Evening & the Morning, The
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- Create Date：2021-08-05 10:16:05
- Update Date：2025-09-24
- Status：finish
- Author：Ken Follett
- ISBN：0525508457
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Summary
It is 997 CE， the end of the Dark Ages。 England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east。 Those in power bend justice according to their will， regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king。 Without a clear rule of law， chaos reigns。
In these turbulent times， three characters find their lives intertwined。 A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided by Vikings， forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in。 。 。 。 A Norman noblewoman marries for love， following her husband across the sea to a new land， but the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different， and as she begins to realize that everyone around her is engaged in a constant， brutal battle for power， it becomes clear that a single misstep could be catastrophic。 。 。 。 A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe。 And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power。
In these turbulent times， three characters find their lives intertwined。 A young boatbuilder's life is turned upside down when the only home he's ever known is raided by Vikings， forcing him and his family to move and start their lives anew in a small hamlet where he does not fit in。 。 。 。 A Norman noblewoman marries for love， following her husband across the sea to a new land， but the customs of her husband's homeland are shockingly different， and as she begins to realize that everyone around her is engaged in a constant， brutal battle for power， it becomes clear that a single misstep could be catastrophic。 。 。 。 A monk dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a center of learning that will be admired throughout Europe。 And each in turn comes into dangerous conflict with a clever and ruthless bishop who will do anything to increase his wealth and power。
Reviews
Jackie
，
An enjoyable medieval soap opera， and now I move on to part 3 of the trilogy。 I wonder what I will read on the treadmill when I finish？ I have plenty of time to think about it。
Emma
，
Did NOT disappoint。 I like it even better than Pillars of the Earth。 I feel very comfortable giving 5 stars。
Goldcell
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A great addition to the Kingsbridge series。
David And
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enjoyed， but the every-man feature of the main character hard to believe。
Britany
，
I love Ken Follet’s writing！ Characters to story and especially the story line from book to book in a series and catching up with the descendants of a past protagonists generations later。 It’s creative and catches the mind。
Jamie
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This book is the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth， which have been on my list for some time。 And this book was a huge success in my opinion。 Follett is a very descriptive writer， though thankfully it is just the right amount of world building。 He has clearly researched every kind of person of the dark ages， the from the rich down to the slaves who were owned by them。 Though there are many characters， they are all different enough that they are easy to follow， and I really couldn't choose whic This book is the prequel to The Pillars of the Earth， which have been on my list for some time。 And this book was a huge success in my opinion。 Follett is a very descriptive writer， though thankfully it is just the right amount of world building。 He has clearly researched every kind of person of the dark ages， the from the rich down to the slaves who were owned by them。 Though there are many characters， they are all different enough that they are easy to follow， and I really couldn't choose which one I loved the best， some for their cunning and ambition， and some for their bravery and loyalty。 This book has some very hard scenes， and they are descriptive。 The world was a different place， if you killed someone and they were a slave， it was annoying because you had to replace the slave， not because a life had been taken。 Women were seen as playthings and pawns， and if you were rich， you could buy anyone and anything。 Follett did a wonderful job of painting the world as it really was。 I can't wait to read his next books。 。。。more
Sally
，
Can the brutal Dark Ages really be the landscape for a summer read？ Apparently， it can be。 Viking raids， slave trading， beatings， kidnappings， murderous bishops， kidnappings。。。。 and then， love。 To the author's credit， the villains and heroes are clearly drawn。 The trading and beating of women is seen though the women's ease， less with them as objects。I feel like I've read a Dark Ages soap opera。 I feel just a little dirty。 Can the brutal Dark Ages really be the landscape for a summer read？ Apparently， it can be。 Viking raids， slave trading， beatings， kidnappings， murderous bishops， kidnappings。。。。 and then， love。 To the author's credit， the villains and heroes are clearly drawn。 The trading and beating of women is seen though the women's ease， less with them as objects。I feel like I've read a Dark Ages soap opera。 I feel just a little dirty。 。。。more
