The Pillars of the Earth

I actually read the “prequel” first ([b:The Evening and the Morning 49239093 The Evening and the Morning Ken Follett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1585140756l/49239093.SY75.jpg 73816656] and I do feel it works better as a book than this one - less ambitious but more focused in its plot line. Pillars has to be admired for the courage to be written out of love of the subject when everyone is telling you are a WW2 novelist. I loveed the attention to the bulding the Cathedral, but i disliked how he would pack great detail in a one year period and then skip 10 years and abandon or wash over characters. In the end this is Historical escapism, crafted well but not in the top bracket, but for as long as it was it never dragged and i never thought I was not being entertained (and learned a few things about the reigns of Stephen and Maud. ( I thought the Thomas Beckett part was a gratuitous epilog, but i do admit I went off and read more on the subject when i finished the book.