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World Without End

Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: Macmillan
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars

46 reviews
Sales Rank: 183

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 1111
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.1 x 2.5

ISBN: 0333908422
EAN: 9780333908426
ASIN: 0333908422

Publication Date: October 4, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

•	Paperback - World Without End
•	Paperback - World Without End
•	Paperback - World Without End
•	Audio CD - World Without End

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Customer Reviews: Read 41 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Loved it! July 23, 2008
I read Pillars of the Earth and thoroughly enjoyed it (apart from the lame plot line at the beginning with the builder meeting the exotic woman of the woods!). This one had a lot to live up to and I have to say, I prefer it to the first one. There is a little less 'technical' material about the building work that is going on and more about the characters and the goings on in their personal lives. There were so many sub-plots, I almost lost count, but this adds to the intrigue. I find this era in history fascinating and I think that's what I found so appealing about the story. I feel bereft now I have finished it and am desperately trying to find another book to replace the void.

4 out of 5 stars

Brilliant Sequel to Pillars of the Earth May 22, 2008
Pillars of the Earth is my all time favorite novel, so although I usually wait for the paperback, when I saw the reduced price of the hardback at Amazon, I immediately ordered it. It was well worth it. However "Sequels are not equal". So I only give it four stars, although I admit, my expectations after Pillars of the Earth were extremely high. While brilliant, after Pillars of the Earth, I felt it lacked somewhat in originality. Also, I am not a prude, but I found the graphic sex as depicted not believable, considering the historical period and the morals of the time. Otherwise it appears to be well researched and historical accurate. In any case, a good read!

5 out of 5 stars

Ken Follet at his best April 20, 2008
I wanted to wait for the paperback to come out, but I did not have the patience. Now I am glad I did not. If you liked The Pillars of the Earth you will love this one. It is very similar, but maybe even easier to read. All the characters are brand new, and even if there are some allusions to those that appeared in his celebrated novel, it is not necessary at all to have read it to enjoy this one.Even though it is a very long book, once you start you cannot stop.
It is a best-seller, yes;but a most enjoyable one.

4 out of 5 stars

Fabulous but formulaic April 19, 2008
Pillars of the Earth remains one of the best loved books from my late teens, but Follett's more recent books have been increasingly weak, so I had mixed feelings about reading this one.

I'm very pleased to report that World Without End represents something of a return to form.

It contains most of the elements that made Pillars such a success - strong central characters, historical detail, suspense, injustice, outrage, romance and a central building project. In fact, it shares so many elements that had it been written by any other author then it would be condemned as a cheap knock-off. Fortunately, it's pretty well done.

There is a good feel for the historical period, some tremendous characters and a storyline that continues to evolve at a fast enough pace to justify the size of the tome!

Some parts do grate. The end feels slightly rushed (amazingly for such a long novel) and some parts are utterly contrived (Crecy) and I was frankly sick of Follett's habit of recapping the earlier sections of the book when explaining his characters' thought processes. He also tended to explain how his characters were trying to manipulate each other too clearly - it sometimes felt like the novel was aimed only at schoolkids.

Good but not great, at least in comparison to the original.

2 out of 5 stars

Book Without End... April 14, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

The Pillars of the Earth was good. This is more of the same - too much more, that seems to have been written quickly to contract. It reads like a year's worth of medieval Archers episodes. It also has far more sex but even that gets repetitive, with "firm small breasts like eggs" being squeezed every now and then, and a bit of homosexuality amongst nuns and amongst priests thrown in to cheer up the time of the Black Death. Maybe that's why my Mum liked it; but she agrees that if you read Pillars, remember it fondly as a good example of a long historical novel and give this second book a miss...