Kristina
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Too predictable。。。
John
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Typical of other books in this series， some sections were awesome and others seemed rushed to get to a specific storyline goal。 A lot of nonsensical writing was done to keep the same path of delaying the two main characters from getting together until later in life and to keep the primary antagonist still relevant。 I think this was the lowest quality book in the series。
Mercedes
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Un libro sobre la edad oscura en Gran Bretaña。Precuela de los "Los Pilares de la Tierra"。Un libro de muchas páginas pero que cuando te engancha se hace corto 。Con unos personajes a los que amas como Edgar，Ragna y Aldred y a los que odias como Wystan，Wilgem ，Dren y unos cuantos más 。En donde acompañarás en la vida de varios personajes desde su juventud hasta su madurez a través de incursiones vikingas，muerte ，destrucción， bodas，nacimientos，alegrías ，violencia y amor。Una gran novela histórica de u Un libro sobre la edad oscura en Gran Bretaña。Precuela de los "Los Pilares de la Tierra"。Un libro de muchas páginas pero que cuando te engancha se hace corto 。Con unos personajes a los que amas como Edgar，Ragna y Aldred y a los que odias como Wystan，Wilgem ，Dren y unos cuantos más 。En donde acompañarás en la vida de varios personajes desde su juventud hasta su madurez a través de incursiones vikingas，muerte ，destrucción， bodas，nacimientos，alegrías ，violencia y amor。Una gran novela histórica de un gran Ken Follet。Muy recomendable si te gustó los pilates de la Tierra y，independiente de éste。 。。。more
Cj Mumm
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Had forgotten what a great writer he is。 Much enjoyed！
Suzanne Lhota
，
I liked this book。 I probably liked it more than I normally would have as it was a prequel to Pillars of the Earth （which I LOVED） and enjoyed the connections。 I would recommend reading Pillars of the Earth before reading The Evening and the Morning。
Dawn
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3021 Challenge Bonus: longest book on tbr list
Vibeke Hemmingsen
，
Liker du Follet sine historiske romaner， svarer denne til forventningene。 Innholder alt; maktkamp， ondskap， kjærlighet， lengsel， lidelse， grusomheter og spenning。
John Filicetti
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I couldn't put this down。 Long book， but it kept my interest all the way。 I would highly recommend this to anyone。 I couldn't put this down。 Long book， but it kept my interest all the way。 I would highly recommend this to anyone。 。。。more
Starlo
，
Enjoyable stuff as you would expect from KenFollet but as with most prequels， it feels like an exercise in cashing-in on the success of Pillars of the Earth rather than an original work。
Laurelin
，
The Evening and the Morning is not a perfect book by any means。 The plot is formulaic， the characters are very one-note， and I'm sure a great many historical inaccuracies were swept under the rug。 But with that being said， this book is entertaining as hell。 The drama！ The tragedy！ The villains getting their comeuppance！ Author Ken Follett has a way of pushing the plot along at such a breakneck pace that it's impossible to set the book down。 So is The Evening and the Morning a good book？ Kind of。 The Evening and the Morning is not a perfect book by any means。 The plot is formulaic， the characters are very one-note， and I'm sure a great many historical inaccuracies were swept under the rug。 But with that being said， this book is entertaining as hell。 The drama！ The tragedy！ The villains getting their comeuppance！ Author Ken Follett has a way of pushing the plot along at such a breakneck pace that it's impossible to set the book down。 So is The Evening and the Morning a good book？ Kind of。 But will you enjoy reading it？ Definitely！ 。。。more
Sol Vargas
，
Ken Follett no decepciona， el maestro de la ficción histórica。 Me encantó。
Michelle
，
I think this prequel was my favorite of the series。 Suspenseful。 Great characters。
Terri Butts
，
I listened to the 24 hour audio version of this novel， since I had a long trip ahead of me， and listening makes the miles seem faster。 Anyway， it was a good story- interesting， engaging， and full of twists and turns。 I would've gotten a little discouraged if I had even believed for a minute （which I didn't） that the story would end on an unhappy note。 I was rewarded at the end when the bad guys get what they deserve， and the good guys ride off happy into the sunset。 Although Pillars is my favori I listened to the 24 hour audio version of this novel， since I had a long trip ahead of me， and listening makes the miles seem faster。 Anyway， it was a good story- interesting， engaging， and full of twists and turns。 I would've gotten a little discouraged if I had even believed for a minute （which I didn't） that the story would end on an unhappy note。 I was rewarded at the end when the bad guys get what they deserve， and the good guys ride off happy into the sunset。 Although Pillars is my favorite of this series， this is probably #2 right behind it。 。。。more
