World Without End
Ken Follett
Published some 18 years after The Pillars of the Earth was published in
1989, World Without End is the sequel to Pillars.
The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century
England centered on the building of an exquisite Gothic cathedral and
many of the hundreds of lives it affected.
World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two
centuries after the townspeople finished building the 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 crossroad 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 as well as the wars with France.
For Follett, an accomplished writer of action thrillers, Pillars was a
somewhat radical departure from his "normal" genre. In the 18 years since
its publication, Pillars has developed an almost cult following (if by "cult"
we mean those who enjoy the output of a master writer).
Three years in the writing, World Without End breathes new life into the
epic historical novel and once again shows that Ken Follett is a journeyman
author writing at the top of his craft.
I just wish that he could write them as fast as I can read them.
/tdw/
Ken Follett
Published some 18 years after The Pillars of the Earth was published in
1989, World Without End is the sequel to Pillars.
The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in twelfth-century
England centered on the building of an exquisite Gothic cathedral and
many of the hundreds of lives it affected.
World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two
centuries after the townspeople finished building the 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 crossroad 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 as well as the wars with France.
For Follett, an accomplished writer of action thrillers, Pillars was a
somewhat radical departure from his "normal" genre. In the 18 years since
its publication, Pillars has developed an almost cult following (if by "cult"
we mean those who enjoy the output of a master writer).
Three years in the writing, World Without End breathes new life into the
epic historical novel and once again shows that Ken Follett is a journeyman
author writing at the top of his craft.
I just wish that he could write them as fast as I can read them.
/tdw/
| Thom's Review World Without End |
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