World Without End: A Novel
Oct 2007 · Kingsbridge Book 2 · Penguin
4.7star
249 reviewsreport
Ebook
1056
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About this ebook
#1 New York Times Bestseller
In 1989, Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England centered on the building of a cathedral and many of the hundreds of lives it affected.
World Without End is its equally irresistible sequel—set two hundred years after The Pillars of the Earth and three hundred years after the Kingsbridge prequel, The Evening and the Morning.
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. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroads of new ideas—about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race—the Black Death.
Three years in the writing and nearly eighteen years since its predecessor, World Without End is a "well-researched, beautifully detailed portrait of the late Middle Ages" (The Washington Post) that once again shows that Ken Follett is a masterful author writing at the top of his craft.
In 1989, Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century England centered on the building of a cathedral and many of the hundreds of lives it affected.
World Without End is its equally irresistible sequel—set two hundred years after The Pillars of the Earth and three hundred years after the Kingsbridge prequel, The Evening and the Morning.
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. The cathedral and the priory are again at the center of a web of love and hate, greed and pride, ambition and revenge, but this sequel stands on its own. This time the men and women of an extraordinary cast of characters find themselves at a crossroads of new ideas—about medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. In a world where proponents of the old ways fiercely battle those with progressive minds, the intrigue and tension quickly reach a boiling point against the devastating backdrop of the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the human race—the Black Death.
Three years in the writing and nearly eighteen years since its predecessor, World Without End is a "well-researched, beautifully detailed portrait of the late Middle Ages" (The Washington Post) that once again shows that Ken Follett is a masterful author writing at the top of his craft.
Ratings and reviews
4.7
249 reviews
A Google user
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May 18, 2011
I had greatly anticipated the publication of Follett' World With Out End. In say that hype did not live up to the reallity is very true. However to say that the book was not good would be a lie. It just was not as good as Pillars of the Earth.
Like of Follett's work, World With Out End is extreamly well researched & written. The story line is very believe able and has about sex, viloence & adventure that any reader would want. Plus the story has a searies of bad guys that the reader truely will hate.
The problems and frustrations of lead characters are very well described in historical context.
I would recommend this book if you had read Pillars of the Earth. It is not needed to have read the previous effort, but it does help to understand the context.
A Google user
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1046 pages ??? book without end?? was I really ready to tackle another epic novel by Ken Follett, after last month reading his "Pillars of the Earth" I am a reader that feels he has missed the writers eniter work if he misses even one written word. WELL !!!!!
I loved this book from the six pages Mr. Follett is a gifted story teller who knows what good research is about... He has written this novel to tell us a wonderful story about life in the 1300's..mixing fact with real history.
You Have To Read This Fantastic Novel...To Experience Great Writing At It's Best!
A Google user
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I am a bit disappointed with this 'sequel'. The story line is almost similar to Pillars - building of a structure, bad guys 'winning' always for years before they come to a demise, main lover characters always kept apart from each other, etc.
About the author
Ken Follett is one of the world’s best-loved authors, selling more than 160 million copies of his thirty books. Follett’s first bestseller was Eye of the Needle, a spy story set in the Second World War.
In 1989 The Pillars of the Earth was published, and has since become the author’s most successful novel. It reached number one on bestseller lists around the world and was an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
Its sequels, World Without End and A Column of Fire, proved equally popular, and the Kingsbridge series has sold 38 million copies worldwide.
Follett lives in Hertfordshire, England, with his wife Barbara. Between them they have five children, six grandchildren, and three Labradors.
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