Product Description

On the day after Halloween, in the year 1327, four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a doctor. In the forest they see two men killed. As adults, their lives will be braided together by ambition, love, greed and revenge. They will see prosperity and famine, plague and war. One boy will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. And always they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day. Ken Follett's masterful epic "The Pillars of the Earth" enchanted millions of readers with its compelling drama of war, passion and family conflict set around the building of a cathedral. Now "World Without End" takes readers back to medieval Kingsbridge two centuries later, as the men, women and children of the city once again grapple with the devastating sweep of historical change.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5073 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-04
• Released on: 2007-10-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1111 pages

Daily Express
'Medieval life at its most real...you live and breathe the characters'

Scotland on Sunday
'Follett takes you to a time long past and does so with brio and razor-sharp storytelling skills'

Woman & Home
'This is epic fiction at its best'

Customer Reviews

Excellent Novel
A book of this size can appear daunting at the start. However from the opening pages it gets you hooked and takes you on a fantastic journey with well crafted plot and great characterisation. It has left me with a thirst to read Ken Follet's first book "The Pillars of the Earth" and I would recommend "World Without End" to any reader.

Rather good
I saw this book in hardback and thought it sounded interesting but hardbacks are not good for the daily commute! The paperback is still hefty and I've never read a book this length before but I really enjoyed it. I hadn't read the first book - and for anyone swithering I would say you don't have to, to enjoy this one. Yes it is long but I don't feel it ever dragged. A couple of times he would reiterate points from earlier in the book which was annoying but also occasionally useful. The descriptions were great, conjuring up vivid pictures of life in that period of time and I felt the characters were well drawn. As it came to an end I was very satisfied. It's a good old yarn and I would recommend it. Am very tempted to read the first book now - once I have the strength back in my arms!

Marmite Book: you'll love it or hate it
I tried to get into this as I love historical murder mysteries and it sounded as if it was well written.

I wouldn't actually criticise the writing (as Ken Follett is a very good writer) but I suspect this particular work of his is a bit like marmite: you'll either love it or hate it. Personally I couldn't get into it enough though I tried a couple of times and I know one of my friends couldn't either. It may well be very enjoyable for those who enjoy the protracted sweep down generations style story (possibly Catherine Cookson fans might appreciate this more than I did?). Or at least the bit I did read before I gave up due to lack of interest generated - sorry Follett fans, I know he's a good writer but this tome is for a distinctive market. Those who enjoy such sweeping stories may well love it though.

It's a hefty size book and the only writer I enjoy, who also does such a large size novel, is C.J. Sansom (as I find his/her books tightly paced and well plotted but they doesn't generally go across time periods as wide as a generation in each book).

If anyone is interested in Sansom, I would warn that his/her books are mainly based in Tudor times. From my own experience, people enjoy different time periods and those who like the medieval period (to have shown an interest in this) may well not like the tudor period. Forewarned is forearmed.