Authors · NYT Hardcover Fiction

Ken Follett

Charting Jul 9, 1978 → Oct 19, 2025 · 338 weeks with chart power

Compare with other authors →

Honours

Author of the Week

NYT Hardcover Fiction
15 crowns
19782025
Longest reign 3 weeks (Oct 2014) · First crown Dec 1979

Peak Power: 11.08%; week of Feb 15, 1981
Career Power: 2,344; share-weeks
Crowns: 15; weeks crowned Author of the Week

Peak Year: 317; April 1980 – April 1981
Peak Five Years: 868; August 1977 – October 1982
Top-five weeks: 131; weeks ranked 1–5
Longevity: 338; weeks with chart power
Dominance: 14.53%; week of Dec 9, 1979
Comebacks: 9; Feb 1986 · Oct 1989 · Nov 1991 · Nov 2007, after 16 quiet years · Nov 2010 · Oct 2012 · Oct 2014 · Oct 2017 · Nov 2020

Ranked by weekly Power Share, part of the ChartReign Power model — not the list's own positions. How it works →

Exponentially smoothed share of the week's total power (the primary metric).

Titles on the NYT Hardcover Fiction

25 books · 2,344 share-weeks of Career Power

Power contributed is what each book earned this author: their weekly Power Share, split across their books (a featured credit takes its reduced share). Book Power is the book's own figure, the same for every author on it. Bar length compares books within this list.

Title	Peak	Weeks	On chart	Power contributedPower	Book Power
The Key to Rebecca	#1October 1980	30	September 1980 – April 1981	312.6	312.6
Triple	#1December 1979	34	September 1979 – May 1980	290.6	290.6
The Man from St. Petersburg	#1June 1982	23	May 1982 – October 1982	205.9	205.9
Lie Down with Lions	#1February 1986	24	February 1986 – July 1986	184.3	184.3
World Without End	#1October 2007	26	October 2007 – April 2008	181.2	181.2
Night Over Water	#4October 1991	19	October 1991 – February 1992	135.4	135.4
Edge of Eternity	#1October 2014	15	October 2014 – January 2015	114.1	114.1
Fall of Giants	#1October 2010	14	October 2010 – January 2011	96.0	96.0
A Column of Fire	#1October 2017	15	October 2017 – January 2018	93.6	93.6
Winter of the World	#1October 2012	14	October 2012 – January 2013	86.8	86.7
The Evening and the Morning	#1October 2020	12	October 2020 – January 2021	80.0	80.0
Pillars of the Earth	#2October 1989	6	October 1989 – November 1989	72.8	72.8
A Dangerous Fortune	#5November 1993	14	October 1993 – January 1994	68.8	66.0
Eye of the Needle	#8July 1978	17	July 1978 – February 1979	58.7	58.7
The Pillars of the Earth	#2September 1989	12	September 1989 – January 1990	56.3	56.3
Code to Zero	#3December 2000	8	December 2000 – February 2001	48.0	47.9
Hornet Flight	#5January 2003	8	December 2002 – February 2003	47.9	47.9
The Third Twin	#6December 1996	10	November 1996 – January 1997	40.5	40.5
A Place Called Freedom	#6October 1995	8	September 1995 – November 1995	36.4	36.4
Jackdaws	#7January 2002	8	December 2001 – February 2002	34.3	34.3
The Armor of Light	#3October 2023	6	October 2023 – November 2023	32.6	32.6
Whiteout	#9December 2004	6	December 2004 – January 2005	26.5	26.5
The Hammer of Eden	#7November 1998	5	November 1998 – December 1998	19.5	19.5
Never	#5November 2021	2	November 2021 – December 2021	12.0	12.0
Circle of Days	#8October 2025	2	October 2025 – October 2025	9.6	9.1

At their peak

1980 in books →

Ken Follett's best twelve months on the NYT Hardcover Fiction list ran from April 1980 to April 1981. The most powerful authors over those weeks:

Ranked by Era Power over the same weeks.

Their decades: the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, the 2010s, the 2020s.