World Without End

World Without End

 by Ken Follett
(based on 388 customer reviews)

World Without End (Hardcover)
Edition: 1
Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: Dutton Adult


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Most useful review as voted by customers:
502 out of 525 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/10/07


Well worth the wait ! ! ! ! !

I am a big fan of Ken Follett, and admire that he moves in a seemingly effortless manner between genres. However, his best work is found in the "great historical novel", and he has delivered handsomely with this latest effort.

This is being touted as a sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth" which is true enough, but it is also a little misleading, as it is set 200 years after the tales told in that magnificent novel, and as such can definitely be read as a stand alone novel. Having said that though, if you haven't read "Pillars of the Earth" - do - it is magnificent!

Knowledge of this wonderful earlier work will be helpful, as there is reference to characters from that time and being familiar with their adventures certainly gives you some insight into what is happening at the time, but if you are new to Follett's work, please don't let this put you off. He mentions enough of the earlier characters (without being boring to those readers who know the book SO well)for any new reader to have an idea of what has happened before.

The tale seems simple enough - 4 very different young people witness a fight in the forrest which leads to death and the hiding of a great secret, and this reverberates through their lives for years to come. What is not simple enough is the detail that goes in to these character's lives - they are all wonderful in their own different ways, and we can all feel that we can see the world they live in, taste their food, smell the odours of their environment and rejoice and mourn as they do.

Follett is also the master of understanding how humans think; how they plot and scheme, and how the whims of fate can change a life that seems completely planned and organised. And all of this in a magnificent medieval setting with court intrigue, pious devotion, illness and the whims of nature! What more could you want?

If you like a good hefty historical novel with a great plot, detailed environment and well drawn and very engaging characters, you will NOT be disappointed. It is wonderful and I recommend it highly.

168 out of 188 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/17/07


The more things change, the more they stay the same. A rehashing of "Pillars two hundred years and one black plague later

Reading "The Pillars of the Earth" was one of the happiest accidents in my reading career. I picked it up on a whim because of the cathedral on the cover and the word "epic" in a review. I had no idea it would turn out to be one of the best books I ever read, not on in terms of plot but completeness and the overall message of world change it puts out. So when I found out about the sequel I was thrilled. I ordered it two years in advance.

But I was disappointed. While "World without End" is compelling stuff with endless twists in it's storyline and characters you grow fond of, this book just doesn't have that epic pizzazz that "Pillars" had in spades. A lot of the events in this book seem to be rehashed from its predecessor and now that the cathedral is built it seems that the major issues facing Kingsbridge (like becoming a town in its own right, having a cathedral at all) are over and done with.

Anyway the basic plot follows the formula from "Pillars." We start out with a piece of a mystery that gradually revels clues to us as we read on. In this case, four children, two sons of an impoverished knight, (Ralph and Merthin) one wealthy daughter of a prosperous wool merchant (Caris) and a dirt poor urchin girl who steals so her family can live (Gwenda), witness a man attacked in the woods because of a letter he is carrying. This experience binds the children for life-along with that of the attacked knight (Thomas) who becomes a monk so he is beyond the reach of whoever tried to kill him.

Of course we don't know what's in the letter, just that it has something to do with the death of King Edward II (the gay one who was disposed by his Queen and her lover so her son could rule) and if it's found heads will (literally) role.

But this mystery is secondary, almost a non-presence in the book compared to the drama of Jack's father's death in "Pillars." Also our main characters are like paler versions of the characters we loved and hated in "Pillars." Merthin is Jack, the fantastic, romantic builder with an almost supernatural ability with stone, Ralph is William, the corrupt knight with no moral center, Caris is Aliena, strong and with more business sense and determination than any women of the time, and Gwenda-well she's an entirely new character but she features so little it doesn't even matter.

My point is this-there isn't a whole that's original in this book. The romance is nowhere near as spellbinding as the tortured and blinding love the perfect Jack and Aliena from "Pillars" had. In fact, its two hundred years later and no Kingsbridge is one of the largest cities in England instead of a struggling town, but everything seems the same. The same conflicts happen again and again, the same character struggles. The only real difference is the emergence of the Black Death some lesbianism and a well described and probably realistic battle of the priory against the town (which frankly made me sad because Prior Phillip from "Pillars" would be so sad at how the monastery developed.)

I'm not saying this is a bad book, its even compelling at times. But compared to "Pillars" it is a poor imitation of an almost perfect historical fiction novel. Who knows, maybe if you read this before Pillars (they aren't reliant on each other enough that order matters) it would seem like a better book then it is. But really, I expected more. I would put this on par with Follett's other two historical novels, "A Place Called Freedom" and "A Dangerous Fortune" but it's not in the same class as "The Pillars of the Earth."

Of course not very many books are. Maybe one in a million.

So the real test, would I read this again. Sure. It was good after all-but it didn't live up to expectations created by "Pillars."

Four stars.