Jen K。
，
"Pillars of the Earth" had been on my 'to read' list for years and when it had finally risen to the top a few months ago， I was daunted， excited and eventually blown away。 When the prequel hit paperback I thought - this is perfect timing。 I'll read it now because I'm still basking in the glow of Pillars。 Oh， Ken。 What。 Happened？ First， let me explain my two stars。 One star: it's a relatively good plot with captivating story lines。 I mean， who doesn't love a good Dark Ages drama？ One star: it's a "Pillars of the Earth" had been on my 'to read' list for years and when it had finally risen to the top a few months ago， I was daunted， excited and eventually blown away。 When the prequel hit paperback I thought - this is perfect timing。 I'll read it now because I'm still basking in the glow of Pillars。 Oh， Ken。 What。 Happened？ First， let me explain my two stars。 One star: it's a relatively good plot with captivating story lines。 I mean， who doesn't love a good Dark Ages drama？ One star: it's an easy read and by easy read， I mean easy read。 The dialogue is juvenile and at times， a little embarrassing。 I'm going out on a limb， but I don't think they said "we're solid" in Anglo Saxon。 In Pillars， even though it was 1，000 pages， Ken Follett kept the character roster pretty tight。 In The Evening and Morning， I felt like he had googled "top 20 girls' and boys' names of the 10th century" and just crammed them all in there; some got a cool nickname。 i。e。 Sungifu "Sunni"。 Blod got lucky and got to keep her name because it was short， but then again， not super lucky cuz her name was Blod。 In Pillars， at first my eyes started to glaze over when paragraph after paragraph described how Tom was going to build a wall or an arch。 But， I came to depend on those points in time， to immerse myself in the passion of the character， of the author。 So much so， I regularly googled images of cathedrals。 In The Evening and Morning， there was a bridge - that was built - after a couple tries。 Honestly， I was more intrigued by Edgar's eel trap that he wove。 And come to think of it， I don't really understand the title "The Morning And The Evening"。 "Ragna vs。 the 'W' Bros" would have been better。My star rating is my star rating。 In the end， I would say that if you loved "Pillars of the Earth" and was expecting more of the same - you're not going to get it。 It's a beach read。 So if you don't have a problem hauling a brick to the beach - enjoy:） 。。。more
Mike Shoop
，
4。5 stars。 Follett sets this prequel to Pillars of the Earth in 997-1007 A。D。， the time of the English king Ethelred the Unready （called "the Misled" here）。 His focus is on three characters whose stories overlap: the Shiring monk， Aldred， who desires to establish a center of learning in that part of England; the lovely and strong-willed Lady Ragna of Cherbourg， who throws over a French princeling to marry an English ealdorman and then discovers it's not what she bargained for; and Edgar the boat 4。5 stars。 Follett sets this prequel to Pillars of the Earth in 997-1007 A。D。， the time of the English king Ethelred the Unready （called "the Misled" here）。 His focus is on three characters whose stories overlap: the Shiring monk， Aldred， who desires to establish a center of learning in that part of England; the lovely and strong-willed Lady Ragna of Cherbourg， who throws over a French princeling to marry an English ealdorman and then discovers it's not what she bargained for; and Edgar the boatbuilder， forced by tragedy to make a new life at a hamlet called Dreng's Ferry （which by the story's end has grown to a town and changed its name because of its new bridge sanctioned by the king--hint， hint）。 Follett makes no bones about who's bad and who's good in his lengthy saga， and he has a couple of real villains here， especially the ambitiously corrupt bishop Wynstan， who'll stop at nothing in his grab for money and power。 My quibble is that these characters are mostly too cut and dried， very little gray area， you either like them or you don't， and several characters are just too good to be true （Edgar is like a super hero--he can do anything， from building a boat to a brewhouse to a bridge to a church， quarry stone， and create a fishpond and fish traps， plus catch criminals and plan intrigues）。 Sometimes it was just a bit much。 There were also times when I felt the dialogue and language just sounded too modern for that time period and it jarred me out of the story。 That being said， Follett is an excellent storyteller， I enjoyed his characters， he knows how to pull a reader in and keep the pages turning--this book is long， but it is chock-full of drama， intrigue， murder， sex， forgery， disease， Viking raids， etc。--maybe a bit predictable， but totally kept my attention。 Follett expertly weaves his plotlines， keeps track of huge numbers of characters， throws in a few nasty twists， evokes the period well with real events and details and real personages--Ethelred and his wife Emma of Normandy （a friend of Ragna） even make appropriate appearances--and wraps things up so that all the good characters are rewarded and most of the bad ones get their comeuppance。 If you are into lengthy historical sagas， this was definitely an enthralling and entertaining read。 。。。more
