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Cecelia Holland
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Pillar of the Sky: A Novel of Stonehenge Kindle Edition

by Cecelia Holland (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 out of 5 stars 258 ratings
A novel of primitive England and the birth of the breathtaking monoliths known as Stonehenge, from “a first-class storyteller” (People).

In a time before recorded history, on an island that many centuries later would come to be known as Britain, Moloquin, the Unwanted One, dreams of a pathway to the heavens. Cast out as a child, he survives by his wits alone on the fringes of tribal society and grows into manhood driven by one powerful and unshakable ambition: to build a link between the earthly and the spiritual worlds through the raising of an impossible structure. But to accomplish such a momentous feat in this primitive age of stone will not only require superhuman strength, it will entail unraveling the very fabric of life. Still, Moloquin will not be deterred in his quest, and he will stand courageously against all enemies, court untold disaster, sacrifice what he must, and remake his entire world to see his great vision gloriously realized.
 
One of today’s foremost historical novelists, Cecelia Holland explores the strange and enduring mystery of Stonehenge, one of the true wonders of the ancient and modern world. A breathtaking speculation, Pillar of the Sky is an unforgettable tale brimming with action, colorful characters, vivid detail, intelligence, and wonder, while presenting a possible history of the man-made miracle on Salisbury Plain that confounds scientists, scholars, and archaeologists to this day.
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  1. Print length
    656 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  4. Publication date
    February 24, 2015
  5. File size
    3.9 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[An] engrossing narrative . . . Holland succeeds in stretching our imagination; she has breathed new life into those forty-ton monoliths that for all these centuries have been standing so mutely on the Salisbury Plain.” —Los Angeles Herald Examiner

“A first-class storyteller . . . Jean Auel’s novels about early man (Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of the Horses) are big best-sellers, but Holland is a much, much better writer.” —People
 
“Her talents have never been better displayed. She not only re-creates a prehistoric people with every aspect of their life opened up for us; she also makes us share that life.” —The Plain Dealer

“Politics in prehistoric times is Holland’s theme in this intelligently and lushly developed saga. [Pillar of the Sky] moves with great energy but without neglecting rich detail; the dim past springs to buoyant and believable life.” —Booklist
 

About the Author

Cecelia Holland was born in Henderson, Nevada, in 1943 and started writing at the age of twelve. Starting with The Firedrake in 1966, she has published twenty-one independent historical novels covering periods from the middle of the first millennium CE up through parts of the early twentieth century, and from Egypt, through Russia, central Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain, and Ireland to the West Coast of the United States. Most recently, she has completed a series of five novels set in the world of the Vikings, covering a period of about fifty years during the tenth century and following the adventures of Corban Loosestrife and his descendants. The hallmark of her style is a vivid re-creation of time, place, and character, all true to known facts. She is highly regarded for her attention to detail, her insight into the characters she has researched and portrayed, and her battle scenes, which are vividly rendered and powerfully described. Holland has also published two nonfiction historical/biographic works, two children’s novels, a contemporary novel, and a science fiction novel, as well as a number of historical essays.
 Holland has three daughters. She lives in Fortuna, California, and, once a week, teaches a class in creative writing at Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, California. Holland's personal website is www.thefiredrake.com. 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00RWJPXBI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (February 24, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 24, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.9 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 out of 5 stars 258 ratings

About the author

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Cecelia Holland

Cecelia Holland

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Cecelia Holland was born in Henderson, Nevada, in 1943 and started writing at the age of twelve. Starting with The Firedrake in 1966, she has published twenty-one independent historical novels covering periods from the middle of the first millennium CE up through parts of the early twentieth century, ranging from Egypt through Russia, central Europe, Scandinavia, and Great Britain and Ireland to the West Coast of the US.

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
258 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book interesting and enjoy the author's writing style, with one noting it's told in beautiful language. The story length receives mixed reactions - while some appreciate its historical significance, others find it too long. Customers disagree on the pacing, with several describing it as a pointless rambling story. The character development is also mixed, with some finding them interesting while others note they're generally not all good.

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30 customers mention "Interest"25 positive5 negative

Customers find the book engaging, with one mentioning how it provides a fascinating glimpse into life, while another notes how it kept them spellbound.

"...It is also a story of the need of learning, while maintaining a balance of male and female energy. Beautiful book! Captivating tale...." Read more

"...Stonehenge’s genesis is pictured through this story, but the story is more focused, as it should be, on the people who found a meaning for living..." Read more

"...long, I was caught up in the journey of Moloquin and fascinated by the glimpse into life when men lived in tribes, learning of the roles of both men..." Read more

"This is a marvelously engrossing novel...." Read more

16 customers mention "Writing quality"16 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing quality of the book, with one customer noting it is told in beautiful language, while another mentions it is well researched.

"...It is well written and error free." Read more

"...And it’s told in such beautiful language that at times the reader can but sit quietly, reading and re-reading those lines of prose Ms. Holland has..." Read more

"...It is well written, with none of the poor editing that I , and other readers, notice in too many books today...." Read more

"...The writing is smooth and powerful and if you like historical, or in the case of Pillar of the Sky, pre-historical, novels you will probably find it..." Read more

42 customers mention "Story length"27 positive15 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's length, with some finding it a great and historically significant tale, while others consider it too long.

"...It tells of how change is always, and comes with a new dialectic of effective and ineffective happenings...." Read more

"...However, the story picked up, the hero was flawed after all and the story moved faster than it had seemed it would...." Read more

"...Some story elements were absolutley left hanging, without any resolution...." Read more

"...I was saddened, but at the same time, I was drawn to the story, the setting, and its characters...." Read more

9 customers mention "Character development"5 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book, with some finding them interesting while others note that they are generally not all good.

