So, as far as I know, this is the second time reading this book. I've said - ever since I read it the first time - that this was one of my all time favorite books. After rereading it - eh. It's still a great book, it was definitely worth rereading - especially since the third book is coming out this fall - but, one of my all time favorite books? Maybe in my top 50 or 100 - but definitely not in my top 25.

So, this is a huge chunkster of a book - which I LOVE - the main storyline is about the building of a church, but there is so much more to do. There's a huge cast of characters, but really, not so many you can't keep track of them all (a pet peeve of mine). You do totally get swept up in the storytelling, the character's lives, their anguish, heartbreaks, the lows and the highs of their lives... but in rereading this, I wasn't as emotionally involved as I was the first time (I'm curious, if you've reread the book too, did you feel the same way?). Which, admittedly - took away ALOT of the joy in reading this book. For me, I read to get swept away, I want to be involved and care about the characters. I didn't quite care as much this time around.

Honestly, I felt like the characters were the same as in every other book - the bad guys were really really bad, and the good guys weren't even really all that good; they were just normal guys. There are a lot of strong women in this book, which is great to see.

The church itself is fascinating - how corrupt its leaders could be, but also, how wonderful and fantastic the good guys really were. I know - from reading a lot of history - about how ambitious church leaders could be, but had forgotten how ruthless they could be.

The plot moves along at a good pace - though some sections did drag, which I think is normal for a large book. There is some foreshadowing, which you pick up on much more so on the second read.