This book is being touted as the long awaited sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, which was published 18 years ago. Although it is set in the same town as the original book and some of the characters from the past are mentioned this story occurs 200 years after the events in Pillars.

Four children witness a murder in the forest near their home. They never tell anyone of what happened that day and never discuss it among themselves. The four children, Merthin and Ralph brothers of a disgraced knight, Caris daughter of a rich merchant and Gwenda the destitute daughter of a thief, live vastly different lives but their paths are always entwined with each others. Over the course of 34 years we follow these four through their loves and losses and learn to care for some and loathe others, but always we are wrapped up in their story.

Although I think Pillars was a better book, I think this one is not too far off the mark. We have a lot of the same themes that were visited in that tale here: Star crossed love, wicked nobleman, ambitious monks, hard working poorly treated peasants, murder, death, betrayal, and the Black Plague. Through it all you root for some people to overcome the obstacles thrown in their way and wait for others to get payback for all the evil they do.

Once again I learned many things about life in those Dark Ages and was fascinated by all the detail Follett put into his work. This is a huge book, over 1000 pages, yet I managed to read it in about a week and a half, about 500 pages over the past two days; I just had to know how it would all turn out.

If you loved Pillars I don't think you will be disappointed.

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Historical purists will not be pleased. Neither will readers who make their selections based on the length of a book, or people who object to a little sex in their reading (World is hardly pornography), or religious fundamentalists.
But those who enjoy ripping epic adventures, historical settings, compelling characters, and plot twist after twist, should have a fine time in World Without End. Yes, it mimics its predecessor, but that is precisely what I, for one, was hoping for. Jumping back into Jack the Builder's city after 200 years was a joy. Few writers on the scene today are capable of creating such appealing protagonists and such hateful villains. Few are capable of filling 1000 pages with heartfelt conflict, human mistakes and foibles, or gut-wrenching turns of event. Follett can do all of this, and has proved it again in World.
The treatment of the bubonic plague in World is worthy of comment. Rather than focus upon the horrific physical element, Follett has chosen to represent the vast psychological, financial, and societal consequences of this most devastating of diseases: the breakdown of mores, conventions, and behavior, the inability to produce enough food, the utter uselessness of mere wealth, the failure of the religious establishment to meet the needs of its flock. It is difficult today to imagine that time, and the narrative here helps.
Circumstances change, but human nature doesn't. Here's hoping Mr Follett has another Kingsbridge novel in him, set perhaps during the religious and political upheaval that characterized the Tudor era.

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I've been telling people for years about Pillars Of The Earth - it was a remarkable work. Among the many aspects of the story, I enjoyed the description of the development of Ecclesiastical architecture - fascinating stuff! It was a great tale, well told. World Without End is a gripping sequel and while it pays homage to its predecessor, it stands by itself as a story. It didn't quite capture my imagination as much as POTE probably because there were so many similarities to the plot. This time the building centered more on bridge building - again, interesting from a technical aspect. There was also a lot more gratuitous sex thrown in - some of it was necessary to the plot but some of it seemed to be added just to spice things up and really didn't need to be there. All in all it was a pretty good read.
For those who enjoy a good epic historical tale, I'd highly recommend Stephen Lawhead's 'Byzantium' - a marvelous tale (based on historical fact) of an Irish monk's journey to Byzantium. His King Raven trilogy (Hood/Scarlet/Tuck) retelling the legend of Robin Hood from a different historical perspective is also excellent!

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I enjoyed this book, but not as much as Pillars of the Earth. This is a stand alone book, and not truly a sequel to Pillars. The book follows the town of Kingsbridge during the 14th century England and includes a vivid portrait of the devastation of the plague, the trials of the serfs/peasants and the hostility of the ruling gentry, and the lack of sanctity of the church. This is a social novel that depicts the conflict between serfs/nobility; men/women; clergy/guilds and the rise of the middle class. The novel is extremely long (1,000+) pages, but if you like historical fiction, or Pillars, then this is worth a read.

