World Without End
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4.6 • 643 Ratings
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
The historical saga that has enthralled millions of readers, Ken Follett's Kingsbridge Novels continue with World Without End.
A childhood lost.
1327 and four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. It is All Hallow’s Day and their lives are forever changed when they see two men-at-arms killed. At the behest of the man responsible they vow never to speak of it again.
A never-forgotten secret.
Lives forever entwined, one boy travels the world, one eye always on Kingsbridge; the other becomes a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl defies the might of the medieval church; whilst the other pursues an impossible love. As ambition, love, greed and revenge reign, those living under that long-ago day’s fateful shadow wait.
A world on the verge of death.
But as the Black Plague sweeps Europe, disease reaches England and the city descends into anarchy. In desperate uncertainty for their futures, the four adults know the time must come for the secret to emerge . . .
World Without End is followed by the third of Ken Follett's novels, A Column of Fire.
More than 175 million copies sold worldwide. Published in over eighty territories and thirty-seven languages. The international No. 1 bestselling phenomenon returns.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eighteen years after Pillars of the Earth weighed in with almost 1,000 pages of juicy historical fiction about the construction of a 12th-century cathedral in Kingsbridge, England, bestseller Follett returns to 14th-century Kingsbridge with an equally weighty tome that deftly braids the fate of several of the offspring of Pillars' families with such momentous events of the era as the Black Death and the wars with France. Four children, who will become a peasant's wife, a knight, a builder and a nun, share a traumatic experience that will affect each of them differently as their lives play out from 1327 to 1361. Follett studs the narrative with gems of unexpected information such as the English nobility's multilingual training and the builder's technique for carrying heavy, awkward objects. While the novel lacks the thematic unity of Pillars, readers will be captivated by the four well-drawn central characters as they prove heroic, depraved, resourceful or mean. Fans of Follett's previous medieval epic will be well rewarded.
Customer Reviews
Fantastical epic journey of a book
Ken Follet does it again!
Mills & Boon crashes into historical fiction
Maybe I made an error thinking this would be historical fiction (in that it should give an accurate and informed foundation of life in medieval England.) Having read the first in the series I knew I was into a loser in that regard but the plot and insight into building a Norman cathedral was engaging. This however is simply a Mills & Boon tale that made me feel like I was listening to a bands poor second album after they used their best material in the first.
Disappointing
The book is OK but the plot is as poorly woven as an early piece of Kingsbridge cloth. Too many loose ends, implausible plot lines and why does the author insist on repeating parts of the story?