"...The characters were very human...." Read more

"...It's realistic in that the characters are generally not all good. There's politics and power going to the head of rulers...." Read more

"...but at the same time, I was drawn to the story, the setting, and its characters...." Read more

"...It was difficult to find a hero in this one, or someone to mourn in the end, but imagining the mystical awakening in such a brutal age, that could..." Read more

17 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive17 negative

Customers find the pacing of the book unsatisfactory, describing it as a pointless rambling story that is too boring to read.

"...elements, place elements, and person elements were almost total guesswork for the reader. Perhaps this was due to the e-book edit...." Read more

"The story started out a little slow...." Read more

"...a fictional story about Stonehenge but instead found a pointless rambling story...." Read more

"...That was disorienting and annoying." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Angie Kiker
    5.0 out of 5 stars great story of the distant past
    Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    This book is a beautiful historical fiction of a time of learning, balance and unbalance. It tells of how change is always, and comes with a new dialectic of effective and ineffective happenings. It is also a story of the need of learning, while maintaining a balance of male and female energy. Beautiful book! Captivating tale. Life and change goes on.
    Helpful
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  • Richard Elofson
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but confusing.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Very interesting concept, but fairly poor execution. Changes in time elements, place elements, and person elements were almost total guesswork for the reader. Perhaps this was due to the e-book edit. It was hard to tell what was going on at times.
    Some story elements were absolutley left hanging, without any resolution.
    In the end, I enjoyed the book right up to the end when it ended abruptly with the death of the main character. At that point, I was left hanging with lots of story questions. Overall, unsatisfactory. I will not be reading the other 5 or books in the same vein that this author has produced.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Bugslinger
    4.0 out of 5 stars Long and detailed
    Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    This is a book about the building of Stonehenge. It's realistic in that the characters are generally not all good. There's politics and power going to the head of rulers. It's a long book covering a couple of generations - a little too long for me. I started to get tired of it before I finished it. There was a lot of hard work going into the building of this thing, and like other such monuments in antiquity, I've found myself wondering why go to all that hard work for ultimately nothing. I'm sure most would disagree with that statement but that is an element of the book - getting people to break their backs hauling and erecting huge stones when they are asking why do this. The ending was not at all obvious and to me not all that satisfying. It did go into how the work may have been done and that was interesting. It is well written and error free.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • pjburn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Ael, Ladon, Karelia, Moloquin, Shateel, and others . . .
    Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    … walk through these pages, clothed in skins or woolens, all real, breathing people, living over forty centuries ago, finding meaning for their lives in the stones and stars of the Pillar of the Sky. The outcasts’ fortunes rise, peak, and fall along with the rising and waning of the sun, moon, and stars tracked by the stones of the Pillar of the Sky. Stonehenge’s genesis is pictured through this story, but the story is more focused, as it should be, on the people who found a meaning for living in the wonderful struggle to find a way and even a reason for finding stones, transporting them, shaping them, and then raising the forty-tonned liths atop other stones in positions to frame defined celestial events. These people, their culture, their myths, their passions, all are presented so grounded in the reality of the human quest, that we find something of ourselves in these people walking forth out of a time 4000 years ago. And it’s told in such beautiful language that at times the reader can but sit quietly, reading and re-reading those lines of prose Ms. Holland has crafted for us, lifting our imagination toward the perception of the beauty, the shock, the shivering vision of the stars that rise and wander and recede as we stand in the middle of the rings of stone, gazing through the Gateway to the Overworld, shoulder to shoulder with these people she has created for us.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • lovesdogs
    3.0 out of 5 stars Starts slow, don't quit.
    Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    The story started out a little slow. I was afraid it was going to be a familiar story because there wasn't anything too interesting or really new about the story. As it moved on I felt as if the main character was going to be too heroic to be true. However, the story picked up, the hero was flawed after all and the story moved faster than it had seemed it would. The author explains how the pillars were erected - plausible theory. The characters were very human. They were more complicated - those who seemed to be useless or shallow proved themselves and became good, productive citizens if not the real heroes.
    23 people found this helpful
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  • Ann G Harding
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good story of a fascinating place
    Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Good story of a fascinating place. The chapters were too long, and the "voice" changed without a break, making it necessary to go back and reread a bit.
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  • Ginger Snap
    1.0 out of 5 stars Pillar of the Sky was a disappointment.
    Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    It did not meet my expectations. I found the story disjointed and poorly done. I had anticipated a fictional story about Stonehenge but instead found a pointless rambling story. I rather felt that the author wanted to be a latter day Jean Auel but failed. The book was such a disappointment that I didn't finish it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • C. Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
    Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    I actually picked up (or rather downloaded) this book because I knew the author when I was young. Her family lived in our neighborhood, and I was curious to read something by Cecelia. I was not sure what to expect, but before very long, I was caught up in the journey of Moloquin and fascinated by the glimpse into life when men lived in tribes, learning of the roles of both men and women, and the beliefs and values of these early People. And it soon became clear that we, as a race of humans, have not progressed much. Just look at the problems we face around the world, or in our current political mess. I was saddened, but at the same time, I was drawn to the story, the setting, and its characters. It is well written, with none of the poor editing that I , and other readers, notice in too many books today. It was truly a fascinating trip back in time.
    16 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • TraceyT
    3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    A bit long winded.
    Report
  • Amazon Customer
    1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 20, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    A terribly written book boring and historically inaccurate
    Report

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