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A wonderful sequel to "Pillars of the Earth" which involves the descendents of Tom and Jack Builder. A huge book, a cast of thousands it seems, yet I skipped very few pages in it. This book again depicts the Catholic Church as not only the only institution in the Middle Ages which dispenses care and comfort, but also as a greedy and villaneous force for its own welfare. It very clearly shows why the Protestant Reformation took hold so rapidly in Europe and England as a reaction to the behavior of the clergy of the Catholic church. Genny

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World Without End is the sequel to Pillars of the Earth. Ken Follett, once again, grabs our attention in this 1025 page book. The black plague, the war between France and England serve as backgrounds to this book. The characters are the progeny of the characters in Pillars of the Earth. There is a rich tapestry of characters who give us the class structure and social mores of the time. Ken Follett's attention to historical details and to rich characterization rivets the reader's attention. One can learn almost as much as through reading a historical text with the added pleasure of the characters and plots.

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I enjoy escaping to another place and time through reading a good book. And with over 1000 pages, this book provides a lengthy escape. It also provides some graphic violent details and sexual encounters (including both willing and unwilling participants). The length of the story was not a problem, as the story did not drag on. I did, however, have a problem accepting the part where the nuns head off alone across Europe to track down the Bishop just to tell him that the priests had stolen their money. The 2 women dress in disguises and fall in with the French army as they march on towards battle. Yes, the nuns were travelling to see the Bishop who was currently involved in the war, and the 2 women were following the troups across the country just to tattle on the priests back home. Whatever. So I didn't appreciate Follett's crude details at times, nor the diversion from Kingsbridge, but it was overall a good read.

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A great novel about life from 1327-1361. Follett followed up "Pillars of the Earth" with "World Without End." This book takes place 200 years after his previous best seller. What a wonderful read. You get involved in these people's lives and it becomes hard to jump back into your own life. I recommend it highly. Just keep in mind that Follett is an athiest and so his world view is a little different, but what a great read!

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Great read. 1014 pages long you can't wait to get to next episode but don't want it to end. This is a sequel to "Pillars of the earth".It is set in the late middle ages and contains abundant details about life in those times.

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I made it about 200 pages into this book and I just couldn't get into it. It's nowhere near as good as Pillars of the Earth in my opinion. The sheer size of the book is ridiculous. It could have been condensed a great deal.

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All I can say is WOW. Was not sure how it would to "Pillars", but it did.

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This novel closely mimics its predecessor Pillars of the Earth. Set some 200 years later, it picks up life in the town of Kingsbridge. The characters are well developed and you quickly become pulled into their lives. This book has the same compelling character types of the first book. The couple whose love seems destined yet are again and again heartbreakingly separated, the villans who seem to run into their share of misfortune as well, yet never seem to be defeated. All of their struggles seem so unsurmountable yet somehow they persevere. Their pain is gut wrenching and their happiness profound. If you loved Pillars- World Without End will be equally lovable.

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This is a book that I picked up because I was a fan of Ken Follet's suspense novels. Initially, I was disappointed when I realized this book fell into a completely different category. But the author paints a vivid picture of 11th century life and the ease with which a man could become unemployed and how quickly a family could become a victim of starvation. An eye-opening book about an earlier time.

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I enjoyed this book as much as "Pillars of the Earth." The only problem I had was that I think I read it too soon after Pillars thinking it was the sequel in the typical sense of being a sequel, in that I didn't want to "forget" anything from Pillars, but really, this is a book that can easily stand on its own. I loved it and definitely recommend it.

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Ken Follet's sequel to Pillars of the Earth does not disappoint. The descendants of his PoE characters face different challenges, all made 14th century real by Follett in a detailed, believeable and historically accurate way. I really enjoyed this read and now have it and PoE on my keeper shelf. I gave it 5 stars!

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This book is OUTSTANDING! I had previously enjoyed his "Pillars of the Earth". This is sort of a sequel, but still stands alone as a terrific read. Although it's over 1000 pages (yeah!), it wasn't long enough! Ken Follett knows how to captivate a reader's attention and brings you right into the story with him. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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I read WORLD WITHOUT END with a few buddies in my online book club, The Reading Cove.

Wow, what a story!

Much like its predecessor (The Pillars of the Earth), this sequel is like a juicy soap opera of the late Middle Ages. There are some dull passages dealing with church and state politics, wars, economics of the times, etc., but those passages don't last long enough to detract from the drama, drama, drama!

Caris, Merthin, Glenda, Wulfric, Ralph, Godwyn, Philemon. Thomas. Wow! They all come to life quite vividly within these pages.

I must admit, though, that after 800+ pages, the cycle of obstacles to fight became redundant. The wicked triumphed over the good over and over (and over) again and it wore a bit thin for me, so I had to put the book down and read something else for a while. Nevertheless, the characters are so well developed they bring out a plethora of emotions as you feel what they feel, and see the times through their eyes.

