World Without End by Ken Follett
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Book Reviews of World Without End
Book Review: A worthy successor to "Pillars of the Earth"!
Summary: 5 Stars
"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
Book Review: Another great read from Follett
Summary: 5 Stars
Ken Follett's World Without End is a sequel of sorts to his 1989 bestseller The Pillars of the Earth. Follett's earlier book was set in the mid-12th century and had to do with the construction of a cathedral in Kingsbridge, England. World Without End takes place in Kingsbridge also, but some two hundred years later. One of its principal characters is a descendant of the architect of the cathedral. But the connection between the two books is minimal, so that reading or remembering what happened in Pillars is not a prerequisite for enjoying this novel.
If you've read other books by Ken Follett, you'll know what to expect in this one: a strong heroine who rebels (arguably anachronistically) against the limitations imposed on her sex, a noble proto-feminist male lead; their love and ambitions are thwarted by morally bankrupt bad guys until, after overcoming innumerable obstacles, they triumph over their adversaries. If that makes Follett's novels sound formulaic, I suppose they are. But the author packs some enormously entertaining writing on this familiar scaffolding. His books are invariably page turners. And his characters are fleshed out sufficiently so that we always know what motivates them and we understand the complexities of their competing interests.
World Without End opens in 1327, when its main characters meet as children. Initially it's hard to keep the various personalities straight, but they soon become familiar. Merthin, at eleven, is the eldest, and heir to the talent that his cathedral-building forbear had possessed. Ralph, Merthin's brother, shows signs already at ten of the violence and sociopathy that would later come to the fore. Gwenda is the light-fingered daughter of a thief, and Caris the unconventional and intelligent daughter of a wool merchant. The book follows their lives for more than thirty years as they fight to improve their situations: Gwenda seeks to dig her family out of poverty; Ralph aspires to restore his family to the nobility; and Caris and Merthin devote themselves to saving Kingsbridge itself after various reverses--economic downturns, a bridge collapse, the devastating consequences of the plague. At every turn they are opposed--by scheming monks and self-important guild authorities and a uninterested or cruel nobility.
I had some problems with the book. Thomas's dramatic appearance on the scene at the beginning of the book suggests that he will play a more important role in the story than he does. And the great secret he's been keeping, when it's finally revealed, is anticlimactic. Also, while most of the story takes place in Kingsbridge and in surrounding villages, Caris travels to France in one section of the book and gets caught up there in the ongoing hostilities between the French and English. This part of the book did not add much to the story and could have been excised from it, and I also found it implausible in parts. It has hard to believe, for example, that Caris--one in an army of thousands--always seems to be close enough to hear conversations between important leaders. Finally, the onset of the plague is too often signaled by dramatic brief sentences telling us that some character or other has sneezed.
But these are minor complaints about a book that's more than 1000 pages long and held my interest to the very end. World Without End is another great read from Follett, one of my favorite authors. It's highly readable--happily lacking in the stilted dialogue found so often in historical fiction. Follett is able, too, to describe complex things--in this book often involving architectural details, which are so important to the story--in simple prose. Don't let the book's enormous length scare you off.
-- Debra Hamel
Book Review: Sheer pleasure
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply put, this book is utterly magnificent. It is a captivating tale of life in 14th century England and the challenges, successes and setbacks encountered by the characters. Much has been said in other reviews about the plot so I won't bother to rehash it here.
I especially enjoyed how the characters' stories and lives were so intertwined. I also enjoyed the balance, in that no one character ever seemed to rise too high. Nobody seemed to have unadulterated success - for every boon granted to the character it seemed that there was always some aspect of hardship that was already present or due to come.
Follett does an excellent job of creating characters that are multi-dimensional. I was truly passionate about each of the main characters and will remember them for a long time. I wanted desperately to see the good characters of Merthin, Caris, Gwenda, and Wulfric succeed, and was eager to see Godwyn, Philemon, Ralph and Elfric fail. By the end, things may have been fairly predictable, but still all in all, extremely satisfying.
If I have a slight complaint, there was one loose end that I felt Follett never addressed or wrapped up. At the very beginning of the book, Gwenda steals the purse of Merthin and Ralph's father. This causes their family to be disgraced and really sets the stage for the life paths that Merthin and Ralph are left with. All throughout the book, I was hoping for some sort of apology or acknowledgement of the theft by Gwenda to Merthin or Caris or Ralph, but it never happened. It would have been nice to have had Gwenda tell this to Ralph in one of the key final scenes, or to see if Caris and Merthin would have been able to accept the fact that they had been friends for 40 years with someone who had been a root cause of so much hardship for Merthin's family.
All in all, this is a book not to be missed. I actually cried when I finished it, because for the past four weeks I have found myself lost in its pages.
Book Review: A masterfully woven romp back in time.
Summary: 5 Stars
A book with no end is more like it...but this can be looked at in two ways: 1, Some people might be put off by the shear size of it. 2, Others will be so engrossed they won't put it down. This is the riveting follow up to "The Pillars of the Earth" The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club) which brought us to Kingsbridge and introduced us to 12th century cathedral builders. Follet's new effort takes place in the beginning years of the 14th century and is as relentlessly eventful as its predecessor. There are four characters with which to get aquatinted with. One woman is stubborn and love-starved...the other woman is the daughter of a merchant. These two women lead a life intertwined with two males. One becomes a master architect...the other is a wastrel that rises though the aristocratic ranks.
When these four were children they witnessed a murder that held their kingdom in peril. As adults they find themselves struggling to find a station in life. Most of "World without end" focuses on these four characters...but this is Follet we're talking about and his ability to weave a plethora of characters into the mix is impressive. We learn about medieval bridge building, wool dyeing and market trading, among other trades of the period. All this culminates to produce a very realistic take on medieval life. Romances are made and broken...subplots are developed and resolved. Most readers will happily go for a ride back in time as Follet breathlessly entertains us with a dizzying take of the 14th would also recommend, if you missed it, "The Pillars of the Earth" The Pillars of the Earth (Deluxe Edition) (Oprah's Book Club)
Book Review: Get Lost in Follett's Follow Up
Summary: 5 Stars
"Pillars of the Earth" is still the yardstick I use to measure historical fiction. It's rare to stumble across a novel that can measure up to Follett's classic, and I was very leary of his "sequel". I wasn't sure how it could possibly stand up to the original tale. The world Follett created in "Pillars" was so rich in detail, and the characters so well drawn they became real. And while I've enjoyed most of Follett's other novels, none of his other writing captured the magic I found in "Pillars".
The great news is that "World Without End" is so entertaining, and creates a whole new world populated by wonderful (and wonderfully awful) characters, that the novel stands on it's own as another masterwork by the author. While it compliments "Pillars" and does make mention of some of the characters and setting from the novel, "World Without End" does not require a thorough knowledge of the earlier novel.
The actual storyline is basically the life and times of 4 people who happen to meet when playing in the woods as children. Over the next 1000 pages we follow the kids through various struggles and triumphs, and watch them grow and see how the world changes around them. All of the political intrigue which drove "Pillars" is back with a vengeance in "World". All of the romance which propelled the reader through "Pillars" is once again present in "World"...basically Follett changed the formula slightly, but kept all the fantastic ingredients which made the earlier novel such a pleasure to read.
I highly recommend you pick up this novel, even if you haven't read "Pillars of the Earth" (and if you haven't read that book, pick it up too!!!). These two books represent a sweeping epic that you will want to revisit multiple times.