Put some towels down because I sense a fully formed gush geyser about to spill all over this review. This book was fantastic and really did it for me. I loved it, all 1000+ pages, and I wouldn’t have minded if it was considerably longer (TWSS).

After more than loving The Pillars of the Earth (that’s right, I lurved it), I had tall hopes for this sorta sequel and let me tell you it was more than up to the task.

I was parched and hungry for a good meaty read. Well consider me gorged and my story thirst completely slaked.

Now before I continue operation lick-spittle on Mr. Follett for his 2nd delightfully voluptuous epic, let me shine some context on this review so it will better help you decide whether this book is right for you:

1. As I mentioned above, I thought The Pillars of the Earth was pure, uncut awesome I my satisfaction gauge red-lined while I was reading it. If you had similar feelings for Pillars, than World Without End is going to make you happier than…
n  n

Alternatively, if (heaven forbid) you thought Pillars was a Meh-filled bore fest or it just didn’t push your joy buzzer, I see no reason why this book will be any different as the books are almost identical in tone and structure. Thus, you might look want to go elsewhere.

2. Assuming you haven’t read Pillars (which is certainly not a prerequisite for this book), if you get through the first 100 pages or so and find yourself anxious for “something” to happen, again this may not be your kind of book. In my opinion, the book should grab you roughly and carry you away and if that doesn’t happen or if you find yourself disconnected from the characters, then this could be a real slog for you.

3. I listened to the unabridged audiobook (all 45+ hours of it) read by the incomparable John Lee (who also narrated Pillars). John’s narration is masterful and definitely enhanced my happy with the story. I don’t know if I would have had quite the level of appreciation, but for John’s involvement. If you are a fan of audio books, I would highly recommend this one (or anything else read by John Lee).

Okay, I just wanted to get that out there, because the rest of the review is pretty much a Ken Follett, fanBOYatic extravaganza…so let the man-crushing begin:

This story is prodigious, sprawling and more addictive than caramel-covered crack. This is big, bad historical soap opera at its full on finest complete with everything that makes a great period piece: politics, intrigue, alliances, betrayals, fortunes won and lost, life-long grudges, loves, jealousies, deaths, plot-twists, unspeakable crimes (e.g., rapes, murders, etc.), conflict between major powers, reformers versus status quo, good vs. evil and a mysterious letter the contents of which could shake the foundations of the Monarchy itself.

Boo Yah!!!

Set approximately 200 years after the events of The Pillars of the Earth in the same fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, this story is set against the backdrop of, and incorporates into its narrative, the beginning of the Hundred Years War and the outbreak and spread of the Black Plague. These events intersect with the lives of the inhabitants of Kingsbridge in significant ways and Follett does an amazing job painting a credible and highly entertaining portrait of life during the period.

Follett introduces and weaves into his vast tapestry dozens of well-drawn, intriguing figures who each play a critical role in the outcome of the epic. However, the narrative flow centers primarily on the lives of four key people. The first of these is Caris, a strong, intelligent, enlightened woman who is the primary proponent for change in Kingsbridge and the main enemy of the old guard “status quo” represented by the Kingsbridge monastery and Prior Godwyn. Caris strongly desires to be a healer and treat the sick at a time when only men may be physicians and the remedies supported by the Church are as bad as the illnesses they seek to cure. Caris is out to change that.

Merthin is a smart, extremely talented architect whose innovative and radical designs are instrumental throughout the story. Merthin and Caris are deeply in love but events and their own personal integrity constantly conspire to keep them apart. Next is Gwenda who is a favorite character of mine. Gwenda suffers more unimaginable heartache and grief than any other character in the story and yet remains unbowed by what life throws at her. Sold by her destitute father for a cow (yes, a cow), Gwenda finds herself on her own early in life and ends up thriving through her wits and huge reserves of inner strength. She goes through some horrendous events as part of the story.

Finally, we have Ralph, Merthin’s younger, stronger brother and main (though by no means only) villain of the story. A rapist, a sadist and a murderer, Ralph is as devoid of empathy as it is possible to be. He is the Lord of Scumbaggery and the epitome of callousness and abject cruelty. Some of the things he does throughout the story are truly shocking and get worse as he gains more and more influence.
On a side note…how cool is it to have a main nemesis named….RALPH.
Joining the above is a stellar cast of supporting characters that all engaging and complex. Follett has a real knack for showing us villains through there own eyes and making them seem more human…and thus all the more evil.

