The Armour of Light by Follett

At the outset, I wasn’t too happy. It didn’t seem as rooted in time and place as the other novels in the series were and I also had a bit of a problem with the writing style – it didn’t seem to match the Ken Follet I know and enjoy. The spoken language was almost ‘modern’ and didn’t seem to ‘fit’. However, as I got deeper into the book, the dichotomy I was experiencing started to make sense. The era was one of great change where the old and the new were perpetually clashing. Industrialisation had begun. Modern ways of thinking and being were coming about and every change threw up questions of ‘to be, or not to be’. The nobility had to reassess their roles as did the working classes. Education was no longer the privilege of the upper classes. Machines were set to take over jobs. So yes, ultimately I did enjoy the book. And even the storytelling which had disappointed me initially.