World Without End

Ken Follett

An enjoyable read, but not as gripping as it's predecessor, "Pillars of the Earth." Deja vu....big...more

An enjoyable read, but not as gripping as it's predecessor, "Pillars of the Earth." Deja vu....big time. Too often it felt as though what I was reading was directly lifted from the pages of the first book. And the narrative....for all it's intruige.....was just not as engaging. Perhaps the biggest flaw is that the stakes were not as high. In the original, Kingsbridge was square in the middle of the civil war between King Stephen and his would be challenger, the Empress Maud. By the fourteenth century, however, the main conflicts have moved further abroad and the attempts to tie Kingsbridge to international politics are tenuous at best. Never the less, it is hard not to become involved with the characters. I've always found that strongly drawn characters are a strength of Follett's writing, whether you love them or hate them. I was rooting for Merthin and Caris, even though their romance wasn't quite so heart tugging as Jack and Aliena's in the first book, and happily holding out for the likes of Prior Godwyn and Ralph Fitzgerald to meet their unhappy ends, even though they weren't a patch on Waleran Bigod and William Hamleigh, the truly loathsome villians from the first book. Indeed, I felt that it was only in the third act that the narrative really kicks into gear, when the plague ravages the village. This is the one scenario that sets it apart from "Pillars." Everything else - from power clashes over property to the minutae of middle age building processes - is depressingly familar. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy it - I did. I'm a huge fan of Ken Follett - as well as "Pillars" I've also read a lot of his more modern stories. I love his writing style, his eye for detail, and his ability to create wholly realised, flawed characters - easy for the reader to relate to. I never expected "World Without End" to be as good as the first book - which will always stand alone for me as the first "adult" novel I ever read, plucked off my parent's shelf when I was about twelve years old. I give this four stars.    hide

While World Without End was, without a doubt, a well-written, engaging, and interesting book, it...more

While World Without End was, without a doubt, a well-written, engaging, and interesting book, it somehow lacked the flair of Pillars of the Earth. It's just a tiny bit paler in comparison. I think the flaw is the absence of a sense of immediacy -- despite the introduction of the Plague (which is far and away the best device in the book, staging the most interesting conflicts for the characters), Follett seems to shy away here from doing serious damage to any of the most beloved characters -- pulling punches that he didn't in Pillars of the Earth. The villains, while certainly despicable, aren't quite as gut-churningly vile, and the heroes just seem too familiar, too like their predecessors. I would still highly recommend it, however -- Follett's talent for recreating a world centuries past and making it real remains undiminished. His attention to detail is exquisite -- history geeks will be absolutely thrilled, and even those who haven't spent several years with their heads immersed in the Middle Ages as I have will be entertained. The nuances to how Kingsbridge changed in the intervening two centuries are fascinating to observe. The book is a compelling and intricate work of historical fiction.   hide

I was so excited to find out that there would be a sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth". This story...more

I was so excited to find out that there would be a sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth". This story takes place two hundred years after "The Pillars of the Earth". It tells the story of four children (Merthin, Caris, Ralph, Gwenda) who are a genius, a girl who longs to be a doctor, a violent boy, and an ugly girl who one day witness the murder of two men in the forest. The murder continues to shape their lives as they live and go on. Merthin and Caris become a couple that is constantly on and off. Ralph, Merthin's brother, becomes a corrupt knight and nobleman who rapes and seduces women. Gwenda becomes a woman who lusts after Wulfric, although he wishes for the dainty Anett. Can I just say that this book was AH-MAY-ZING. Seriously. So go on, go read it! I highly recommend that you read "Pillars" first, but "World Without End" can most certainly be read before you read "Pillars" Warnings: It does contain, as "Pillars" did, non-consensual sex, rape, and graphic violence.    hide

Absolutely absorbing, wonderful book - especially for a structural engineer! The prose style may...more

Absolutely absorbing, wonderful book - especially for a structural engineer! The prose style may be rather plain to the point of patronising, and the storyline cheesy and soppy; but this book is a brilliant evocation of a largely forgotten period of England's history, and a fantastic read for structural engineers.By the end of the book, I was caring so much about what happened to the 4 central characters that I often found myself crying - in fact, I hardly slept on a 12-hour overnight flight but read this instead.   hide

The sequel to Follet's masterpiece, Pillars of the Earth - set a century later. I found it very...more

The sequel to Follet's masterpiece, Pillars of the Earth - set a century later. I found it very easy to get into and almost immediately had invested emotionally in the characters, wondering what was going to happen next and hoping that my worst fears for them would not be realized! As ever, Follet's work is exceptionally well researched and the characters are incredibly believable. There are very few writers that can move me to tears and elation but Follett manages it with surprising ease. I'd recommend this book to anyone with an interest in medieval social history and human nature to read this. Excellent!   hide