Ken Follet at his best
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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.
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Fabulous but formulaic
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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 (Crècy) 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.
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Book Without End...
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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...
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I had some concerns
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I am happy to report that my concerns were unfounded. The book is long, but it has a lot going on and is not at all bloated. There are several stories being told, but they all interweave and the elimination of one would be a loss. Although it is set in the same location and refers back to some of the original characters, reading or remembering "Pillars" is not required. I enjoy learning about the construction and medical theories of the day and wish this aspect had been further expanded, but if a reader does not, there is not so much of it that it would be detrimental!!! I would also recommend, if you missed reading TINO GEORGIOU'S masterpiece--THE FATES, go and read it.
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Brilliant - Amazing
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If you enjoy reading historical books you would certainly enjoy this. It's got everything you would want love, hate, treachery, hope and despair. A novel to get lost in and cant put down. Ken Follett brings all the characters alive with his exceptional knowledge of the 14th century.
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