Sebastian Hetman
，
My first encounter with Ken Follet。 This reads like something written for ten-year-olds， every important concept—and there are few of them， so they stand out like a sore eye—stated and repeated to make sure no reader misses it。 The characters lack voice and motivation， the plot direction， and the story simply failed to engage me on any level。
Meilanie
，
4
Christopher
，
Solid escapism back to Follett’s fictitious medieval England。 By page 75， I had assumed one of the big plot points， but that’s because I’ve read the other books。 This was a very good read， and went fast， despite the 900+ pages。
Riq Hoelle
，
First of all it's great to have a non-war story from Anglo-Saxon times！ Second it's nice to have another book in the The Pillars of the Earth formula if you haven't read one in a while。 As ever， there is a builder， a noble lady and an important monk and the main villain is a bishop。 The book has horrible things happening to the characters， but the plotting keeps you eagerly reading along nonetheless。A few notes:The reason that the nobility want the family to make the move that they do seems very First of all it's great to have a non-war story from Anglo-Saxon times！ Second it's nice to have another book in the The Pillars of the Earth formula if you haven't read one in a while。 As ever， there is a builder， a noble lady and an important monk and the main villain is a bishop。 The book has horrible things happening to the characters， but the plotting keeps you eagerly reading along nonetheless。A few notes:The reason that the nobility want the family to make the move that they do seems very weakly motivated。 If the problem is that they are troublemakers， moving them to another area would just mean that they are troublemakers in a different area。Establishes a good mystery regarding secret business that is going on at the ferry。 But when the mystery is finally revealed， it seems hard to believe it was ever a mystery that could have been kept。At a certain point， it's far from clear why Ragna doesn't just leave and return to her parents。 First she was lied to and then openly cheated upon。 Really don't see why she stays。 But the Ragna character is an odd combination of savvy and naivete。The sheriff has too little imagination。 If he would just prepare for situations things would go a lot better。 The book starts in 997 CE and in 998 jumps far ahead， all the way to the year 1001， which I find strange。 Just before the year 1000 many people were very scared that the world would end。 I wonder why he didn't go into any of that when he had such a good chance。Surprised that no families seem to carry over to The Pillars of the Earth。When they build a bridge the description of how it works is very confusing。 It's hard to understand how it can work。 That goes for some other physical world detailed descriptions in the book as well。Later on some characters go out of their way to destroy the bridge， but oddly， they have no good reason to do so。 The characters even discuss this。 Why are we doing this， they ask themselves。 After some discussion the only thing they can come up with is along the lines of we're doing it because we're doing it！ What？！ Really wish a better motivation had been provided here。 Instead it felt like the author broke the fourth wall and started conversing with us， the readers。Interestingly， the usually maligned King Ethelraed the Unready is given even-handed treatment here。A couple characters appear to come down with syphilis。 This is odd as it's usually thought to be a disease that only arrived in Europe after Columbus。The characters this time are more black and white。 We kind of know pretty early on how everything is going to turn out。 Not the details， but the essentials。 In some ways this is not up to the quality of The Pillars of the Earth。 What remains of best quality is the plotting， which was the best thing about the author's first book， The Eye of the Needle。 。。。more
Inna
，
As the others in the series， this prequel is engaging and has some fun sticking-it-to-power / smarts-over-bully moments。
Chris Wilcock
，
Excellent
Cfrudolphygmail。Com
，
Good storyI read Pillars of the Earth a long time ago。 When deciding what to read I chose this pre-quell。 I am glad I did。 The characters are well developed and the plot is not quite as predictable as it might seem。 Now I have to re-read Pillars before moving on to books 3 and 4。
Wyobuckeye
，