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Ken Follett: World Without End

angerball

Active Member
I had been eagerly awaiting this book, ever since it was announced, about two years ago. Pillars of the Earth was one of my favourite novels, and introduced me to the historical fiction genre.

Though it is marketed as the sequel to Pillars of the Earth, World Without End could easily be read without having read the former. It is set two centuries after Pillars of the Earth, and any references to that book are made in passing.

The book is set in the town of Kingsbridge, and spans approximately thirty years of the 14th Century. It opens with four young children – Ralph, Merthin, Caris, and Gwenda – witnessing the murder of a man, in the forest. The lives of these four main characters remain entwined, and the book follows them over the next thirty years. There are numerous plots and sub-plots of the book and the scope is just epic, so it’s quite hard to summarize. There isn’t really any one particular plot, or common thread (aside from the characters) that flows from the beginning to the end.

I had a few grievances with this book, and I think that’s why it took me about a month to finish it. Towards the end, I found myself getting quite irritated with it. I wanted to like it so much, but a lot of it felt contrived and forced. It just seemed like the book was a bunch of endless plotting, without much story. It had the four different characters constantly going off in four different directions, without a central theme or plot to tie them together. It seemed like every new chapter started with one of the characters plotting to overthrow another, or manipulating and blackmailing others in order to achieve their ends. I can handle that once or twice in a book, but in this case, it was constantly one after the other, to the point where is just seemed silly and implausible. To be honest, I found myself rolling my eyes ( :rolleyes: ) towards the end of the book, every time another character came up with yet another elaborate scheme to achieve their ‘master plan’. The characters didn’t quite ring true either; they were one-dimensional, either completely devious, or completely wholesome minded. I felt like the characters were watered down versions of the characters from Pillars of the Earth, just with different names.

I know it sounds like I hated this book, but I would still recommend it; in my opinion, though, it doesn't even begin to compare to Pillars of the Earth (I know, it's unfair to compare it, but I can't help it. :p ). I did like the general stories, and sub-plots, but there were just so many (one after the other) that I got frustrated with it. I would have enjoyed it alot more, if there wasn't so much constant scheming.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone else thought the same way (or if I'm just being picky!)

For me, I'd say 7/10.
 
Pillars of the Earth was one of my favourite novels, and introduced me to the historical fiction genre.

This is my favourite historical novel. What a magnificent epic.

If you're a Follet fan, may I suggest "A Dangerous Fortune", and "The Eye of The Needle". :)
 
Let me start by saying Pillars is possibly my favorite book of all time so when I heard about this "follow up" book I was excited. It took me a few hundred pages to really get into this one but once I did I enjoyed it. World Without End was of course no Pillars of the Earth but I still thought it was pretty good. I liked how characters from Pillars were mentioned here and there usually when discussing blood lines. Many people did not like this book because it wasn't a true follow up book meaning none of the same characters where in it. I disagree because I would have to say one of the main characters was in both books, the town of Kingsbridge.

I agree with you Angerball that the book was basicly about people blackmailing each other every chapter which did get a little old. Whenever there was a section about the Earl, the King, or the Church hiarchy you knew you were in for many pages of lies and deception.

One thing I liked about this book was how Merthin didn't really wait his entire life for Caris. I mean he did sort of wait his entire life for her but he did still get married to another woman and also got it on with about 3 other ladies. Merthin, guys wanted to be him, and ladies wanted to be with him LOL. In the beggining where he sleeps with his rivals sister who tricks him into thinking he is the father of her baby was just plain evil.

To anyone who has read and enjoyed Pillars I would have to say this is a must read because Folletts proven formula should work on you again. I give it 6.5 out of 10.
 
Ok, I've now read this book, and here's my opinion.

It is too similar to Pillars of The Earth to be called a sequel, or to even have been written at all.

The characters in each book could easily be identified with a character in the other.

Jack = Merthin, both architects/builders, who both left Kingsbridge and made their fortunes elsewhere in Europe before returning to the love of their life.

Aliena = Caris. Both have parents who died, leaving them penniless, and end up becoming ridiculously successful businesswomen.

Phillip = Godwyn. Both are born to peasants and rise to becomming a monk, then a prior.

William = Francis. Both are knights who are particularly cruel and violent. They both fight in a foreign land for the king, and end up being promoted to Earl.

I could go on, but you already get the point.

The more I read, the more dismayed I became - I was really reading the same thing over again - same plots, same characters, different names.

What was Follett thinking? My guess was that he was trying to milk the success of Pillars of The Earth, but ended up creating a copy disguised as something else.

He clearly had no new material in World Without End. Pity my brother bought this book, if it was mine, I'd return it for a full refund. I wonder how many people were duped into buying it?

Disappointing.
 
I agree about the characters in World Without End being too similar to characters in Pillars of the Earth. The problem I had with WWE, is that there really was no plot throughout the story - it was just one little scheme after another which got tiring oh-so-quickly. :rolleyes: Also, I was quite irritated by Caris; she was just 'too perfect' in her 'I'm an independant woman' rhetoric to the point where she was a caricature. :rolleyes:

The more I think back about the book, the more I realise that it was a poor effort. :rolleyes:
 
I was given Pillars of the Earth for Christmas by my daughter, who loved it. She also recommended joining Audible.com, which I did, and got the audio of Pillars for my first selection. I'm listening to it along with the book but I don't think I would ever read this book on my own. I'm determined to finish it but I think my problem with it is that I'm just not very interested in that time period. I do like historical fiction but Henry VIII is about as far back as I really want to go.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed Pillars of the Earth but after reading the reviews here on WWE I think I will avoid it.
 
Pillars of the Earth was also my favorite book. But a world without end, was as good in my opinion. Obviously everyone doesnt feel that way, but I thought it was an excellent read, and I really enjoyed going back to Kingsbridge and that time period.
 
hi all,
new to the forum,i really enjoyed POTE and thought WWE was a good read.
i read a very mixed bag of fiction but would really like to read more historical material similar to POTE.
i have read many of the wilbur smith books seventh scroll etc,which i also enjoyed.
could you guys point me to some material,nothing to heavy(not book weight) please.
many thanks gary.......
 
Hello all

Am I the only person that did not like POTE? I thought it was very mediocre and had an overall feel of "thrown together".
I love really big books and "epics" and was excited about this one because of everything I heard about it. Well, to say I was disappointed is to put it mildly.
If WWE is even worst I will be keeping my distance :)

I guess I just don't like Ken Follet.
 
you are not alone,i love historical fiction,but i found POTE quite boring,slow,previsible,and the caractere lacking spark.I finished it,but unless i am stuck with nothing else,i shall not read the sequel.
 
I have read POTE and really enjoyed it.I have read reviews and peoples comments about it and how historically inaccurate it is and how it is badly written and how a "certain scene" was too graphic and only a man would make up such a scene. I was upset ofcourse of all this but WWE I got it as a gift and I will read it and I will judge after:)
 
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