A Column of Fire: A Novel

Ken Follett

Sep 2017 · Kingsbridge Book 3 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Absorbing . . . impossible to resist.” —The Washington Post

As Europe erupts, can one young spy protect his queen? #1 New York Times bestselling author Ken Follett takes us deep into the treacherous world of powerful monarchs, intrigue, murder, and treason with his magnificent new epic, A Column of Fire. A thrilling read that makes the perfect gift for the holidays.
 
In 1558, the ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn apart by religious conflict. As power in England shifts precariously between Catholics and Protestants, royalty and commoners clash, testing friendship, loyalty, and love. 
 
Ned Willard wants nothing more than to marry Margery Fitzgerald. But when the lovers find themselves on opposing sides of the religious conflict dividing the country, Ned goes to work for Princess Elizabeth. When she becomes queen, all Europe turns against England. The shrewd, determined young monarch sets up the country’s first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions, and invasion plans. Over a turbulent half century, the love between Ned and Margery seems doomed as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. Elizabeth clings to her throne and her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies and courageous secret agents.
 
The real enemies, then as now, are not the rival religions. The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance and compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else—no matter what the cost.
 
Set during one of the most turbulent and revolutionary times in history, A Column of Fire is one of Follett’s most exciting and ambitious works yet. It will delight longtime fans of the Kingsbridge series and is the perfect introduction for readers new to Ken Follett.

Ratings and reviews

Great book for any fan of Ken Follett's writing. To preface this review, I'm a gigantic fan of Pillars of the Earth. I've read it over a dozen times and consider it one of my favourite books of all time! Personally, for A Column of Fire, I found the story a bit repetitive in regard's to Follett's previous books. The throwbacks to the previous books were shoved into the character's lives in awkward ways and it felt a bit like cheap fan-service. I also just didn't really care about the main characters in the same way I did for most of Follett's bibliography. Maybe it's just because I've been reading a lot of strong writers lately (shoutout to fans of Brandon Sanderson) but, the female characters in this book fell really flat for me. Maybe it's just rose-coloured glasses when looking back on previous Follett books, but I feel like Aliena (and even Caris) were more well-rounded characters than the likes of Margery and Sylvie (I did like Sylvie, I just found her underutilized in the story). In other books, they make you really care about character's parents, extended family (sometimes), and always children. I didn't care about any of the parents or children in this book. They were just supporting characters that made protagonist's lives more difficult by their existence. Regardless of these negative things, I still liked the book a lot. It's always nice to get another viewpoint to a different time in history, and personally I've never actually read much about the fights between Protestants and Catholics, so it was nice to get the insight this book gave. A few of the male characters were pretty interesting. For part of the last quarter of the novel I was enraptured, couldn't pull myself away. It was pretty a nice change to see Follett using his skill writing about spies and treason for an era pre-20th century. There wasn't much of a historical footnote unfortunately, so I'm not sure how accurate the book was but it was at least a fun romp through the world of warring Christianity.

A grander scale, and more characters sharing the limelight than the previous two books, detracts from the expertly crafted intimacy and heroism of the first two books, but only slightly. Still expertly crafted, still exciting, and still an absolute must read for fans of this series.

Books 1 and 2 are far superior. Book 1, the building of the Kingsbridge Cathedral. Book 2, the plague comes to Kingsbridge. Book 3, the political history of Queen Elizabeth, the rise of Protestants, and the Spanish Inquisition. this last book is a recounting of history and lacks the intimacy typically found is Follet's storytelling. Poor character development.

About the author

Ken Follett is one of the world’s best-loved authors, selling more than 160 million copies of his thirty books. Follett’s first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War.
 
In 1989 The Pillars of the Earth was published and has since become Follett’s most popular novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
 
Its sequel, World Without End, proved equally popular and the Kingsbridge series has sold 38 million copies worldwide.
 
Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and three Labradors.