The Evening and the Morning: A Novel (Kingsbridge) Paperback – June 29, 2021

Ok, I'll let you in on a little secret, that statement isn't quite as impressive as it might seem (if it does indeed seem that way). The reason being, now having been an avid reader for nine and a half years, I just haven't really ever been a series kind of guy. I did manage to make it through some of the fourth book of King's The Dark Tower series, but stalled. I've owned all seven (eight if you include Odd Interlude) of the Odd Thomas novels for years. I loved the first book, and really loved the film adaptation (R.I.P. Anton Yelchin), and I love Koontz, and yet, I've not cracked the second book. I have read five of the Foundation novels, but them, like the Kingsbridge series, aren't exactly one continuous story.Still, I've managed a little bit of series reading, and overall have knocked off almost three hundred books from the time I got really into reading in mid 2011. And, despite being one of the first books I read, Pillars of the Earth has always stood head and shoulders above 99.9% of the books I've devoured. It always will. It simply is one of the greatest novels I'll ever read. Ironically enough, had my Dad not hand me a beautiful gold-colored trade paperback, I may not have become the utter bookworm I am today."In a broad valley, at the foot of a sloping hillside, beside a clear bubbling stream, Tom was building a house." With this simple yet captivating sentence, I was unknowingly falling into a loving relationship with historical fiction.Pillars of the Earth was such a good book, such an incredible experience, that I would have given anything to have read it again for the first time, to recapture that magic. Well, thankfully for me, years before I got back into reading, Ken Follet wrote the astounding World Without End, and, my God, it may have even outdone Pillars. I was HOOKED, and loving every single one of its massive 1100 pages. It was heaven, every single page, a dramatic, blood-soaked, historical heaven. I still give Pillars the slight, slight nod as my favorite only because it came first.In between I knocked off other Follet novels, almost every one an excellent reading experience.But wow, I was the luckiest guy in the world when, a few years ago, A Column of Fire was announced. I bought it brand new, devoured it, and now finally, we have The Evening and the Morning, another installment in the greatest series I've ever read, and this time we are taking a step back in time to before the characters of Pillars existed.this book is simultaneously amazing and also disappointing. It's amazing because everything in the Kingsbridge series is, but more specifically, it's amazing because when Ken Follet writes historical fiction, he does it with such richly imagined details and such smooth prose that you may be physically reading the book in 2020, but you're mind and soul is living over a millennia prior. He's a great world builder, and you can almost taste the rain that falls, and the winds that blow can almost transpire through the page and make you shiver.I don't really want to get into each of the characters and stories. Some of the book is formulaic, which isn't a bad thing. You should be expecting drama, conflict, war, religion, sex, and other similar themes found in the other books in this series. Follet will most certainly deliver on that. But the book also differs from the others, as it takes place over just one decade as opposed to several. Initially I was bummed about this, but it's still a terrific novel, and I can appreciate it for being different in that regard.My other complaint is that the book is too short. Yes, it's over 900 pages (although the words are big and blocky and you can knock off 50 pages an hour), and I'm complaining that it's too short. It seems edited down to keep the pace fast, and thus the reader more engaged, and I found myself reluctant to keep reading (which of course isn't so easy with this series) because I don't want it to end. I would love a complete and uncut edition of this, like King's The Stand. I don't care if the publisher, or even Follet himself thinks it was extra, unnecessary fluff, I'll gladly read hundreds of pages of Kingsbridge fluff all day and all night before I'd crack open a million other books.I think, for someone to complain that your 900 page novel wasn't nearly long, that you'd be hard-pressed to find a bigger compliment than that.I love this series, particularly Pillars and World Without End, but The Evening and the Morning can proudly be the bridge (pun intended) that a reader must cross to get into the rest of the series.Yes, it's more of the same in a sense, and yet, it's still not enough, not by a long shot.Thank you Ken, for blessing me with roughly FOUR THOUSAND pages of incredible storytelling, that I not only can learn from, but can be transported from the stresses of everyday life to a world that, while it did exist, seems to be a place so perfectly crafted I couldn't personally imagine anything better.*January 2024 review*I didn't plan it this way, but in August I picked up WWE, then followed it with Pillars in September. The Armor of Light came out around then, which was finished by November. December was A Column of Fire, which I can now say is probably my least favorite in the series. It has too many plotlines and very little architecture, and almost feels more like a spin-off than a true Kingsbridge novel. It's still great, but after reading The Evening and the Morning again, I feel the first three novels chronologically are the best of the series. This feels truly like a return to form after Column, and it's a fantastic read. It's more formulaic than Column perhaps, with the evil bishop and ambitious monk, the challenged noblewoman, but when the formula is so engrossing, it's a welcome return.Although I think we could have made it through this book without a certain scene (of which Pillars is littered with), the ultimate story of a builder, a noblewoman, and a monk all defying the odds and surviving in a near lawless world is riveting. Characters turn out to be not as expected, people get their comeuppance in the end, and even if things are tidied up a tad too neatly, the journey through the tumultuous decade of this book, with such tough living conditions, feels like a victory in the end, perhaps even more so than the rest of the series. Except for The Armor of Light, I've now read each Kingsbridge novel twice, and though all five are fantastic reads, the first three are truly a notch above, and safely rest near the top of my list of favorite books of all time. Ken Follet is the reason I love historical fiction, and re-reading these novels only reaffirm this.

