Well, it was a bit of a slog to get through, especially at the beginning. I definitely liked Pillars of the Earth better, and I think it's because I didn't really sympathize with many of the characters here. So many of them made terrible decisions or kept being coerced by stupid people. Obviously there are the villains that the reader is supposed to hate/be frustrated with, but it's no fun to get really frustrated with the main characters as well. As with Pillars of the Earth, a lot of the novel goes in cycles, and anytime something good happens, I'm just waiting to see what the next obstacle will be. Contrived or not... It was still a fairly enjoyable read, but I hope Follet will leave the Kingsbridge universe with just these two books.