I found this idea on Simon's blog @ Stuck in a Book.
He picks an author for each letter of the alphabet, sharing which of
their books he's read, which I ones he owns, how he came across them
etc.
It was difficult to choose some of the authors for certain letters but this one was totally clear, I thought of Ken Follett right away. However, there are Ildefonso Falcones, Charles Frazier and Marianne Fredriksson whose books I also heartily recommend.
Let's start with his most popular series, the Kingsbridge stories:
- "The Evening and the Morning" (Kingsbridge #0.5) - 2020
- "The Pillars of the Earth" (Kingsbridge #1) - 1989
- "World Without End" (Kingsbridge #2) - 2007
- "A Column of Fire" (Kingsbridge #3) - 2017
- "The Armour of Light" (Kingsbridge #4) - 2023
The first two books have been turned into mini series.
The first book in the series (The Pillars of the Earth) is a novel about building a cathedral in a small English town in the 12th century, the other novels pick up the theme in different centuries with a story about the beginnings of the village in "The Evening and the Morning".
And then there is the Century trilogy.
Five interrelated families from the United States, Germany, Russia, England and Wales live through the 20th century. Facts about Ken Follett:
born 5 June 1949 as Kenneth Martin Follett in Cardiff, Wales
He is married to Barbara Hubbard, a British politician. They have two children.
He is mostly known for his crime novels and spy thrillers.
He has also written books under the names Bernard L. Ross, Zachary Stone, and Martin Martinsen. Thanks to CyberKitten @ Seeking a Little Truth for making me aware of this. I quite like it when authors do that, publish different genres under different names, but Ken Follett has also written a lot of his other genres under his real name.
There is a statue of him in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain.
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I loved Pillars of The Earth but never read any more of Follett's books, I get intimidated by the page number
ReplyDeleteI totally understand, Teri. All his books are really chunky and if you don't like that, I can see why you wouldn't want to tackle them. But they are just fantastic.
DeleteI know you love this author; I've never read him. But my sister has.
ReplyDeleteI know many people don't read him because his books are huuuuge. I suppose your sister didn't mind that. Anyway, I am sure you would like him, too, Lark.
DeleteI didn't think I'd read anything by this author (yet!) but it seems that I have - just under a different name:
ReplyDelete'Capricorn One' (1978) (as by Bernard L Ross). A good book which was turned into one of my favourite films..... Hopefully I'll be reading one of his *shorter* works soon.
Thanks for that comment, Kitten, I have added that to my post. Because a lot of his thrillers are also written under his real name, I didn't assume he had another pen name. Turns out, he has several.
DeleteI also love Capricorn One. What a story!
"Shorter works" is a good joke, though. LOL
I am always tempted to try his historical series, even though historical fiction is tough for me to read because there's always something wrong.
ReplyDeleteI know, Sarah. And you might even find something but he has really reviewed his subjects well. Another author like that is Edward Rutherfurd, have you ever tried him?
DeleteNo, I've not tried him either. The real stories are just so much better, is part of my issue I think. Eleanor's dad used to tell me I would love Game of Thrones and my answer was always the same: It's the Plantagenets, but with dragons.
DeleteHaha, good answer. I'm not into dragons and stuff but this talks about real people and how they lived in the different times, I like that.
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