The key to enjoying this wildly oversimplified saga is to surrender early ... Will you find in its pages people whose maturing over time demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit? No. A complex, cerebral plot that deepens as it unspools? Also no ... But...[it's] fun to watch ... It’s clunky. But you can’t fight city hall, so just enjoy the ride ... It’s kind of cool spending time in c. 2500 BCE Europe and learning how flint was mined ... If a particular scene makes you roll your eyes, give it three paragraphs, and the author will have moved on.
The language is modern and accessible, with the straightforward plotting conveyed primarily through dialogue ... Didactic passages explain such cultural aspects as hide shoes ... Follett’s fans will find the epic tale they seek of human progress amid a profusion of personal relationships ... Follett’s admirers and all historical-fiction readers will be drawn to this tale of one of the world’s most enduring wonders, Stonehenge.
