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Books/book club

Ken Follet

(14 Posts)
NanKate Sat 01-Nov-25 15:56:30

I heard Ken Follet on the radio this morning talking about his life as an author. I have looked him up on Fantastic Fiction and he has written masses of books. ‘Eye of the Needle’ won a top award.

Anyone read his books please?

Smileless2012 Sat 01-Nov-25 15:59:02

Yes, quite a few. They're very well written and researched but tend to be a bit samey.

Grandmadinosaur Sat 01-Nov-25 16:07:33

I don’t but my DH does. We were in Waterstones last weekend and he hinted to me that there is a new Ken Follett book out and also a new Dan Brown. That’s a couple of gifts sorted 😀

Elusivebutterfly Sat 01-Nov-25 18:48:54

I've read his books. He writes both thrillers and historical fiction. His historical books are very long but I prefer those. They are fairly easy reading.

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Sat 01-Nov-25 18:54:02

Never have. Genre doesn’t appeal.

PaynesGrey Sat 01-Nov-25 18:57:10

They are not bad as doorstop thrillers but he peppers them with a lot of very graphic sex scenes which can be offputting.

petra Sat 01-Nov-25 19:01:38

I’ve read all of his books. Marvellous author.
Listening to him this morning I was back in his books in my head.

kircubbin2000 Sat 01-Nov-25 19:03:34

Grandmadinosaur

I don’t but my DH does. We were in Waterstones last weekend and he hinted to me that there is a new Ken Follett book out and also a new Dan Brown. That’s a couple of gifts sorted 😀

I would forget about Dan Brown.

Greyduster Sat 01-Nov-25 19:53:44

I’ve read a couple - they are very long and convoluted!

Sar53 Sat 01-Nov-25 20:37:51

Never by Ken Follett is one of the best books I have ever read.

keepingquiet Sat 01-Nov-25 20:40:34

I was also told his love of writing sex scenes isn't favourable to women but I have never read any of his books. They sound a little old-fashioned for my taste.

NanKate Sat 01-Nov-25 21:20:03

Thanks for your feedback they are not for me.

25Avalon Sat 01-Nov-25 21:32:57

I read his “A place Called Freedom” which I found to be an eye opener. Set in 1767 it is about a coal miner in Scotland, who is a slave by birth like all his fellow miners, and relates the terrible conditions of the time, social injustice and the class divide. It tells how this miner tried to escape.

grannydarkhair Sun 02-Nov-25 01:50:49

He’s probably best known for the Kingsbridge series, there’s five of them, each based in a different century. I really enjoyed the first two - The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End. I didn’t enjoy the other three nearly as much, at times I was sure they’d not been written by KF at all.
What I also really liked was his Century trilogy, all three books were equally enjoyable.
I’ve also read a few of his stand alone books, all of which were ok. None of them can be called high literature, they’re easy reads and there’s nothing wrong with that imo.