Book · 1989
The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
A master builder fights to raise a cathedral across decades of English civil war, treachery, and a prior who might be the only honest man in the country.
What does Reddit think of The Pillars of the Earth?
r/suggestmeabook does almost all the work here — 477 of 518 mentions, with r/Fantasy adding 29 and r/printSF a token 12 — and treats this as the default answer whenever someone asks for English medieval historical fiction, often paired with Shogun for the Japanese equivalent (↑216). The joke about the book's gaze toward its female characters isn't a one-off. An Amazon review gets quoted approvingly (↑784): "Ken Follet is an old man who loves tits and isn't afraid to tell people about it." A separate r/Fantasy comment (↑162) arrives at nearly the same bit independently — "50% cathedral construction manual to 20% women breasting boobily to maybe 30% actual plot" — while still crediting the cathedral-building sections as genuinely well-done. That's the shape of the consensus: real research, real length, and an authorial habit nobody pretends isn't there. Mentions hit 102 in 2025, the highest single year on record.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · cathedral-building historical epic
- · medieval English setting
- · gratuitous authorial gaze
- · doorstopper comfort read
Common praise
- + The cathedral-construction sections get singled out as genuinely well-researched, even by critics of everything else (↑162).
- + It's become the default answer for English medieval historical fiction, regularly paired with Shogun for the Japanese equivalent (↑216).
- + One reader ranks it among their top five books without qualification (↑199).
Common criticism
- − The running joke about Follett's descriptions of women shows up twice independently in the sample, once via an Amazon review (↑784) and once as a reader's own line about "20% women breasting boobily" (↑162).
Who it's for
Go in for the cathedral-building and the sprawl of medieval English politics, not for how the book handles its female characters — that criticism shows up often enough in the data (↑784, ↑162) that it's not a fluke. If Shogun worked for you as feudal-Japan comfort reading, this is the sub's answer for the English Middle Ages (↑216). Patient readers who don't mind a doorstopper get more out of this than anyone looking for a quick read.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for The Pillars of the Earth?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“Anything by Ken Follet. There’s a review for Pillars of the Earth on amazon and it says “Ken Follet is an old man who loves tits and isn’t afraid to tell people about it” There isn’t a single female character who isn’t introduced by the size of their chest. One of the female characters is describe…
“I would recommend "The Stand" of Stephen King and "the pillars of the earth" of Ken Follet. Hope I could help!
“Pillars of the earth for English Middle Ages. Shogun for feudal Japan!!
“I would bet my paycheck these would be top 5 lol East of Eden Lonesome Dove Pillars of the Earth I Have Never Know Men Parable of the Sower
“*Doomsday Book* by Connie Willis. It is meticulously researched historical fiction, the premise of which is that time travel exists and historians use it to study the past first-hand. This particular story (one of several in the Oxford Time Travel series) takes place in the 1300s and is "a record of…
“jonathan strange and mr norrell by susannah clarke lonesome dove by larry mcmurtry game of thrones #2 the windup bird chronicle by haruki murakami midnight in chernobyl by adam higginbotham red comet by heather clark east of eden by john steinbeck women don’t owe you pretty by fl…
“*Pillars of the Earth* is 50% cathedral construction manual to 20% women breasting boobily to maybe 30% actual plot. The cathedral construction stuff is really well-done though and makes you think how societies that were otherwise relatively primitive built these ludicrously beautiful, massive, meg…
“Pillars of the Earth ✌️
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Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with The Pillars of the Earth — counted from the comments, not curated.
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A teenage runaway joins a scalp-hunting gang across the borderlands, shadowed by a hairless giant who never loses an argument.
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Dune
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A duke's son survives his family's betrayal on a desert planet and becomes the prophet who leads its people to war.
Hyperion
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Seven pilgrims journey toward a monster that grants one wish and kills everyone else, and each tells the story of why they came.
The Left Hand of Darkness
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An envoy is sent alone to a planet where everyone is genderless most of the month, and he has to unlearn who he assumes is in charge.
The Fifth Season
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A woman searches a dying continent for the daughter her husband stole, while the world ends again on schedule.
The Pillars of the Earth — frequently asked
Is The Pillars of the Earth sexist?+
Reddit thinks so, repeatedly. An Amazon review quoted approvingly in r/Fantasy (↑784) says "Ken Follet is an old man who loves tits," and a separate commenter (↑162) independently lands on nearly the same joke about how female characters get introduced. It's treated as a known quirk of the author, not a one-off complaint.
Is The Pillars of the Earth historically accurate?+
The cathedral-building sections get real credit for this. One reader who otherwise mocks the book's excesses (↑162) still calls the construction material "really well-done," crediting it with making readers think about how medieval societies built such massive structures.
What is The Pillars of the Earth compared to?+
Most often Shogun, as the go-to for the English Middle Ages the way Shogun is for feudal Japan (↑216). It also turns up in at least one reader's personal top-five list alongside East of Eden and Lonesome Dove (↑199).
Is The Pillars of the Earth still popular on Reddit?+
More than ever, per the mention data — 102 mentions in 2025, the highest of any year tracked, against a steady 54-86 range in prior years. r/suggestmeabook accounts for 477 of the 518 total mentions.