The Armor of Light

A Novel (Kingsbridge, Book 5)

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

The long-awaited sequel to A Column of Fire, The Armor of Light, heralds a new dawn for Kingsbridge, England, where progress clashes with tradition, class struggles push into every part of society, and war in Europe engulfs the entire continent and beyond.

The Spinning Jenny was invented in 1770, and with that, a new era of manufacturing and industry changed lives everywhere within a generation. A world filled with unrest wrestles for control over this new world order: A mother’s husband is killed in a work accident due to negligence; a young woman fights to fund her school for impoverished children; a well-intentioned young man unexpectedly inherits a failing business; one man ruthlessly protects his wealth no matter the cost, all the while war cries are heard from France, as Napoleon sets forth a violent master plan to become emperor of the world. As institutions are challenged and toppled in unprecedented fashion, ripples of change ricochet through our characters’ lives as they are left to reckon with the future and a world they must rebuild from the ashes of war.

Over thirty years ago, Ken Follett published his most popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth. Now, with this electrifying addition to the Kingsbridge series we are plunged into the battlefield between compassion and greed, love and hate, progress and tradition. It is through each character that we are given a new perspective to the seismic shifts that shook the world in nineteenth-century Europe.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Armor of Light

"Ken Follett is a master storyteller . . . His works of historical fiction have made him a legend. . . . Follett’s latest marks the end of a storytelling journey that spans a thousand years. The Armor of Light is also the final entry in his Kingsbridge series."
—Jeff Glor, CBS

"We can’t stop turning the pages. . . . it is Follett’s generosity and adeptness with historical detail and nimble depictions of technical matters that set this book, like its predecessors, above mere historical melodrama."
—The Washington Post

"A treat for fans of historical fiction."
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This epic canvas holds a mélange of relationships which all work out exactly as they should while Follett brings Kingsbridge up to the Regency era."
—Booklist

"An impressive and immersive epic."
—Publishers Weekly

Doesn’t grip me like other Follett novels, but I still enjoyed it

Ken Follett is my favorite author. For my money, Column of Fire might be the greatest historical fiction of all time, tied with Pillars of the Earth. When he comes out with a new book, I set my calendar, and read it the first day. This book is good, but I never felt myself gripped to the stories nor the characters in the same way I do with Pillars, nor Column, and I’ll explain why.

** mild spoilers upcoming, I’m not gonna give away everything, but some might choose to stop reading here***

This book is a slow build. When I looked at the time period I thought the novel was going to be all about Napoleon, with characters who scheme with Wellington, and others who serve Napoleon, but Follett takes a different tack. He spends the bulk of the book describing how the home front is affected by distant wars. Inflation, bread shortages, bread riots, and the main theme of the book, Labor Unions in the UK. The war with Napoleon is mainly just a malaise that hangs over Kingsbridge, as you hear about headlines of Austerlitz, and the Grand Armeè getting lost in Russia, but he doesn’t set the stage for any of those encounters, and no character ever sets eyes on Napoleon at any point in the book. Finally at Waterloo he puts the Kingsbridge characters in the muck, and his depiction of Waterloo was the highlight of the book.

He had similar themes in Pillars (distant war complicates building a Cathedral), but in Pillars I was gripped to the villain (Hamley) and my wife and I decided we will name our future daughter after Aliana (from Pillars). None of the protagonists nor antagonists captivated me in the same way previous Follett characters gripped me.

The main villain, the CEO of the weaving conglomerate is some mix of Scrooge, and Javier (from Les Mis). I never really found myself hating the villain, just a greedy money hungry CEO, who will do anything to maintain his wealth at the top.

In most of Follett’s books he puts his characters right in the middle of the action (Think Ned Willard working as a spy for Elizabeth Tudor, or Prior Philip addressing King Stephen/Archbishop of Canterbury), no character exists like that in this novel. All major historical characters are mostly seen from afar, as the labor disputes in Kingsbridge take center stage for the entirety of the book.

Ultimately, I would’ve loved a character who rubbed shoulders with Napoleon, and even a character that was closer with Wellington.

I still genuinely enjoyed this novel, but likely my least favorite of the Kingsbridge series, unfortunately.

Unrealistic Characters

The villains in Follets book are so simplistically evil. They never do good but ludicrously try to find evil to perpetuate. I’m surprised they have time for a life when not drowning puppies and burning orphans at the stake. Meanwhile, the rest of the town is so naive as to be unbelievable.

Incredible story.

Ken Follett is by far my favorite author of all time. His development of the characters in each book is superb and I cannot wait to read the whole series again.

Good continuation

Good rendition of the timeline. A little risqué on the sexual parts, could have done without these. The narrator is easy to listen to which makes the story more entertaining.

Follett knows how to spin tale that is informative, interesting and has full characters. I hope there will be another book in th

John Lee performance was excellent. I look forward to another narration by him. Hopefully in this series,