Iain Hawkes’s Reviews > The Armour of Light > Status Update

Similar to Pillars of the Earth, this gave me a spike of interest towards the end, but like its predecessor, whether it fits the story is another matter. Thus far, the Napoleonic Wars have been kept in the background, but now we're diving headfirst into the home stretch, namely the period after Napoleon has returned to the throne, Waterloo, etc. I mean, it's fine, but it feels out of place.

Not sure what else I can say at this point that I haven't already. Follett's writing is pedestrian and his characters are (mostly) one note. On the other, it's good historical fiction, at least in the sense of conveying time and place. Up to 1804 now, Napoleon's now emperor.

So a significant portion of the cast decided to become Luddites (or at least Luddite adjacent)? Okay. Anyway, it's fine, I guess. I'm still not fond of Follett's writing style, but echoing what others have said, the Pillars of the Earth series is a story of place rather than characters. In this sense, Kingsbridge is arguably a microcosm of the Industrial Revolution, so I guess it succeeds there.

It's okay, can't comment much for better or worse. Poor Amos. :(

Don't have much more to say - more of the same. Like Pillars of the Earth, the dialogue is banal, but it has a good sense of scene/place.

Still okay, at this point. Not much more I can say.

For better or worse, this is effectively more of the same from Pillars of the Earth (can't comment on the other Kingsbridge books) in terms of both writing style and location, if not timeframe. Certainly captures the peculiarities of the era well enough.