I enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book. Then it started to feel repetitive especially with the Ragna story line. I agree with another review that the exploits of Wigelm and Wynston got to the point of being almost unbelievable. Mostly, I think because of the repetitiveness of Ragna's story. I have not read The Pillars of the Earth to be able to compare this book to that one.