As for the writing itself, Follett really gets the hat tip from me on this point. Not for its poetry or majestic beauty though I thought his prose was excellent. Rather for its incredibly engaging, breezy readability. Despite being over 1000 pages long and having almost the whole story take place in a single small town, I was hooked from the very beginning and never had a moment in which my attention wanted to stray.

Follett’s prose is like a strong but gentle current that just picks you up and carries you through the story until you eventually reach the end and realize how very far you’ve traveled. It was a greatly impressive feat.

World Without End is sublimely entertaining and I have rarely been this completely snatched and cloistered inside its narrative as I was from the very outset of this. I don’t know that I liked this quite as much as The Pillars of the Earth, but that’s trying to discern gnat crap from pepper and is due completely to the fact that I read Pillars first. Given how similarly both books are structured it makes sense that this one wouldn’t feel as fresh and new.

That said, Mr. Follett…PLEASE don’t go messing with the formula because it is working like a charm. This is quintessential story-telling and a masterful piece of historical fiction.

More please!!!

5.0 stars. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION.

Πρόκειται για ένα εξαιρετικό βιβλίο όπου η ιστορια μπλέκεται με την πλοκή με τρόπο αριστοτεχνικό.Ούτε μια στιγμή δεν έπιασα τον εαυτό μου να βαριέται σε όλες τις 1237 σελίδες(τόσες είχε αγγλική έκδοση της panmachimilan).
Όσον αφορά την πλοκή ο FOLLET αξιοποιεί τέλεια τα ιστορικά δεδομένα όπως η πανούκλα και ο εκατονταετης πόλεμος για να προωθήσει την πλοκή του με ρεαλιστικό τρόπο.Μάλιστα εξεπλάγην οταν έμαθα πως Ι συγκεκριμένος συγγραφέας δεν είχε και πολύ σχέση με την ιστορια πριν γράψει το "The pillars of the earth".Ωστόσο,ερεύνησε σε βάθος το ιστορικό πλαίσιο με αποτέλεσμα και τα δύο βιβλία να θεωρούνται πλέον κλασσικά,όσον αφορά το ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα.
Οι χαρακτήρες ήταν επίσης πολύ καλα μελετημενοι.Λάτρεψα τον Merthin που είχε όραμα και αποφασιστικότητα σε συνδυασμό με την καλοσύνη.(SPOILERS!!!).Μίσησα αφάνταστα τον Godwyn που αναβλύζει σχετη κακία.Ήταν πιστεύω το τέλειο πορτραίτο μιας σημαντικής μερίδας κληρικών του Μεσαίωνα που δεν δίσταζε να πατήσει επί πτωμάτων αν ήταν να ανέβει βαθμίδα στην κοινωνική ιεραρχία.Ο χαρακτήρας ρου ήταν εξαιρετικά ενδιαφέρον.Ο Ralph ήταν το αντίστοιχο τουWilliam(Pillars of the Earth) αν και ήταν λιγάκι πιο συμπαθής απ τον τελευταίο.Η Gwenda αντιπροσώπευε την τάξη των χωρικών του Μεσαίωνα και των δουλοπάροικων που προσπαθούσαν να επιβιώσουν υπό τη σκιά το φεουδαρχία τους.Ο χαρακτήρας που δεν συμπάθησα με τίποτα ήταν η Caris,ο τόσος εγωισμός της ήταν αχριαστος κατ' εμέ.Ο Merthin θα είχε ταιριάξει πολύ καλυτερα με τη Lady Philippa.
Αξίζει να διαβαστεί από όλους αυτό το βιβλίο,καθώς ειναι ο τύπος της επικής ιστορίας που θυμίζει κλασσικά αριστουργήματα όπως οι Άθλιοι η Η ιστορια δύο πόλεων,χωρίς τις εκτεταμένες ιστορικές και φιλοσοφικες αναφορές που μπορεί κάποιους να τους κουράζουν(εμένα πάντως μου αρέσουν και αυτές πολύ).

I cannot find the words to express how disappointed I was with this book. Having enjoyed "Pillars of the Earth" twice I awaited the issue of the sequel with immense enthusiasm.

