World Without End

- Ken Follett

Cannington, WA

November 26, 2020

GOODREADS BOOK BLURB:

World Without End takes place in the same town of Kingsbridge, two centuries after the townspeople finished building the exquisite Gothic 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 crossroads 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.

SERIES / GENRES:

FIRST WORDS:

Gwenda was eight years old, but she was not afraid of the dark.

MY REVIEW:

enjoyable/easy to read:

☆☆☆☆☆ 3.5/5

I think I enjoyed the second book in this series more because I went in with an idea of what to expect from the author’s writing style. I found the characters more interesting and the story flowed better throughout the 1100+ pages (again, of the kindle version). Keeping in mind that this second instalment was published over a decade after the first was published.

It may have something to do with reading this book during COVID times but the everlasting plague was very frightening. Caris and Merthin are frustrating but interesting. Gwenda is strong and unique for a woman in this time period. In fact, all of the women in this book seem to be centuries ahead of their time.

The only thing that bothers me,

SPOILER

is how once again everyone is wrapped up nicely exactly how you’d want them to. All the good people have good endings and the bad people suffer and get their karma in the end. It’s a little too neat and tidy for my liking but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story.