World Without End | Excellent - I could hardly put it down

World Without End | The Great Soap

World Without End

	World Without End Dutton, 2007 average customer review:based on 395 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent - I could hardly put it down

World Without End was extremely engaging. It was entertaining and took me through a wide range of emotions. Ken Follet masterfully takes readers into the psychological make up of his characters. This includes the heros that you love and the trouble makers/villians that frustrate. The book was also historically informative. I loved how the author gave insight and perspective to a very truamatic episode in history.

The Great Soap

World Without End has all the elements of a great soap opera. There was never a point when I wasn't eager to know what would happen next.

There is love, envy, brutality, ruthlessness, greed, deviousness, selflessness and even a plague. If this is not enough for you, there's also murder, rape, kidnapping, and a mystery. Surprisingly, the plot has everything except incest

For me, WWE is more interesting than Pillars of the Earth in that it is a close examination of the human aspects of the time, focusing on the customs and the ways people of different rank related to each other.

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Solid Follett

A grand follow-up to Pillars of the Earth (but a "stand alone" as well). A joy to read, but horribly heavy to hold up in hardback.

A fictional view of the 14th century: building, rebuilding, sex and plague.

I bought this book when it was first released but have hesitated to pick it up because of its size. I need not have worried: the 1100+ pages took about 11 hours to read and it was a delightful escape into a fictional piece peopled with dastardly villains, noble heroes and good-hearted souls.

While 'Pillars' laid the foundations for `World Without End', this book only felt like a sequel when I regarded Kingsbridge and the cathedral as the central characters instead of the people. Once I did that, the story fell quite neatly into place.

This is not a difficult book to read and while historical accuracy can (and should be) questioned, Mr Follett's strength is in recounting the feelings of his characters. Sure, some happenings seem quite contrived to make particular points but basic human needs, wants and reactions have remained similar for millennia.

At the beginning of the book, four children (Gwenda, Caris, Merthin and Ralph) witness two men being killed in the forest. The mystery of the killing is only explained towards the end of the novel and yet it casts a long shadow over many of the happenings. We follow the lives of Gwenda, Caris, Merthin and Ralph for a period of 34 years (1327 to 1361). We share their transition from childhood to adulthood: their successes, their failures, their hopes and dreams. Their lives are intertwined with each other, and also with the future and fortunes of Kingsbridge. These are momentous years: the onset of the Black Plague brings enormous social and economic upheaval while war with France (the early part of the Hundred Year War) provided opportunities for some.

If you finished `Pillars' wondering about the future, and you are happy to revisit Kingsbridge 200 years later, this novel will take you there.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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good, although it lacks originality

I started reading the book some weeks ago and I have just reached its half.
The style is a lot like The Pillars of the Earth and, actually, most of the book is. More than a sequel,as they have tried to sell it, it sometimes looks like a 'repetition' of many episodes of the previous book, which in fact has nothing to do with this one--neither the characters nor the story.
In any case, I am quite enjoying reading the book and I do really like it, though sometimes the lack of originality is remarkable.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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