5 Stars for Circle of Days by Ken Follett

From a bestselling author of epic fiction comes the deeply human story of one of the world’s greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge.

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 age: Stonehenge. 

Purchase Information

 

Stonehenge - 1880 - Wellcome Collection, United Kingdom - CC BY. 

What I thought about Circle of Days 

I've always been fascinated with the megaliths of Europe, especially Stonehenge. What were they used for? How did these enormous stones get moved into place? Where did they come from? How long did it take? Ken Follett attempts to answer these questions in Circle of Days.

Told through short vignettes, the author paints a picture of everyday life in 2500 B.C. The people of the Great Plain gather at the Monument at Midsummer for the ritual and revel, where they trade and party. Their concerns are basic, yet familiar. Love, revenge, relationships are all part of the story.

Told primarily through the eyes of Seft, a flint miner looking for a better life, and Joia, a priestess tasked with understanding the calendar and counting that are accomplished with help from the Monument. The story really does sing when the subject is how to get the stones to the site of the current timber-framed Monument, although I didn't mind any of the other stories told that describe the communities of herders, woodland people and farmers that existed on the Great Plain, sometimes in harmony, sometimes not. There are a few heartbreaks along the way to the story of the stones.

I just loved how this story talked about the purpose of the stones, and provided a very believable description of how the stones were moved. This was the most interesting part of the novel. But I did like how the author showed what life was like. The language and voice here capture the simplicity of the times and I felt transported back to 2500 B.C. to experience the moving and building of the Monument. Having Seft and Joia anchor the story was absolutely wonderful, and it was easy to become invested in both of them.

This story is going to stay with me for a while. It's joyous, happy, tense and sad all in the right places. It will be one of my favorites of 2025. Definitely recommended.