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World Without End | 
| Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: NAL Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy New: $14.96
You Save: $7.04 (32%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  367 reviews
Sales Rank: 7810
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1024
ISBN: 045122499X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780451224996
ASIN: 045122499X
Publication Date: October 7, 2008 (In 74 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Book Description
Ken Follett has 90 million readers worldwide. The Pillars of the Earth is his bestselling book of all time. Now, eighteen years after the publication of The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett has written the most-anticipated sequel of the year, World Without End.
In 1989 Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England centered on the building of a cathedral and many of the hundreds of lives it affected. Critics were overwhelmed--"it will hold you, fascinate you, surround you" (Chicago Tribune)--and readers everywhere hoped for a sequel.
World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral that was at the heart of The Pillars of the Earth. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroad of new ideas--about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race--the Black Death.
Three years in the writing, and nearly eighteen years since its predecessor, World Without End breathes new life into the epic historical novel and once again shows that Ken Follett is a masterful author writing at the top of his craft. Questions for Ken Follett  Amazon.com: What a phenomenon The Pillars of the Earth has become. It was a bestseller when it was published in 1989, but it's only gained in popularity since then--it's the kind of book that people are incredibly passionate about. What has it been like to see it grow an audience like that? Follett: At first I was a little disappointed that Pillars sold not much better than my previous book. Now I think that was because it was a little different and people were not sure how to take it. As the years went by and it became more and more popular, I felt kind of vindicated. And I was very grateful to readers who spread the news by word of mouth. Amazon.com: Pillars was a departure for you from your very successful modern thrillers, and after writing it you returned to thrillers. Did you think you'd ever come back to the medieval period? What brought you to do so after 18 years? Follett: The main reason was the way people talk to me about Pillars. Some readers say, "It's the best book I've ever read." Others tell me they have read it two or three times. I got to the point where I really had to find out whether I could do that again. Amazon.com: In World Without End you return to Kingsbridge, the same town as the previous book, but two centuries later. What has changed in two hundred years? Follett: In the time of Prior Philip, the monastery was a powerful force for good in medieval society, fostering education and technological advance. Two hundred years later it has become a wealthy and conservative institution that tries to hold back change. This leads to some of the major conflicts in the story. Amazon.com: World Without End features two strong-willed female characters, Caris and Gwenda. What room to maneuver did a medieval English town provide for a woman of ambition? Follett: Medieval people paid lip-service to the idea that women were inferior, but in practice women could be merchants, craftspeople, abbesses, and queens. There were restrictions, but strong women often found ways around them. Amazon.com: When you sit down to imagine yourself into the 14th century, what is the greatest leap of imagination you have to make from our time to theirs? Is there something we can learn from that age that has been lost in our own time? Follett: It's hard to imagine being so dirty. People bathed very rarely, and they must have smelled pretty bad. And what was kissing like in the time before toothpaste was invented?
Product Description
Ken Follett has 90 million readers worldwide. The Pillars of the Earth is his bestselling book of all time. Now, eighteen years after the publication of The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett has written the most anticipated sequel of the year-World Without End.
Unabridged edition read by John Lee
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| Customer Reviews: Read 362 more reviews...
Medieval Soap Opera July 22, 2008
This book made a great summer read! I found myself picking it up every chance I got because I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. There are many stories and characters (100's) intricately woven together. I imagine that if soap operas had existed in the middle ages, the storylines would have been similar. However, if you are looking for deep reading, World is not it. Despite the book's long length, this is very light, easy reading. For me, the most interesting parts of the book were the ones dealing with the plague and how it changed medieval society. One thing that sets this book apart from other historical novels I've read is that it deals with everyday people rather than royalty and the nobility. The main characters are Merthin and Ralph, brothers whose father is a former knight now reduced to poverty, Gwenda, a girl born into utter poverty who manages to survive anyway, and Caris, the daughter of a wealthy merchant.
Many readers have criticized the amount of "gratuitous" sex in the book. There are, at times, a good bit, but no more than one finds on T.V. these days. Also, I would hardly call the sex scenes explicit, but so badly written that they are almost comical. They seem to have been written from a adolescent male's point of view. Many other criticisms were from people who did not even finish the book. I don't think it is fair to write a crtical review of a book you did not bother to finish. If they had hung in there, they would have found that there as an explanation for everything that happened.
While I enjoyed this book a great deal, I gave it 4 stars because I felt that it was poorly edited. There was too much repetition in the book. For example, Philemon and Godwyn were described as being "obsequious" at least ten times making me wonder why someone didn't pick up a thesaurus. One also gets tired of reading about how plump Madge Webber is, that Gwenda looks like a rodent and other repititious physical descriptions of the many characters.
One other complaint I have is that the Catholic Church is portrayed as being corrupt. While there was quite a bit of corruption in the church at that time, they were not all bad and I wish there had been a few pious church leaders portrayed in the book to balance out the bad leaders.
If you are looking for a light read that will keep you hooked I think you will enjoy this book. I hope Mr. Follett will write another sequel. I would love to find out how Kingsbridge Priory survives Henry VIII and the Protestant Reformation.
 World Without End July 22, 2008
Slow at first. I made the big mistake of try to read it as I was still reading The Pillars or to try to go back an associate everything with it but once you give it it's own space it is very entretaining.
World Without End July 18, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was one of the best books I have read in a while. It was even better than Pillars of the Earth. I recommend that anyone who reads the book should read Pillars of the Earth first in order for World Without End to make sense, because in the book they make references to people in the Pillars of the Earth. It will keep you up at night wondering what is going to happen next.
 Can you say Medieval Porn? July 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I began this book with guarded enthusiasm. I enjoy the history of this time period. The author takes time to lay out a pretty well thought out story line (although predictable) and it appears to be fairly factual. My beef however is that he took what could have been a good novel and turned it into a well written porn story. The author writes with such vivid detail in the novels sexual escapades that it dwarfs the competition. The sexual innuendo's are also rampant within the book.
It also appears that the author has very little if any regard for the church at all. The church portrayed is completely corrupt and self serving. While it is true that there was a good deal of corruption in the church during this time period, much of the church was also maintained by believers who were sincere and upright.
Bottom line if you like porn with a good but predictable story read this book, otherwise don't waste your time.
Excellent... A must Read.... July 17, 2008
Only if I could write a review that would do justice to Ken Follett's World without end... It is another historical classic just like Pillars of the Earth. Very enjoyable!!!
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