Now, at 1,025 pages...could the story have been a few hundred shorter without losing anything? Sure. But I still have to give it an A- for sheer entertainment value!

★
(¯`·.·´¯) (¯`·.·´¯)
`·.¸(¯`·.·´¯)¸ .·
×°× ` ·.¸.·´ ×°×

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The sequel to "The Pillars of the Earth", this book takes place 200 years after the original book and traces the lives of the descendants. Well written in a simple, straight-forward style, the book is very readable and extremely engrossing. Especially valuable in understanding the historical context, Ken Follett has done his homework and paints a masterful portrait of life in the 1300s with the plague, with the political and ecclesiastical power struggles and abuses. I can guarantee you won't regret picking this one up.

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If you loved ,Pillars of the Earth, - which I did - than this one is a must read as well. Ken Follett's "stories within the story" draw you in and captivate you. His amazing details about life in a very difficult time fascinated me. By the time I finished this book I felt like the characters were my old friends. It may be a very long book but its worth the time in my opinion.

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A gripping and turbulant sequel to Pillars of the Earth, this book is thrilling! If you can overlook some adult themes (quite a bit of sex, violence, bad language) this book is a series of twists and turns that will enthrall the reader and leave you thinking about the book and characters long after you have finished it. The characters are believable and the Middle Ages come alive in this book. Highly recommended.

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While "Pillars of the Earth" has long been my favorite novel, I couldn't imagine Follett writing anything near as compelling but I was wrong. This book rates right up there with Pillars!

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This is one of the best books I have ever read. Not quite as good as Pillars of the Earth, but almost.

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This continuance takes place two to three hundred years after "Pillars". It is different, and though I do not rate it as good as pillars it still is a favorite of mine and a definite five star book. It is amazing to see the advances that were made in the period between "Pillars" and this story.

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Another absolutely spectacular book by this author. If you loved Pillars of the Earth you will be thrilled to read the sequel. It leaves you the same way as Pillars, hoping there is another book to follow. Don't worry about the pages, you will read it quickly and think it ended too short!

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I read Pillars first and had to have more. I finished this monster of a book in about 2 weeks...it's 1014 pages long but you don't notice the length as you're drawn in to the lives of the characters. The writing is so easy that you just keep moving on through. The characters are wonderfully drawn as is the description of life during the middle ages: the classes, the way of everyday life and the trials that the characters experience. I felt as if the characters were friends and found myself loving and hating them. This is definitely worth the time it takes!

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I came across this book by accident. It was on the shelf I had run out of books to read...I wouldn't say that I couldn't put it down...but it was a pretty interesting read. I haven't read many books form the twelfth century, so this was pretty awesome and an eye opener. I haven't read Pillars yet, but now I'm pretty excited to pick it up.

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This is a big book and an AMAZING big story.Actually it read as stories IN stories.All related and all fascinating.It's a 1046 page book but manageable in paperback edition.Keenly period detailed a wealth of information on the daily"how to 's" .Historical fiction has never been this good before.It's literate, informational and compelling,But it's an easy read,all the intrigue and gossipy by turns it IS a page turner.At 1046 pages I still wanted more and was sorry to leave these people and this place.

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Entertaining! The characters are a bit too larger-than-life (as an example, the main female, Caris, warps from merchant wonder to (almost) town alderman to nun/Mother Superior to founder of hospital/modern medicine (sic) all within the 40-50 years of her life. Wow!) but you can't help but like them. Even the evil characters are enjoyable because their evildoing are written with such light humor. Of course, life back then was probably much tougher and harsher than what is described in this book, plus not sure if the timing of the historical events are entirely accurate, but this was not meant to be a history reference book.

P.S. This book should be retitlted "Book Without End" 1000+ pages, whew!

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World without end was written as a sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, but can also be read as a stand alone book. When Starz announced their Pillars of the Earth series, I decided to go ahead and read World Without End (it had been sitting on my to be read shelf for a... while).

World Without End had some big shoes to fill and it did not disappoint. This book took me at least twice as long to read, but I think I have an explanation for that. In other reviews readers mentioned that it has the same characters, just renamed and placed 200 years later than in PoE. To a great degree this is true, and therefore it was much easier for me to put the book down and walk away for even a couple of days because I just didn't feel the urgency that I did before. It's like deja vu all over again. It was good, but not the roller coaster experience that I had with PoE.