What a letdown! The characters, the plot,the writing are all dreadful...Mr Follett has tried to bring the 13th century into the 21st and it hasn't worked. The gratuitous sex and foul language spoil the book from the first chapter and for the first time in years, I will not be finishing this novel!

Very sad to see a good author with good ideas go down the path of populism.

In all practical theory, this book should be on my 'Sucked' shelf. It's a tale of the Middle Ages, the gross injustices of the time, and it truly amounts to a thousand-page Medieval soap opera. It hasn't got much to do with its predecessor n  The Pillars of the Earthn, except that it's in the same location 200 years later, with characters that are "descendants" of the Pillars characters. There's none of the complex building and architectural aspects found in Pillars, the graphic sex and violence has been toned down, several aspects of the plot are predictable, and the dialogue seems strikingly modern for a novel set in the 14th century. So, why is this book not on my 'Sucked' shelf? ...

Because it KICKED ASS.

With all of the above-mentioned problems in the book, it takes on hell of an author to pull off this kind of novel. Kenn Follett just plain rules. The story goes at a breakneck pace, the descriptions of the feudal system are fascinating, and the characters are complex and multi-faceted. For every (small) predictable plot twist, there are a million little shockers, and at the end, there are a few questions about the truth lingering. Frickin great.

I also found Follett's descriptions of the complete powerlessness of women and the ultimate authority of the nobles described with total intensity, and they are displayed over and over again through the stories of the characters. Equally interesting were the power struggles between the church, the people, and the nobility. Conflict everywhere! Love it!

Another great aspect of this book was the concentration on Medieval ideas about health and medicine, especially during the time of the plague. Given that monks are the only physicians, the best cures are blood-letting and applying goat-shit to open wounds to form a "healthy" pus. If you sit closer to the altar in the church hospital, you'll heal faster. [Although slight scientific advances are made in the book, the lingering affects of the church's bogus medical ideas seem to have transcended the centuries to live on in modern Italy: cover your stomach to avoid catching a cold, wait 3 hours after eating before you swim or you'll drown, sunflower oil is good for the flu, humidity causes low blood pressure, and canker sores are caused by indigestion. A complete aversion to all forms of medicine are also fundamental in this society. (i.e. Yesterday my French friend Sandrine had a headache. Italians don't like to take Aspirin because it will "destroy your liver," but Sandrine is French and has no problem with taking meds, so I offered her an Aleve. "If you don't want medicine, be Italian and kiss this," I said to her, holding up my pocket-rosary.)]

Anyway, great book, totally fascinating, very different from
Pillars of the Earth, and written by a guy who truly is a master writer.

KICKED ASS.

A worthy successor to PILLARS OF THE EARTH!

WORLD WITHOUT END continues the story of Kingsbridge, a medieval town noted for the awe-inspiring Gothic cathedral designed and built some 200 hundred years earlier in the 12th century by Jack Builder.

Gwenda, a female medieval version of the Artful Dodger, is one of five starving children in a very poor family. Despite the horrific punishment that sees the hands chopped off a convicted thief, she's being raised by her father to be a cut-purse and a pickpocket. Ralph is a tall, strong boy whose hopeful family see him as destined for greater things. They imagine him as the young squire of a noble knight or (dare they wish for such an impossibility?) perhaps even elevated to the rank of knighthood and nobility itself. But Ralph is an aggressive bully and although he certainly seems to have the strength and the warlike skills to achieve such an ambition, he is sadly lacking in the ability to soak up any academic learning at all. Descended from Jack Builder, Merthin seems to be the polar opposite of his stepbrother, Ralph. Merthin is a kinder, gentler, more intelligent person whose innate pragmatic genius drives him to wonder how things work and how things are built. Caris, also a descendent of Jack Builder, shares in Jack's and Merthin's intelligence but she is determined to use that academic brilliance to study medicine, an activity strictly forbidden to mere women in the 14th century.

In 1327, these four children slip away from the confines of Kingsbridge and play in the forest, a dangerous activity forbidden to them by their parents. But who among us hasn't ignored a prohibition like that at one time or another? When, to their horror, they witness a killing that they cannot understand, their lives become inextricably entwined together and it is not until many, many years later that any of them will understand the dark motives behind the brutal event in the forest that unfolded before them that day.

