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. Other books by Ken Follett reviewed on this blog: The contrast jars from beginning to end." - The Telegraph (UK).World Without End by Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth #2) Sadly, what we have as a result is an 'accessible' novel full of characters with 21st-century sensibilities and speech but plonked in a medieval setting. "Perhaps the build 'n' bash theme of the previous novel was deemed by the suits at Macmillan to have been a bit masculine, for in this tale Follett has discovered a commercially advantageous feminine side. Trees and readers would require considerable notice before Follett extended this sequence into a trilogy, but in a culture which is time-poor and media-rich, there is a certain comfort in the fact that a book as long and dense as this is still regarded as a populist, commercial project." - The Guardian (UK) But, to my surprise, I came away from the book with admiration for a work that stands as something of a triumph of industry and professionalism.
"Preferring Follett's spy thrillers, I would never have read this genre for pleasure. "Follett's no-frills prose does its job, getting smoothly through more than 1,000 pages of outlaws, war, death, sex and politics to end with an edifice that is as well constructed and solid as Merthin's bridge." - Washington Post.
A lively entertainment for fans of The Once and Future King, The Lord of the Rings and other multilayered epics." - Kirkus Reviews. "While the novel lacks the thematic unity of Pillars, readers will be captivated by the four well-drawn central characters as they prove heroic, depraved, resourceful or mean." - PW.
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