the third was lacking to me. Well written with interesting characters and a story that was gripping. I loved the insight into how this city that I knew so well after three books actually was shaped and came into being. So many small lines were connected and that’s one of my favorite parts about a series like this. I hope this isn’t the end of Kingsbridge, but I loved every book. 

Ilse

I tried really hard to finish this book but I just couldn’t do it. The characters are flat, the plot felt formulaic and lazy, and the entire thing about 400 pages too long. Worst of all, however, were the depiction of the female characters: like there’s more than just breasts 🙄 It was so obviously written by a male who clearly hasn’t bothered speaking to a real-life woman that it was too cringy for me to continue after those terrible sex scenes. Truly can’t imagine anyone liking those 🧐

Anyway some of the historical fact dumping was reasonably interesting and the sole reason why I stuck with this book for as long as I did, but this is definitely my first and last Follett

Sarah Ryan

Loved this prequel to the Kingsbridge series!

Kevin Maschke

It's been a long time since I read the Knightsbridge Series, and The Pillars of the Earth is one of my all-time favourite books ever. I love Follets style and storytelling. I know these books are fiction, but when reading them it just all seems real to me. I think that's what makes his books so good. 

The Evening and the Morning is, just like the rest of the books in this series, marvelous. But yes, I must say, it's not as good as The Pillars of the Earth. I loved every page, but I somehow just felt it missed something. 

I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, and to anyone who's read the other books in the series.

Ravana Eagleheart

I've really enjoyed all the King's Bridge novels, but this one was something special. The way that Follett writes his characters makes them seem like real people, and your heart breaks for them in tragedy and sings in joy. Would recommend!!

Jeremy Anderberg

900 pages and it flew by. So good. I’d categorize it as a political novel, which happens to be set in 1000 AD England. I know that doesn’t sound mesmerizing, but politics is always entertaining, especially when it’s fictional and you aren’t living in it. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series this summer. 

Full review coming in a few weeks.

Emily Digweed

CAWPILE Review: 8.29

I haven't read the Pillars of Earth series but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I connected so deeply with the characters, especially Ragna, and I felt like I was living in her household throughout the entire journey. Ken Follet obviously knows his stuff as the detail in this epic tale is second to none. Found myself skimming through some pages at the end when I was able to predict what was going to happen, but overall, an excellent book.

Kathleen Burroughs &
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett

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