Things you can count on in a Follett book:

A strong male protagonist who everyone else is determined to make fail.

A strong female protagonist who acts in ways women of their time period just do not act, and doesn't give a damn about what others think of her.

One of the above parties either rises from their low station or falls from their high station.

A nasty villain who does nothing, but bad and surrounds himself with powerful people who he manipulates to get what he wants and to cover his bad deeds. He is rewarded handsomely for his bad deeds.

A meddling relative or in-law of the male protagonist who aligns herself with the villain to destroy him.

A gay couple who are in the closet about their secret. Most everyone knows of their secret, and don't care about their preference, but use it against them to manipulate and control their decisions to suit the villains.

A few illegitimate children or two that are spawned from true love, but whose parents can't be together because of the plotting of the villainous relatives.

Men who pretend to be gentlemen, but go whoring around at night and look down upon the women they use for their gratification.

Too much description of the scenes described above.

In his writing Follett tends to repeat character descriptions that he already described in previous chapters. Usually this is done from the point of view of different characters throughout the novel. Either way, it gets annoying. I don't need to be reminded that so and so is from such and such town and has freckled arms four or five times.


Follett definitely does his historical research. His descriptions of the era he writes about are so vivid and a main reason why his books are so engrossing.

All in all I like Ken Follett and have read many of his books. Even though they follow the same plot pattern described above, I will continue to read them. However, I don't think any of the ones I read from now on will come as close to being as well written as Pillars. Maybe this is because that was my first Follett novel?

Copied from a testimonial:
"Good thrillers are like elegant geometrical proofs. Their drama lies not in their ultimate outcome but in their method. Though we know that the good guys will eventually triumph, we don't know how; a good thriller should keep us guessing until the last page. Ken Follett does just that."

This is the first thing I had to say about Ken Follett when I completed this book. For long Jeffrey Archer has been my favourite writer and I have believed the fact that I can count on fingers the number of writers who are equally good if not better than Mr. Archer in story-telling. I think I have just come across one of those writers in Ken Follett. There were quite similarities I found out between the two. Even though this is the very first Ken Follett book I have read I can pretty much say that he's a master story-teller. As mentioned in the testimonial, you know a writer is a great writer if he can make a predictable thriller as exciting as possible.

At first I was not quite sure what this book was about. I thought it was about a murder, a crime story. But it was far different from that and that is where I like this book. Normally one would continue writing about the crime and it wouldn't have been bad either. But Follett has done the duel thing, not only has he written about the crime but he's mostly focused on its effects on several peoples lives. It was not about the crime but the aftermaths of the crime. How deeply can one hidden crime can change the lives of all the people involved in it. How it can make them more suspicious of each other and how they can become more villainous.

Though a bit predictable this book has a mix of everything you want in a fiction book - love, friendship, drama, crime, rivalry, treachery, suspense, thrill, family-saga etc... When someone can cover so many topics in one book, it more often than not is bond to be an excellent book.
The most striking thing perhaps I think about this book was its setting. The historical details makes this book an instant like. The men's clubs and brothels, the ballrooms, the 19th century villas and carriages, the ethich of the liveried footmans and butlers is all perfectly set up by Ken Follett. It was like going back into time and witnessing all these things. I felt myself transported to London and fell in love with the city. The setting was so good. Wherever the story lacked the bite, the setting more than enough made up for it.
The character development is another thing why you love this book. Right from the start it makes you feel sympathy for all the people involved in the drowning incident and you are not able to decide which character you like the most. Most of the book goes on like this only, you are not able to guess for yourself what exactly do you want from the characters even though you know what you want from the story. Though not absolutely lovable the characters are quite captivating.

Now talking about the reason for which I decided to write this review. The Story-telling. Its not an easy thing to write family-sagas, and describe the feelings of the characters for 30 years. So much changes in that time period. But Ken Follett in this book certainly has set a mood and created an atmosphere which has made it deeply engrossing. I especially liked the fact that Follett kept his writing very simple and to the point all the time, nothing so extravagant just to excite the readers and things not related to the story. All 568 pages of the book are very much linked up with the story. Many a times when the book is set over decades writers drift away from the actual plotline and thats what blights a great book.
There was only one thing I didn't like in this book and that was the reason why I am not adding it to my favourites. The thing was the relationship between Hugh and Maisie. How can you fall so deeply in love with a person with whom you have spent only 1 night, and Maisie and Hugh in this case feel in love on that very night only when they spent time with each, it was not like a haunting memory which made them love each other. And before that night they used to hate each other. Through out the book I was never able to understand their love for each other though I would have to just like everything in the book, it had a good end but I am certainly not up for one-night stands. I wish it could have been written better and more realistic feelings or at least should not have been a one night feeling. I very much gave the book 4 stars because of this thing but decided against it because it would have been unfair as the rest of the book was so perfect that it reminded me of Jeffrey Archer's Kane and Abel.