The author really outdid himself with this sequel! I was spellbound reading it from the beginning. My sakes, the story had so many twists and turns that made it impossible to stop reading. I can’t wait to read his next book in the series.

I've been a fan of the entire Kingsbridge series since Pillars of the Earth first came out, and this 4th book in that series is just as good, although at this point the plots of all 4 books seem startlingly familiar. I give it a hearty recommendation for fans of historical fiction.The fourth in the Kingsbridge series is actually a prequel to the first in the series, set right around the end of the first millennium AD and the beginning of the second, a period in Western Europe most would put squarely in the Dark Ages. The book follows three central characters as they navigate the feudal age. Edgar, the intelligent second son of a shipwright, is a skilled builder, carpenter, and strategist struggling to survive as a peasant in a land controlled by the Church and the nobility, most of whom are intimidated by his mind and his determination. Ragna, the daughter of a count of Normandy, is essentially tricked into marriage with a brutish English ealdorman named Wilwulf of the area in England that will one day encompass Kingsbridge; Wilwulf's brother, Wynstan, is a local bishop who is actually an ungodly lech, and his other brother, Wigelm, is a soldier bent on cruelty, and with their mother and other relations, that family holds a self-serving stranglehold on the region. Aldred, a kind, educated, and fair-minded monk, opposes Wynstan's rule of the religious life of the area, finding Ragna and Edgar as allies in their shared struggle. The book also includes historical characters (like King Ethelred) and events (like Viking invasions), along with political plots, love triangles, and plenty of conflict.Anyone who has read any of the other books in this series will recognize the plot: a lowborn, but intelligent artisan man meets and befriends a free-thinking and beautiful woman of a higher station, in the midst of religious factional fighting and oppressively dishonorable nobility; corruption and greed natural in the feudal world are opposed by intelligence and a desire to better the lives of all common people. While the plot may have merely changed the dates and names from the previous books, the story is still a great read, with lots of action, requiring the reader to keep going just one more chapter before putting it down for any length of time. It's a familiar plot, but well-told, and I enjoyed reading this re-telling of that same tale as much as I enjoyed its previous three incarnations.I'm writing this review almost 3 months after reading it, and my notes don't indicate any major problems with the mechanics of writing or the edit, and my memory of Follett's other works tells me that his writing is incredibly clean.All told, this was a great book, and the only reason it's not a 5-star review is because of the repetitious nature of the plots in all of the books of this series. I still give this a very large recommendation for fans of historical fiction set in feudal England.

I have read the whole Follet series ending with The Evening and the Morning. It is a good read and I enjoyed it very much. Follett is a good writer and easy to read. He keeps his readers interested.

Good read with a great story line and full of suspense. At last Love triumphed. It also good to notice how moral values, patience, hard work and faith in God, will always favore those who strive to do good for they fellow human beings. No good deed ever goes unnoticed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it is immersive and has great character stuff and a solid plot line. Heartily recommend if you’ve read the first three books!

Love all the history. Getting a glimpse of how life was in 1000. It's a wonderful book. It was a page turner.

I enjoy these books and the story but they all feel a bit formulaic, especially the ending of this one. The ending resolved rather abruptly and too clean in my opinion

Follett is a wonder. This is Follett at his best.This is the prequel to Pillars of the Earth (an incredible book on its own)A page turner, hard to put down. The level of detail always amazes and all of it woven into a story that leaves you wanting more ..always “more please”

Me gusto mucho el libro Evening and the morning. es la historia de antes de pillars of the earth, cuando Kings Bridge era un caserio insignificante, ni siquiera se llamaba Kings Bridge, sino algo como Berns crossing y no habia ningun puente. Muy interesante imaginar la vida de los abuelos de los personages de Pillars of the earth

O melhor dos livros do Ken Follett é que você, antes de ler, já conhece os personagens. Ele, com razão, não muda o seu estilo de contar as histórias da Inglaterra no início do milênio passado. Para quem quer treinar a leitura de um bom romance em inglês, é uma ótima referência.

I enjoy Ken Follett's books almost without exception. The plot is well developed and interesting, often rooted in historical facts. The characters are engaging. Good guys are wholesome, villains are unforgivably evil. Always a good read. In fact they are son intricate they are invariably a good re-read.

Habe schon viele Bücher von Ken Follet gelesen und bin immer wieder mehr als zufrieden