World Without End

[Dutchy]

Great read. Plot drives the novel. Many unexpected twists and turns. Tightly drawn. Charcaters are well conceived but primarily one-dimensional. Tension created in the psyche of main character Caris and the dilemmas faced by Gwenda. Interesting insights into medieval building (bridges and cathedrals), politics, function of the Church, sainthood, etc. Most sequels pale next to initial novel (Pillars of the Earth); this one proves to be an exception. Well worth the 1000 pages.

[Karen]

I disagree. Read Pillars of the Earth instead. Same plot, same characters, better structure. That book includes the tension of the building of a cathedral; this book lacks a central image or idea to hold the threads together.

[Simone]

I just read this book, it only took me 10 days.... I really liked it, I think. I am still thinking about it. It was an easy read, but I am not sure now that I am done w/ it, whether I like the ending or not. It didn't seem to have a real ending to me. It's definitely a good book to read though.... but again, there were a few things that I didn't like. For instance, when Merthin's daughter, Lolla, ran away and then came back. What was that all about? And that Merthin fell in love w/ Phillipa, but it was a love affaire of only 1 month? And the letter concerning the king's death which was faked.... what kinda knight is sir tom, who only cares about his life and let's the letter disappear so the queen won't kill him? That was a bit confusing.

[Deb]

I didn't find this as compelling as Pillars of the Earth. Didn't seem to be as much building going on, which I missed. The "women are better healers than men" motif has been over done from Clan of the Cave Bear to Gabaldon. "Avoid the plague by closing off the town..." Year of Wonders..." And the plot (woman/girl forced to become nun/vestal, later marries man she's always loved...) reminded me a lot of "The Unwilling Vestal," as I realized a few days later. It's all been done before.

[Samantha]

I really liked this book as well as the previous counterpart. I liked the length because it was like a long ongoing thing that I looked forward to each day. I knew it wouldn't end too soon. I agree that some of the turns in the book such as Lolla running away and Phillipa's short love what ever you call it were strange. They definitely kept you wondering and taking you in directions you didn't think possible, then back again. I would like to find some books of the same time era- are the two mentioned similar times. I learned some stuff about history and I have never been a fan- probably my least favorite subject.

[Vickie]

This book was way tooo long. I enjoyed it but I think it could have been done in less pages. It was so similar To Pillars of the Earth and so predictable. It would spend a lot of time developing some plot and suddenly it would be several years later with all resolved and we didn't know how they got from Point A to Point B. A few big holes in my opinion. But overall I enjoyed it (now that it's done).

[Kate]

I am on page 609 of this book. I loved Pillars of the Earth. I am finding World Without End to be frustratiing though! I hope there is some serious comeuppance for Godwyn, Elfric and Ralph. I get so worked up about their horrific misdeads that I put down the book for a couple days, read something else, then come back. While I have yet to finish this book, I can already say that I preferred the first one. It was more cohesive and compelling in my opinion.

[Al-]

Pillars of the Earth is one of my top 5 favorites of all time. I so looked forward to this book.

I was disappointed.

This book has the same plot lines as the first. Same characters, without the depth. The only memorable and believable character was Gwenda. As for the plot, the plague angle is the only thing that made it different. And it was the only part that made reading it worth-while.

I should have known.

[Vanessa]

I'm agreeing with what most people said. This book was intriguing enough for me to finish it within a week (that's a feat, especially with two kids under the age of 4 at home) I liked World Without End, because I liked Pillars. World without end is basically the same as Pillars... It has very similar characters, that face very similar problems. The only new issues brought to this book were the nunnery and the plague.

Something that did bother me was the constant retelling of details. This happened a few times in the book, I even recall the same wordage being used (I'll have to research a specific entry that I remember being told twice)

Anyway, I still enjoyed the stories, even if I felt I had read it before. I still think about the characters and wish that I had more pages to read. That's always a good sign for a good read.

[Paul]

I love a book that's long if the lenght is due to characterization. Both Pillars and World fall into that category. The characters made me love both the books.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

can anyone do a word count on "breasts" in the text? just curious....

[Simone]

April the Cheshire Meow wrote: "can anyone do a word count on "breasts" in the text? just curious...."

LOL

[Simone]

I never had to go back and check "who the hell is is that guy again?"

I had to do that a lot in the begining, but I caught on pretty quick. Some books go by and I can NEVER get the characters straight in my mind! In a long book like this, it matters!

[Kay]

I too, loved 'Pillars' and was so disappointed when 'World' came out. I so looked forward to the sequel, only to learn it really wasn't a sequel. None of these people were real to me, not like the characters in 'Pillars'. I just didn't care what happened to them.

[Grace]

pubic hair
I'm just saying.

[Adam]

i loved both of these books. they are written in the same exact style, same good character bad character thing going, and full of suspense. you love the good guys and hate the bad guys. when you find yourself saying, "just kill him and be happy" you know its good

[Meryl]

I have not read the prequel and hence I am unaware of the plot. This book is quite good minus the rape scenes and the repeated references to genitals.

[Johannes]

I have enjoyed all of this authors historical novels. I adore the characters. To say that it has all been done / written before seems empty to me since I have not ever read any of those novels. I read for pleasure and all of these novels pleased me greatly.

[Allen]

Yes I agree that pillars had a few more twists and turns with really developed charactors ; and is a better overall book . However ; World with out End also had some good main charactors who were well developed around a decent backdrop of both early stages of Hundred Years War and the plague . Personally found it hard to put down

[Chris]

WWE was a great book but Pillars of the Earth was EPIC.