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Rating:  -
Ken Follet is a master. I loved this read; I couldn't put it down. Pillars of the Earth is even better; that is one of my all time favorites!
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I believe this book may be better than Pillars of the Earth. It is similar, but has a different main story line. The characters and plot are rich and overlap. I was always surprised with the story events. It is a long book, but worth the read!!
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I read "Pillars of the Earth" at least ten years ago and remember enjoying it, though I recall it had a number of holes in the plot large enough to drive a truck through. But that was of no import to me, since the same is true of many books and virtually all movies. I didn't read "Pillars" because I was looking for accurate history anymore than I enjoyed the movie "Gladiator" despite its complete rewrite of the reign of the Roman Emperor Commodus. Both were rip-roaring yarns, with interesting characters and plots that barreled along at 150 miles an hour. Which is why the plot holes don't matter - you're just along for the ride.
"World Without End" is equally enjoyable, and in fact more satisfying in the end because Follett has matured as a writer and at least to my eyes there were no groaners when it came to plot twists and resolutions. The characters were interesting, many were sympathetic (although I never warmed up to the lead female character, Caris), and while Follett undoubtedly mixed up minor aspects of the history of the 14th century, none of it was so obvious that it became a distraction. The book really can't be called a sequel: the action occurs two centuries after "Pillars," and other than the town of Kingsbridge and the cathedral everything else is different. One could certainly pick this book up without having read "Pillars" and not miss a thing.
Happily, Follett keeps his typically gratuitous and dopey sex scenes to no longer than a paragraph or so, which is a vast improvement over some of his earlier works where he felt obligated to subject the reader to pages of pointless smut. I'm no prude - but get on with the story already, okay? Unfortunately, Follett instead provides us with a seemingly endless description of a man being flayed alive, which, in retrospect, was probably more useless to the story than three pages of sex, so maybe I shouldn't complain about the sex scenes...
As far as underlying themes go - Follett seems to be exploring the question of how Europe managed to emerge from centuries of religious theocracy and grope its way from the Middle Ages toward the Enlightenment. The religious characters in the book are not presented sympathetically the way the Philip character was treated as a hero in "Pillars." Instead, Follett presents innumerable examples of religious people insisting on idiotic medical procedures, engaging in sexual misconduct, and generally getting in the way of progress. While there is no doubt that such people did, in fact, exist at the time, as they certainly continue to plague us today, Follett does nothing to present a balanced view. I'm no fan of organized religion, but it is unfair to not present any intelligent, intellectually curious, and forward thinking clergy.
That being said, the book moves along swiftly with little or no lags. I found the subplots involving the Gwenda character the most interesting, and looked forward to seeing her cleverly extract herself from one predicament after another.
All in all, a pretty good read. Certainly, if you enjoyed "Pillars," you will enjoy this book, and for all the same reasons.
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I'll make this brief. There really isn't a need to read Follett's previously released volume to understand this follow-up. It stands well on its own. A World Without End continues the saga of a Cathedral town in the Middle Ages. The story is beset with political and humanistic intrigue during dangerously dark times. War, famine, plague are all unleashed upon the main characters. The struggle to not only survive the latest onslaught, but to rise above it. The tenacity of the human spirit is set against the despicable destruction of ignorant beliefs. I really enjoyed this novel. Despite it's length, it's quite easy to fly right through it. Follett's sentence structure is anything but superfluous. This works well to plow through anything that may cause a reader to put such a hefty word count. I'm hoping that Ken Follett will write yet another novel to follow this great piece of illuminating historical fiction.
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Absolutely friggin fantastic. He has outdone himself after the equally fantastic Pillars of the earth. Buy them both.
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