Some heavy hitters already here! Great to see some of my favorite authors, including some outside of fantasy, making your top 50, and I especially look forward to seeing where Hobb appears again in later videos in this series. Cheers, Josh!
So many amazing titles already on this part of the list, can't wait to see what's to come! I really need to get to Daughter of the Empire asap. And all the love for Hobb! Also really like how you set the rules to keep recency bias out of this list, that would be such an issue for me because everything is instantly my new fave when I finish it hahahah
Such an interesting mix, some of which I also love like Shadow Rising, Jane Eyre, Daughter of the Empire. I remember the Game of Houses back in the 90s when I read it. I just realised you were right about it pre-dating ASOIF. Looking forward to the next instalment.
I’m so happy you have Gone Baby Gone on your list! I love that book and even though I read it years ago I still think of it often. I also loved Small Mercies. Lehane isn’t as well loved as he should be. ❤️
Definitely agree about Jane Eyre. I think some would argue it's not a romance although it's in there. Also is coming of age (bildungsromane). Some like Villette better but I've not read it yet. ❤ Grapes of Wrath too
Of these, I've only read Jane Eyre, The Grapes of Wrath & Boys Life, all of which I loved. Your recommendations have always scored for me, so the ol' TBR grows again!
I think Robert McCammon's Mine would be a great next one for you since you love crime fiction and horror. It's great. I have it ranked as his third best stand-alone just below the two obvious ones. But if you want to see what he can do with a long-running series, then Speaks the Nightbird!
Oh, good to know about Mine! I'll move that to the top. I've been holding off on Speaks the Nightbird because I have so many series that are priorities right now.
Man, you're gonna make me go out and buy The Terror even though I have Carrion Comfort, which I had in my soonish plans already. Might be switching up the TBR now.
McCammon, Follett and Lehane are high up on authors I’m embarrassed I haven’t gotten too yet. I think I’ll have different starting points then the works presented here but this still has me excited to get going
Oh, awesome new series! How long in between videos are you planning? I read and loved World Without End this year btw. Just a notch below Pillars but it was fantastic. Caris and Merthin ❤. Thinking of skipping Column for the prequel book next, what do you think?
I'm hoping to put the rest of the series out quickly, but October and December are brutal work months, so I honestly hope to just get the next two out by the end of the year. As. for skipping Column and reading the prequel, I'd say there's nothing wrong with that. The Evening and the Morning was a better book IMO than both A Column of Fire and The Armor of Light.
Read six of these, and am in the middle of World Without End. I haven’t read The Terror, Boy’s Life or any Lehane. But I’m with you on all the rest, so maybe I should. World Without End feels slightly more relaxed and less gimmicky than Pillars (which I loved). I just have the feeling that Follett has truly hit his stride with this world and everything seems to flow effortlessly and inevitably. Having a great time with it so far (Ralph just reneged on his deal with Gwenda. A little hard to believe that she could be so naive.)
Pillars is most likely my favorite book of all time. I enjoyed World Without End and agree that it’s a worthy successor. I DNF’d A Column of Fire a third of the way through and probably won’t read anymore books in that series. I read The Grapes of Wrath in high school and disliked it intensely, maybe I should try as an adult. I own Jane Erye but haven’t read it, I suppose I should rectify that. Looking forward to hearing the rest of your favorites.
I know so many readers that share your love for Pillars and consider its their ultimate favorite. I would agree with you that if you DNF's A Column of Fire, probably quit while your'e ahead with the Kingsbridge novels! Although The Evening and The Morning is a pretty solid prequel.
The first time I've seen justifiable "honorable mentions" on a list like this. I get it now, but I started rolling my eyes way back in my head when you spoke those two words. I swear, most BookTubers put four honorable mentions on their top ten lists because they've read 14 books in their lives. You're miles above that kind of nonsense. 😄 Thanks for sharing your list!
5:11 I completely agree with you about World Without End. It was an excellent book and a truly worthy follow-up to Pillars of the Earth. I loved the characters and their development, and Ken Follett’s ability to transport you to Kingsbridge is incredible. I enjoy getting lost in that world when I read these books. A Column of Fire was also quite good, though different from the first two. I appreciated the political dynamic between Catholics and Protestants, which really interests me. I also thoroughly enjoyed The Evening and the Morning. As for The Armor of Light, I haven’t read it yet and probably won’t for a while, if ever. Edit: Not to sound ridiculous, but I’m pretty sure I remember more detail about the characters and story arcs in World Without End than I do Pillars. Even though Pillars is my favorite book of all time (equally with Lonesome Dove, if it’s a hard call lol) and I’ve read them both I think 3 times.
The Armor of Light was the only truly disappointing book for me in the series. I did enjoy The Evening and the Morning and about 80% of A Column of Fire, but do feel that Pillars and World Without End are a cut above the rest.
Im gonna have to pay attention to this series as someone trying to get into reading books. Dont have alot under my belt, just some stephen king and reading David Copperfield for a second time
It's funny as time goes on I actually rate Deadhouse Gates higher as time goes on I rate Deadhouse Gates higher and higher. I didn't enjoy every stage of the experience while reading it but the more I look back the more I see how impactful those feelings were and that they were kind of intended (and kind of marches you up woth how the characters feel). Not to mention that without those you wouldn't get the impact of some of the stuff that comes later has. If you split that book up each section would still be really good but together it really achieves that greater than the some of it's parts as a complete experience.
I agree with this. When I finished, I really liked it but didn't think it was an all timer for me, but it just stuck in my mind and I kept thinking about it. I love books like that.
