pillars of the earth (possible spoilers)

[lucas9000]

i just finished this book last night. it was pretty good, but i think it was too long. about 3/4ths of the way through i was getting frustrated by the constant barrage of stuff going wrong with the people...not because i wanted some happy go lucky story, but just because it got a little boring.

also it just kind of fizzled out at the end, and the character who was possibly the most interesting in the whole book (ellen) was given short shrift. i also thought the story about jack's father was a let-down...it was pretty easy to figure out, and by the time waleran gave his dramatic confession it was already fairly obvious.

however it was a great story, and the character development was pretty phenomenal (with the exception of ellen).

thoughts/opinions?