Despite a few faults in the book, especially the one I mentioned above this book had moments when I felt I should complete the book at the very go. It certainly made me stay awake at nights and want to read more of it. I usually give a book 5 star when it ends and leaves me with a feeling 'Oh..! why did it really end. I liked it so much.' This book certainly is one of that and it has given me one more writer who I am a fan of. Just like I have taken the oath with Jeffrey Archer, I will do the same with Ken Follett and try to read most of his works. Because of his genius story-telling I really feel he can become one of my favorite writers along with Archer and I am very much excited to think that this book which is not best of his works has made me so intrigued, then how good the others be. I would recommend it to all those people who like real life dramas.

Fast and full of events with heroic heroes and heroines (sort of at least) and despicable or cowardly villains set in the high finance world of London 1870's to 1890's. Fairly predictable but full of energy and making one turn the pages.

El escritor Galés nos cuenta en esta obra la historia de una generación de una familia de importantes banqueros londinenses, los Pilaster, en plena época victoriana durante la última mitad del siglo XIX. En la historia se suceden las conspiraciones, venganzas, amoríos, depravaciones, luchas de poder, operaciones bancarias exitosas, quiebras, cracks bancarios... El libro comienza con un acontecimiento dramático en una colegio donde cinco jovenes adolescentes estudian, entre ellos dos miembros de la familia de banqueros. Las relaciones que crea este hecho entre esos cinco jovenes influirán en sus decisiones el resto de su vida.
Como todos los libros de Follett engancha desde el primer momento y no te dejará más opción que devorar sus casi 700 páginas rápidamente. Recomendable.

This was very entertaining. Much of it was predictable but I enjoyed it anyway. I was so glad that Micky got his just desserts but if it had been even worse I would have been glad. Talk about vicious villains this book has them.

2.5

Po początku spodziewałem sie czegos ekstra a tu klops… jezyk i narracja super, poza tym fabuła nie moja. Pozdrawiam i nie polecam

great read ... excellent plot, sometimes predictable but also many surprises ... the descriptions of the banking industry in late 19th c London were superb

Mein erstes Buch von diesem Autor und ich muss sagen - ich bin angenehm überrascht. Spannend und flüssig geschrieben. Man fühlt und leidet mit der Hauptfigur und möchte die intrigante Tante einfach nur erwürgen.

3,5 *

A história inicia-se em 1866, num colégio de rapazes de classes mais abastadas e onde um dos estudantes morre afogado na lagoa. No meio desta morte misteriosa, temos outros estudantes: Hugh Pilaster, amigo do jovem e filho de um homem que tem uma fábrica; Edward Pilaster, primo de Hugh e filho de um banqueiro; Micky Miranda, amigo de Edward e natural de Córdova; e Tonio Silva, amigo de Hugh e também ele natural de Córdova. Vamos então acompanhando a vida destas personagens, ao longo dos anos.

Impressionante como Ken Follett conseguiu prender-me à narrativa, logo nas primeiras páginas, com uma morte de um jovem envolta em mistério e com o carácter bem vincado das personagens. E esse, o carácter e a personalidade das várias personagens foi um dos pontos fortes do livro. Temos personagens boas, honestas e extremamente capazes, como é o caso de Hugh e Solly mas, do outro lado da balança, temos Edward, Augusta (mãe de Edward) e Micky. Edward é o típico menino rico, mimado e protegido pela mãe; Augusta é uma mulher ambiciosa, sedenta por subir na sociedade e que quer tudo para o filho; e Micky é um verdadeiro manipulador e que não olha a meios para atingir os seus fins. E deixem-me que vos diga, Micky e Augusta mexeram muito com os meus nervos.
Ken Follett dá-nos uma excelente descrição do sistema bancário, como funcionam os investimentos, como um mau resultado de uma entidade bancária pode afectar a sociedade. Sem dúvida um tema muito actual.
Temos também uma boa visão da estratificação de classes da época, nomeadamente numa cena específica de uma viagem de comboio e piquenique. Mas também de como a troca de favores influenciam a escalada na posição social.
A escrita muito fluída e uma história cheia de intrigas e sacanices fazem com que, apesar do tamanho do livro, seja uma leitura muito rápida.
Em termos de final, acaba por ser dentro do que Ken Follett já nos habituou, adiando até à última, a tranquilidade para os nossos protagonistas e o castigo para os vilões.

Partially listening to and mostly reading this novel was a marvelous experience. The author did a wonderful task of reminding through the text about prior plot developments that mattered to the current context. I cared about the protagonists and despised the antagonists. The climax was well worth the wait and the various twists were beautifully resolved in the epilogue.

Ken Follett has a wonderful ability to craft complicated family sagas. The characters are always well developed and story arcs delicately interwoven, resulting in compelling novels that are very enjoyable. This story did not disappoint. Centred around the rise and fall of the fictional Pilaster family over the span of 30 years in late 19th century London, it begins with three of the main characters as boys attending the same prep school. The tragic death of a fellow student ultimately shapes the futures of the three boys and we follow their lives through adulthood. It’s an epic tale of love, murder, classism, hope, greed and integrity.

While not my favourite work by Follett, this was a very good read, delivering the high quality I’ve have come to expect in the many years of reading his work.