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A Column of Fire - Ken Follett

The most recent installment of the Kingsbridge series, A Column of  Fire may be the best yet. We see major acts designated to historical heavy weights like Queen Elizabeth 1 and the rival for her throne Mary, Queen of Scots and former Queen of France. Starting at the cusp of the Elizabethan Golden Age, the book has the traditional Kingsbridge novel flair - intelligent male & female protagonists who should be a couple but due to her dutiful (in this case staunch Roman Catholic) nature, they will not be together for many years. Cue ambitious parents who would be nobility though the marriages of their daughters; the necessary and ambitious zealots (cathedral town after all); the intelligent and interesting people surrounding the protagonists and of course a few brutes . But the best parts of this read are the scenes that their set in: the religiously brutal pre-Elizabethan era in England; the slaughter of St. Bartholomew's Day when the streets of Paris were painted red by all the Protestant slaughter; the intrigue and and power struggles in the French palace; the transfer to the Elizabethan crown where the monarch is described artfully in a way that makes her more than just a historical juggernaut giving credence. The same can be said about the Guise's of France and the tragic Mary to name but a few. True historical figures and events are narrated so much and guide much of the of premise that the back of the novel includes a section to help the reader distinguish true from fictional characters
A Column of Fire is a spectacular culmination of the writers pattern of turning real events into vivid fictional narrations, more so  than the other Kingsbridge novels. The tapestry of this read is richly coloured by real historical events and will have you glued in no-time at all.
*Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan 

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World Without End - Ken Follett

Not that I've researched this fact, but I could not imagine that any of Ken Follett's book reviews are ever negative. Exquisitely detailed, but not to the point of being cumbersome and yet just more than enough to let you know that some serious research has gone into it. Scenes are always described in the most vivid way to capture a readers interest, and keep it. The chronological sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, but not necessarily to the story line, World Without End continues in the town of Kingsbridge two centuries later and again centres around the cathedral. We see the generational successors of some of the previous books protagonists as the main characters and to some extent a similar contextualized theme i.e the unconventional but lovable and seemingly irresistible clever builder (Merthin), the duty bound but stubborn and independent female protagonist (Caris) and the avaricious & ambitious yet identifiable gentry(Ralph, Merthin's brother & his parents) who seem not only to only drink too much, but also will stop at nothing to become nobility. Like its precursor, the prologue of the book has a scene that ties the lives of the main characters together which unfolds later on towards the end. Being a cathedral-town, Of course, there must be a crazed zealot  (Godwyn) who indemnifies his power hungriness as a sign God-sent. And then there was the incredible Gwenda - sold, abused and poor, she is the most interesting of all the characters just because of the sheer determination that allowed her to reach above her social burdens.
If I had to pick at this book, it would be that the repetitive nature of some of the characters in comparison to the previous book is a bit too obvious - but then, I have read them in close succession.
An elegant read written by a thoughtful writer.
*Book sponsored by Pan Macmillan