Having said all that, this is still a very good book and well worth the time to read the 1014 pages. If you've already read Pillars though, just be aware that it's a bit like chasing the dragon.

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Such a disappointment! I enjoyed Pillars of the Earth for its creative incorporation of history, fiction, and plot, with a pinch of engineering and physics to boot. I expected World Without End to satisfy in the same way, but I was wrong. First the pros: Lots of things going on. Reads quickly. The cons: The main plot line is weak; it barely serves to hold the individual story lines together. The story of Gwenda and Wulfric is tied to the story of Caris and Merthin only in the sense that they seem to know each other casually. I kept waiting for the proverbial bombshell explaining their true significance - to no avail. What grated on my nerves (and forgive me - this reveals my personal sensibilities) was that these 14th century characters were imbued with a 21st century progressive mentality. Well, at least the characters that the author ploddingly implored you to root for. For example, Caris, the heroine, embodies every possible feminist stereotype from the 70's. It's as if the author had Gloria Steinem whispering a checklist in his ear. "I reject paternalistic male-dominated social order!" "I refuse to be burdened by an unwanted pregnancy!" "I question the precepts of organized religion and embrace my spirituality through celebration of my womynhood!" "My sexuality is not defined by my gender!" While I accept that historical fiction needs to take certain licenses to appeal to contemporary audiences, I was unable to reconcile the anachronistic elements of the story with what I know about the time period. As a result, I felt like the author was pandering to what he believed was an audience ripe for the picking. And maybe he was right, based on other reviews. But the absolute worst (for me, again, based on my personal sensibilities) was the thinly veiled (or was it veiled at all?) animus toward the Church. I know, I know. The Church is a fair target, right? But how difficult - or original - is it to parade a series of rotten-to-the-core clerics who lack any character development beyond their rottenness? The author uses every worn-out stereotype imaginable. The only cleric treated sympathetically by the author is the archdeacon who is living in a secret homosexual relationship with the bishop. There is not one priest or monk who is described as having a true religious calling. Finally, I'm more amused than annoyed by the author's ham-handed attempt to sneak in implausible historic accomplishments by the main characters. "Caris invented the sick hospital? Wow! I didn't know that!" "Caris was the first person to ever receive a key to the city? That's amazing!" "Caris developed the first municipal bonds? And she was still a teenager? What a gal!" Ugh. I read until the end hoping to tie up the loose ends of the (presumably) main plot line, but the resolution was a letdown. Two stars because I'm a sucker for historical fiction.

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Great follow up to Pillars of the Earth, engaging characters, interesting story

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I enjoyed this book very much. I had read his earlier book Pillars of the Earth as well.

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couldn't put it down great book!!!

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If you enjoyed Pillars of the Earth, you will like this one too. Same setting just a different generation of people. I loved this book!

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Really enjoyed this book as I had read the first one, Pillars of the Earth, & this continued 200 yrs. later. Hope there will be another following.

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A look at life in England in the 14th century through great characters. Follett, as always weaves history and fiction seamlessly. Perfect companion to "Pillars of the Earth"

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Very interesting book. As with his other book; it is interesting following the daily life of 13th century people.As you read this; sometimes you feel as if you are there.

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awesome

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The best book I have ever read....3 times!

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Sequel to "Pillars of the Earth". Continue the saga.

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This is an amazing book. You must also read Pillars of the Earth. GREAT!

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I was disappointed with how it seemed everyone in this interesting story were either sexually motivated or sexually deviant. From the landless peasants to the Bishops and everyone in between every one was sexually active, heterosexually or homosexually and if not they thought that "sex" was a sin, forget about the sanctity of marriage. You tend to lose respect for the hero and heroine Caris and Merthen when they are copulating every chance they get. The Monks and the Nuns depicted seemed to have a vocation to self indulgence and gratification not to the Lord. Political motivation and not spiritual motivation was the main calling. It's obvious to me that Ken Follett thought the Church was in ruins during this period in history run by a bunch of ignorant selfish arrogant men and if it wasn't for Caris we would still be in the dark ages.

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This is the sequel to my favorite book of all time "Pillars of the Earth". It is just as good as Pillars. It goes back and tells the story that happened before the story of Pillars. It is equally wonderful.

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