Of course, WORLD WITHOUT END is a sequel to Ken Follett's runaway bestseller, PILLARS OF THE EARTH and, as you might expect, Kingsbridge Cathedral, the priory and Merthin's skills as an engineer, a mason, a designer and an architect, all play a central role in the continuing story. Caris' cousin, Godwyn, also a descendant of Tom Builder, becomes a monk at a very early age and sets his career sights very high indeed. With an abundant supply of self-confidence and arrogance, he is absolutely convinced that it is in Kingsbridge's and his own best interests that he become no less than the Prior of the cathedral. Of course, this is still the 14th century and, clearly, Godwyn, the priory and the authority of the Catholic Church will have no small part to play in the history of Kingsbridge as the story of the four children's lives begins to play out against the rich medieval backdrop that Follett provides.

Feudalism, medieval law, the iron hand of the Catholic Church, the innate male chauvinism of the day, the nobility, ongoing war against France and, of course, the Black Death that savaged Europe in the second half of the fourteenth century, all play a major role in Follett's epic tale, WORLD WITHOUT END. Given the setting of the story in terms of time and place, this shouldn't come as a surprise. What may come as a surprise is that, although readers of PILLARS OF THE EARTH who waited so long for this sequel were desperately afraid that Follett couldn't possibly repeat such a literary triumph, their worries were quite groundless. Follett has provided his fans with an epic tale that veritably leaps off the pages - bloody war and battles; greed, ambition and power; lust, love and loyalty; suspense and intrigue; and, of course, a realistic, astonishingly well developed historical setting that will transport delighted readers to the heart of medieval England.

WORLD WITHOUT END is a doorstopper weighing in at a hefty 1000+ pages. But, without a doubt, it's the fastest 1000 pages that you're ever going to read and you'll still be sorry to see it end. What a story!

Paul Weiss



Paul Weiss

Mastodontico, maestoso, fluviale. Quanto di piu' imponente si possa pensare, questo si attaglia a un librone di 1400 pagine. Molto meno bello e intrigante del mitico "Pilastri della terra", e' pur sempre un romanzo storico che avanza in maniera piuttosto scorrevole e non e' un pregio da poco per uno scritto di queste dimensioni. Veniamo portati di nuovo ai piedi della cattedrale di Kingsbridge nel periodo che vede la fine del Medioevo e l'affaccairsi del Rinascimento. I caratteri dei personaggi non conoscono la benche' minima introspezione e la loro stessa descrizione non scalfisce mai la superficie. Agiscono e basta. La trama, se vogliamo ben vedere e assai risicata. Cosa rende quindi interessante la lettura? Il meraviglioso affresco storico. La ricchezza, la freschezza della ricostruzione di un'epoca. La non consueta attenzione per particolari di vita quotidiani che difficilmente si trovano sui libri di storia o in altri romanzi. Una parola di merito per lo stile di scrittura: non si vola alto, nulla di ricercato o raffinato, ma la semplicita' e la chiarezza, valgono oro per trattenere l'attenzione del lettore.

Ken Follett is a clever man. Having written the bestseller The Pillars of the Earth, he then wrote an even longer sequel called World Without End which is strikingly similar in tone, plot, and characters. But he waited nearly twenty years to do it. Instead of saying, "Ken Follett is a one-trick pony," people said, "Oh, hooray! I remember that I really liked that book."

World Without End actually takes place several hundred years after The Pillars of the Earth but since we're dealing with the Middle Ages, you'd hardly know it. The world is much the same as it was when the cathedral of the fictional town of Kingsbridge was built, and most of the inhabitants do the same jobs--there are nuns, monks, a powerful prior, wool merchants, an alderman, serfs, and so forth. They still fight over essentially the same issues and privileges.

Where the first book dealt with the tension between secular and ecclesiastical authority, this one sets up a power struggle between inventive merchants and peasants, on one hand, and conservative priests and nobles, on the other. The modern reader deeply feels the frustration of men and women who want to grow cash crops, move to towns that offer higher wages, open hospitals, and build bridges. This book would make anyone a capitalist.

The characters are, to be honest, somewhat interchangeable with the figures from the first book: a clever female merchant, a steady and reliable builder, and a devious clergyman. But the book creates new intrigues between them, and Follett is, like his protagonist, a good architect. He builds up layers of conflict and mystery for the first two-thirds of the book, and then meticulously resolves them, in roughly the reverse order, as the book winds gracefully to a close.

