A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT
Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his stone at the Midsummer Fair, and to find Neen, the girl he loves. Her family lives in prosperity and offer Seft an escape from his brutish father and brothers within their herder community.
A PRIESTESS WHO BELIEVES THE IMPOSSIBLE
Joia, Neen’s sister, is a priestess with a vision and an unmatched ability to lead. As a child, she watches the Midsummer ceremony, enthralled, and dreams of a miraculous new monument, raised from the biggest stones in the world. But trouble is brewing among the hills and woodlands of the Great Plain.
A MONUMENT THAT WILL DEFINE A CIVILIZATION
Joia’s vision of a great stone circle, assembled by the divided tribes of the Plain, will inspire Seft and become their life’s work. But as drought ravages the earth, mistrust grows between the herders, farmers and woodlanders—and an act of savage violence leads to open warfare . . .
Truly ambitious in scope, Circle of Days invites you to join master storyteller Ken Follett in exploring one of the greatest mysteries of our Stonehenge.
Kindle Edition, 697 pages
Published September 23, 2025
by Grand Central Publishing
3.5/5 stars
Circle of Days is Ken Follett’s newest door-stopper, and in classic Follett fashion it’s an ambitious, deeply researched epic. This time he turns his attention to the earliest days of Stonehenge, imagining the people, politics, rivalries, and beliefs that might have driven its creation.
At the heart of the story are Seft, a skilled flint-miner whose life takes an unexpected turn when he leaves all he knows to join a new community. And there is Joia, a young priestess with passion and determination to set the monumental project in motion. There are many layers as rival clans clash, power shifts and the dream of a great stone circle begins to take form. Told from a couple different angles gave a vivid glimpse into the history of the times and the struggles that felt authentic. The research shines through here.
Like many of his novels this one takes its time. A fair sized cast of characters was a little hard to follow at times. I was invested in this story, in awe of what could have happened. It’s a fascinating and imaginative take on Stonehenge’s origins, richly detailed and sweeping in scope, even if it didn’t fully hold me in every chapter.
My thanks to Grand Central Pblishing for a digital arc (via Netgalley) in exchange for a honest review.
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