A Column of Fire (The Kingsbridge Novels)

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Barney Willard - Ned's elder brother, a merchant living with relatives in Spain, a tolerant Catholic. This triumphant saga, begun almost 30 years ago with The Pillars Of The Earth, moves across England to Scotland, France and the New World.

The Protestant killing queen Mary Tudor has popped her clogs and a new queen is set to take the throne. The Willards and The Fitzgeralds fortunes rose and fell with the Catholic and Protestant rivalry, which came to a climax when Elizabeth I took England’s throne. In this case the initial few chapters on it were perfectly fine; it was set-up as you’d expect it to be. I've had a whole month and 900+ pages to think about it-- and I just didn't enjoy A Column of Fire as much as The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End.

Without the fireships causing the Spanish ships to scatter and break formation, the outcome of the entire battle might have been different. I am still moderately literate in French from my school days and I remember some of the French characters with their French titles, like the Duc de Guise. It is the third book in the Kingsbridge Series, and serves as a sequel to 1989's The Pillars of the Earth and 2007's World Without End.

In the latter case, the blame for planning the massacre is variously attributed to the Guise Family, leaders of the fanatic Catholic League, to King Charles IX and his mother Catherine de Medici, or to both. The ultra Catholics despise Elizabeth and will try over her years of reign to do away with her and reestablish the Catholic faith as the faith of England with an overwhelming desire to place a Catholic monarch on the throne. If you fail to comply with this obligation, we may have a right of action against you for compensation. Although I still need to finish the Century Trilogy, I’m anxiously waiting for his next book, “Never”, a mystery thriller and historical fiction, being released next month.I guess I was expecting something as exciting as the first two books but I was very disappointed in this story. A read not to be missed - better still read, and enjoy, the mammoth tale that spans the whole trilogy. I absolutely loved "Pillars of the Earth" - never in my days have I got through 1100 pages so quickly.