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World Without End Ken Follett 9780330490702 Books

Download As PDF : World Without End Ken Follett 9780330490702 Books

World Without End Ken Follett 9780330490702 Books

If you enjoyed Pillars of the Earth, you will almost certainly like this sequel. It is virtually identical to the original. The setting is the same and the time frame is not significantly different enough to matter. After all, what is the difference between 14th and 12th century England?

It is almost amusing to hear from those that argue that this novel is somehow inferior to Pillars of the Earth. The only possible reason that this might be the case is that after reading 1,000 pages about Kingsbridge, some readers might suffer Kingsbridge fatigue. In fact, if forced to choose, I would argue that the sequel might be in some ways better than the original.

We're dealing with the same town, in roughly the same period in history. There is a different Earl, different bishops and priors and slightly different peasants and town folks, but not different enough to matter. The sequel, however, contains a brief sojourn to the continent and includes story lines dealing with the Bubonic plague, both welcome additions to the original. For those that favor the first novel, I would argue that had they read this book first, they would much prefer it instead.

As with Pillars of the Earth, the writing in this novel is highly reminiscent of Edward Rutherfurd's novels Sarum and The Forest, both of which deal with the same region and historical era.


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World Without End Ken Follett 9780330490702 Books Reviews

"World Without End" is full of personal intrigue, sex, violence, and other colorful bits that have made medieval history so interesting to the contemporary reader. I definitely recommend reading this book before reading "A Column of Fire," which is the third novel in this series. It's a gargantuan tome, and at times I've skipped ahead to the meatier parts, but if you're interested in details about life in medieval England, then this is the book for you.
This is the second in a series, and like The Pillars of the Earth, it is well written. However, it falls short of the first, and I found myself simply slogging through it just waiting for the bad guys to receive their just desserts, because, as in the first, the bad guys really deserved it!

The main problem with this story is that there was no true hero. When you describe evil in the graphic way Follett does, you must have a hero or heroine to counterbalance it. In the first book, the author brilliantly sketched such a man Prior Phillip. In this story, the "good guys" are more or less out for their own "dreams," not the defense of Good. The main heroine does have some idea of doing good to her neighbor, and dedicates herself to it, but she has no overarching convictions behind it no God-consciousness, no theological convictions (save for a vague idea of helping others), and I found myself even wondering if she was truly representative of the time period. She seemed more like a 60s flower child than a medieval woman.

So in the end, I just waited around for the bad guys to die. There were no memorable moments, such as Prior Phillip leading the procession of mourners after the murder of Thomas a Becket. Lots of bad stuff--murder and rape--and the Plague. Not for kids!
"Pillars of the Earth has been one of my favorite books of all time since it was published long, long ago. I don't know why I waited to read it's sequel until book 3 was published, but I did. I love Follett's astonishing attention to detail, his characters from all classes and walks of life, and how each character is so realistic and three-dimensional. 200 years may have passed between the settings of books 1 and 2 and yet there is enough background given that someone could start here should they desire (but I would please with them to read in order for full detail). We are now a different society than when Pillars was published, and Follett brings more juicy detail to scenes of both desire and battle. I am on to book 3 "A Column of Fire.". If you are not daunted by 91 chapters and more than 1000 pages, I invite you to drive right in. "World without End" will not disappoint.
I don't mind a bit of sex in a novel, but this reads like cheesy soft core porn. What's really confounding is that Follett has some brilliant, independent women...and others who are just rape bait. Worse, one of the protagonists seems to enjoy the second time she is raped. This could have been a serious, well researched, historical novel, instead it's full of puns about 'moist clefts'. (ostensibly about masonry). And many anachronisms I sort of doubt that even the most forward 14 century women felt 'sexy'. Some of the other plots and characters are quite interesting, but I just gave up
I very much enjoyed this book and looked forward to reading it every day. I read the first in the series, Pillars of the Earth, many years ago and hoped this would be as good. I was not disappointed! It was a well written saga about the people of Kingsbridge and it was a compelling read, seeing their lives progress over the years. The author's knowledge of the period was superb and he managed to work in many relevant historical facts throughout the story. I think my only critique of this lengthy, entertaining novel is that the dialogue and relationships of the characters seemed at times more suited to a modern day story than one of medieval times. That did not detract tremendously from the story, but did make me feel that the story was, at times, unrealistic and did not ring true.
If you enjoyed Pillars of the Earth, you will almost certainly like this sequel. It is virtually identical to the original. The setting is the same and the time frame is not significantly different enough to matter. After all, what is the difference between 14th and 12th century England?

It is almost amusing to hear from those that argue that this novel is somehow inferior to Pillars of the Earth. The only possible reason that this might be the case is that after reading 1,000 pages about Kingsbridge, some readers might suffer Kingsbridge fatigue. In fact, if forced to choose, I would argue that the sequel might be in some ways better than the original.

We're dealing with the same town, in roughly the same period in history. There is a different Earl, different bishops and priors and slightly different peasants and town folks, but not different enough to matter. The sequel, however, contains a brief sojourn to the continent and includes story lines dealing with the Bubonic plague, both welcome additions to the original. For those that favor the first novel, I would argue that had they read this book first, they would much prefer it instead.

As with Pillars of the Earth, the writing in this novel is highly reminiscent of Edward Rutherfurd's novels Sarum and The Forest, both of which deal with the same region and historical era.