136 out of 146 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/9/07


Very good

I am a big fan of Ken Follett's work, but know that most authors have occasional "duds", and at over 1000 pages (the British version I bought), I was concerned this would be a bloated, rambling disappointment. I also loved "Pillars of the Earth" when I read it many years ago but had forgotten all but being fascinated by learning cathedral construction techniques, so I was hesitant to read a "sequel" in case this book was dependent on remembering the first one. Still, because I read that this was a well researched and competent book, I decided to take a chance on it.

I am happy to report that my concerns were unfounded. The book is long, but it has a lot going on and is not at all bloated. There are several stories being told, but they all interweave and the elimination of one would be a loss. Although it is set in the same location and refers back to some of the original characters, reading or remembering "Pillars" is not required. I enjoy learning about the construction and medical theories of the day and wish this aspect had been further expanded, but if a reader does not, there is not so much of it that it would be detrimental.

All in all, if you like historical fiction with plenty of death, love and destruction, this book is highly recommended. The length of the book will dissuade some from trying it, but those who have longer attention spans will not be disappointed.



67 out of 70 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/9/07


A Masterpiece Sequel To The Pillars Of The Earth!

The Pillars of the Earth has been one of my all-time favorite books, and so I was a little skeptical about how good its sequel could be. My concern was totally unnecessary. World Without End, which takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge almost 200 years later and has the cathedral as its backdrop, is an excellent book and I expect that in time it will also be considered to be a masterpiece. Not having read The Pillars of the Earth will not deter you in any way from enjoying World Without End, as other than the common thread mentioned above, it reads like a stand-alone. Follet 'packs it all' in this 992 page book -- love, greed, pride, ambition and revenge. Do yourself a favor and be one of the first on line to get yourself a copy of this very entertaining and memorable book. But be aware that your enjoyment won't come cheap -- the retail price of World Without End is $35. I think you'll find, however, that it is worth every penny.

14 out of 17 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/11/07


Sequel to The Pillars of the Earth


Ken Follett was only twenty-seven when he wrote Eye of the Needle, the award-winning novel which became an international bestseller and a distinguished film. Before that, he had been a newspaper reporter and a publishing executive after studying philosophy at University College, London. He has since written ten equally successful novels and the non-fiction bestseller, On Wings of Eagles. Ken Follett lives with his family in London and Stevenage.

This book is the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, abook written 18 years ago, in 1989 and a book that was one of my favourites of all time, along with Sarum by Edward Rutherford. 18 years is a long time to wait for a sequel to any book but it is well over a thousand pages and as I have read The Pillars of the Earth several times since it was published, my recollections of it are still good.

World without end begins its story in 1327 and follows the lives of four children, who slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. The children are not only from different backgrounds but their personalities could not be more different either. After leaving the city together they see two men brutally killed in the forest. Little do they know it but the killings they have witnessed will affect them all through their lives.

Between them they will witness and suffer everything that the world can throw at them and their ups and downs within the historical changes that take placethroughout their lives, makes for fascinating reading.

Ken Follett is a master of this type of historical fiction and I am amazed that he has not written this book before now, but also grateful that he has now, finally published what I am sure will be a best seller for years to come. Books of this stature do not come along very often.








8 out of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 10/14/07


Not quite up to the level of Pillars

As most people know, World Without End is a sequel to Pillars of the Earth. I read Pillars about 16 years ago, and was mesmerized by it, and it's been one of my all time favorite books ever since. When I heard there was to be a sequel I pre-ordered it right away.

I'm sure other Pillars... fans will want to know: is it as good as the original? In my opinion...almost, but not quite.

The author does manage to bring 14th century Knightsbridge as much to life as he did the 12th century Knightsbridge of Pillars. It's a couple of centuries older, bigger, more crowded, and more cumbersome; the priory is no longer run by visionaries like Prior Phillip, but by conservative, small minded men. The great cathedral is showing some cracks (literally and figuratively). There are conflicts between the merchants of the town and the monks, and there's also a new element - a convent of nuns that is wealthier and better managed than the monastery.

I guess that the more complex (even muddled) society of the 14th century is one reason why World Without End a bit less enjoyable than Pillars. The characters are in a lot more shades of grey. The building of a bridge and the repairing and renovation of the cathedral are less awe-inspiring perhaps than the building of a cathedral from the ground up. So you feel that the characters are a bit less small, a bit less challenged.

One factor that had the possibility of challenging this society in a huge way was the plague (the Black Death), but I felt that the plague part of the book was a bit rushed through, or dealt with a bit lightly. (I got the feeling that the author cared a lot more about describing the bridge construction than the parts about the plague, which may account for that feeling of uneven weightedness.) It didn't seem that earth shaking in the course of events somehow - though it does show how the plague pushed some people up the ranks of society far quicker than would have been expected, often undeservedly.

Ultimately this book pales a bit in comparison to Pillars of the Earth because it lacks the larger than life characters that dominated that book - Jack, Aliena, and in particular Prior Phillip. (There's a paler version of Jack, a different-but-equal, sort of, version of Aliena, a very similar version of William...and no equivalent really to Phillip.) The characters in World Without End are appealing, but not unforgettable.

That being said, it is still an excellent book, and I hope Mr. Follett decides to write more historical fiction.


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