This is certainly not a literary book, but it's well-constructed; it's not erudite, but shows an understanding of history. Like its predecessor, it's just a satisfying read.

Let me preface this review by saying that I loved Pillars of the Earth. A lot. I thought it was almost perfect, in fact, except for one minor issue that I had with the dialogue sounding too modern for the time period (an issue I had with World Without End, too). After being engrossed in that book, loving, hating, caring about the characters in it, after feeling like I was living in Kingsbridge for 900 pages, I was excited for this follow up. I wanted more, I wanted to be back in that world, experiencing life right along with the people I was reading about, the people I cared about. So I picked this audiobook up and started it.

And all was good... for a while. It didn't take me long to start feeling that something was wrong. It didn't take me long to start feeling like Follett had ripped off his own book.

Maybe if I'd had 20 years to forget the details of Pillars before reading Book World Without End, maybe I wouldn't have felt the similarities as much, and I'd have liked it more. It isn't a BAD story, but I lost patience with it really quickly and then I stuck with it far longer than I should have hoping that it would come around. I made it 80%, and by the end, I couldn't tell you what happened, because I stopped listening. It was playing in the background while I worked, and I could hear it, but it wasn't holding my attention at all.

I wanted more of Follett's Kingsbridge world, yes, but I didn't expect Pillars of the Earth: Now With New Character Names! I wanted a different story. Instead, I got a rehash of Pillars, and so I kept comparing them in my head. "Oh, There's the devious, overbearing mother-plotter..." "Here's the Lord-Who-Thinks-He's-God..." "Another brilliantly talented at a really young age master craftsman... who woulda thunk it?" and so on and so on...

Did I like the characters? Yeah. Sure. I didn't care about them nearly as much as I cared about the Pillars characters though. Did I like the story? I guess.

I did love the performance though. John Lee read this audio, and he was great. But still... I just endured this one, rather than enjoyed it, and couldn't bring myself to keep going another twelve hours to finish.

Enough is enough.

A great story. So long it should be called "Book without End" but by the time you reach the end, you don't want to finish.

The characters, both the good guys and the bad guys, are well developed; none is perfectly good or bad. One calamity after another, some of nature (the plague) but most of human cause, beset the capable few who struggle to get things done.

NOTE: You can read this either before or after "Pillars of the Earth." Both books take place in the same locale, but two hundred years apart; there is no plot overlap.

What? I never wrote a review (ha, good for me)....
but I loved this book -equally- as much as Pillars of the Earth -

The Female characters were a stand out --
The Story --GRIPPING!!

I read it ages ago -- (I just read a great review from Lynn) --

World Without End was one of the best 1,000 page-turning-addicting- books I read!

I never read the 3rd book in the trilogy -- (own it) -- but -- not sure why --
Well, kinda I do -- It took over 3 years for it the 3rd book to be released -- and by then.....
I don't know -I forgot about it.

Highly entertaining lowbrow historical fiction.
It is a sequel to https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
Definitely not a masterpiece when it comes to historical accuracy, nevertheless it is a real page turner and highly, highly enjoyable.

Caris und Merthin haben mich im ganzen letzten Quartal des Jahres 2023 begleitet. Für das Buch hätte ich wohl nicht die Ruhe gehabt, aber mit dem (ungekürzten) Hörbuch konnte mich ich immer wieder in die Welt des Hochmittelalters beamen und bei den beiden für ein paar Minuten vorbeischauen. Ken Follett ist ein Meister des Spannungsbogens. Trotz der Länge des Romans hatte er keine Längen, und wenn ich die Geschichte unterbrechen musste, fieberte ich schon dem nächsten Mal entgegen, bis ich wieder die Kopfhörer aufsetzen konnte. Der Roman ist hervorragend recherchiert. Ich habe mit großem Interesse verfolgt, wie damals Kirchen und Brücken gebaut wurden. Traurig, aber ebenfalls interessant, war es den Einbruch der Pest zu verfolgen und die Folgen für das Zusammenleben der Menschen. Ist es zu glauben, dass Follett schon 2007 die schützende Wirkung von Masken vor Ansteckung beschrieben hat? Das Buch ist eine spannende und würdige Fortsetzung des ersten Bandes („Die Säulen der Erde“) der Kingsbridge-Reihe. Hervorragendes Lesevergnügen ist garantiert.