E-book
World without end [electronic resource] / Ken Follett.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781101211984 (electronic bk. : Adobe Digital Editions)
- ISBN: 1101211989 (electronic bk. : Adobe Digital Editions)
- Physical Description: 1 online resource (1046 p.)
- Publisher: New York : Signet, [2010], c2007.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Originally published: New York : Dutton, 2007. Description based on print version record. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Great Britain > History > 14th century > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Electronic books. |
Other Formats and Editions
Electronic resources
- AudioFile Reviews : AudioFile Reviews 2008 April/May
John Lee gives a breathtaking performance of Follett's sequel to PILLARS OF THE EARTH. Two hundred years have passed, and fourteenth-century Kingsbridge is now a prosperous town, with its cathedral and priory still a central force. As the novel follows its four main characters from 1327 to 1361, medieval English life is slowly and thoroughly revealed. Lee gives stunning portraits of change-resistant churchmen, the hardships and superstitions of peasant life, the inequities of corrupt noblemen, and the grotesqueries of the Black Death. While creating wholly credible major and minor characters, Lee delivers Follett's intricate plots and subplots, making each detail fascinating, from medieval medicine and bridge-building to the surprisingly powerful role of women. Even after 36 CDs, listeners will be sorry to see this book end. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine - Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2007 August #1
This book is a big event. In 1989 Follett published what was to become one of his most popular novels, The Pillars of the Earth, a historical epic about the construction of an English cathedral, set in the twelfth century. Now, 18 years later and with several intervening best-sellers to his credit, Follett presents his eager fans with a sequel to Pillars. According to publicity material, he spent three years writing it, and it shows, because this an amazingly well-researched, intricately plotted, richly detailed novel that, while long in pages, never sprawls or flags. It is set in the same English cathedral town as Pillars, some two centuries later, and has as its primary characters the descendants of the major characters that appeared in the previous book. Follett's technique is to follow the lives of four individuals who have varying goals in life and, in the process, build a comprehensive tapestry of medieval English lifeâan especially important background thread being the horrible natural disaster of that era, the black plague. Follet has complete mastery over his material, and the result is a novel destined for the best-seller lists. Copyright 2007 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2007 August #2
The peasants are revolting. Some, anyway. Othersâthe good-hearted varlets, churls and nickpurses of Follett's latestâare just fine.In a departure from his usual taut, economical procedurals (Whiteout, 2004, etc.), Follett revisits the Middle Ages in what amounts to a sort of sequel to The Pillars of the Earth (1989). The story is leisurely but never slow, turning in the shadow of the great provincial cathedral in the backwater of Kingsbridge, the fraught construction of which was the ostensible subject of the first novel. Now, in the 1330s, the cathedral is a going concern, populated by the same folks who figured in its making: intriguing clerics, sometimes clueless nobles and salt-of-the-earth types. One of the last is a resourceful young girlâand Follett's women are always resourceful, more so than the menfolkâwho liberates the overflowing purse of one of those nobles. Her father has already lost a hand for thievery, but that's an insufficient deterrent in a time of hunger, and a time when the lords "were frequently away: at war, in Parliament, fighting lawsuits, or just attending on their earl or king." Thus the need for watchful if greedy bailiffs and tough sheriffs, who make Gwenda's grown-up life challenging. Follett has a nice eye for the sometimes silly clash of the classes and the aspirations of the small to become large, as with one aspiring prior who "had only a vague idea of what he would do with such power, but he felt strongly that he belonged in some elevated position in life." Alas, woe meets some of those who strive, a fact that touches off a neat little mystery at the beginning of the book, one that plays its way out across the years and implicates dozens of characters.A lively entertainment for fans of The Once and Future King, The Lord of the Rings and other multilayered epics. Copyright Kirkus 2007 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2007 October #1
For nearly 18 years, Follett has been receiving pleas for a sequel to his most popular novel, The Pillars of the Earth . Finally, the wait is over. Some 200 years after Pillars , the town of Kingsbridge is still dominated by its magnificent cathedral. But times have changed. War and plague have dramatically affected the infrastructure of the Middle Ages, shifting the base of power from the noble and religious to the rising merchant and artisan classes. Populated with an immense cast of truly remarkable charactersâthe rich and powerful, the weak and downtrodden, clergy, guildsmen and nobilityâthis novel explores the lives and fortunes of the ancestors of the original inhabitants of Kingsbridge. At nearly 1000 pages, this is not a book to be devoured in one sitting, tempting though that might be, but one to savor for its drama, depth, and richness. Essential for every public library; in fact, get multiple copies. You'll need them to fill all the requests. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/07.]âJane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage P.L., AK
[Page 59]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2007 June #1
Follett here follows up The Pillars of the Earth, an account of a cathedral's construction in 12th-century England and his biggest best seller. Two centuries later, the cathedral is complete, but the intrigues continue. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2007 August #1
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. (Oct.)
[Page 164]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
