Aug 22, 2008 03:56 AM
2580 Views
(Updated Aug 22, 2008 08:11 AM)
World Without End (WWE) is based in the same town of Kingsbridge - two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic cathedral(Refer:- The Pillars of the Earth (PotE) : Another good read if you have not yet read it).
Ken Follet has weaved a story that took him 3 years to write, one that spans 60+ years and keeps the reader captivated through a cast of 6 major, 20+ minor characters. Based in a period around 1300's about 100+ years post PotE, * it provides the reader with a sense of how life was in that era (just like *PotE did); how religion (cathedral & priory) wielded as much power over the denizens as did the rulers.... how men & women were at a crossroad of new ideas on medicine, commerce, architecture, and justice. While it seems like the author has gone through an incredible amount of research to make it sound closer to reality – there are parts that arguably bend the storyline to fantasy..
I thought that the author was obsessed in trying to bring together the two central characters even as the storyline constantly takes them away from one another… to the point that the hero has a live-in relationship with the love of his life who at that point in time is a nun!! I think the church; the people and the nobles of that era might have somehow accepted the homo-sexuality of the male members of the church but would definitely have had the nun burnt at the stake for engaging in a sexual relationship….
The pace is fast, storyline well woven with characters popping in and out as the author takes the reader thru the years, leaving one wanting to know more….it makes it that much harder to put it down.
WWE came eighteen years after PotE. In the world of fiction novels, it is a breath of fresh air with an epic historical twist… I have always admired Ken Follet as a master in weaving suspense and intrigue with his spy stories but with this novel and the prequel, he has shown his versatility as an author.
Can we expect a three-peat???
