Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett (5 stars)

I took this book to South America because it has been on my to-read list for ages, and it is an epic, so I wouldn't finish it too quickly in a non English-speaking country :)

I loved it. The mix of royal political intrigue, church politics and power struggles, and the ambitions of the characters was endlessly entertaining.

The plot does suffer slightly from a linear to and fro between the good guys and the bad guys - good guys win one, bad guys win one, good guys win one....And the characters are perhaps a little too one-sided, being either very good or very bad. Phillip is practically a saint, and Tom Builder's only flaw was the way he handled the bullying between his son and step-son. I can't think of any redeeming qualities of William Hamleigh, the antagonist.

The lengthy descriptions of cathedral architecture and construction would have been vastly improved with some illustrations. I have read many many words about naves, chancels, etc. and am still confused about how they all fit together.

I'm willing to forgive all those flaws, because it is a great book.

5 stars.