World Without End

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 45 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1989 Ken Follett astonished the literary world with The Pillars of the Earth, a sweeping epic novel set in 12th-century England that centered on the building of a cathedral and the men, women, and children whose lives it changed forever. Critics were overwhelmed, and readers and listeners ever since have hoped for a sequel.

At last, here it is. Although the two novels may be listened to in any order, 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.

Three years in the writing, World Without End once again shows that Ken Follett is a masterful author writing at the top of his craft.

Listen to The Pillars of the Earth.

©2007 Ken Follett (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

Critic reviews

"Fans of Follett's previous medieval epic will be well rewarded." (Publishers Weekly)

Follett Does it Again!

I first listened to Pillars of The Earth and loved it completely. World without end is just as good if not better! Narrator John Lee brings it to life and I finished it in less than a week!

I enjoyed this book!

The characters and the town grow on you, and the skillfull narration helps with this. It's a long novel, but it kept my interest all the way through. Just when you think something is settled with a character, along comes another twist. I'm having a harder time getting through several shorter books right now, and this tells me that World Without End is special. I loved being able to listen to it in the Audible format, too--less wrist fatigue from a long novel!

pleasure

I loved Pillars of the Earth and this is even better. You are into their lives from the first few words. I can not stop listening to it. A fasinating read

Excellent sequel to an epic story

The first part of this epic story, Pillars of the Earth is my favorite novel of all time.When I saw the sequel on Audible I couldn't wait to listen to it. It definitely didn't disappoint. Normally I'm not a fan of period fiction but this story is different. The characters are engaging and the plot twists unexpected. Very few novels leave me thinking after they end but Follet has a way of telling a story that usually leaves you wanting more.

another good saga

Ken Follett delivers another great historical saga.
A perfect book to listen to while you are at work.

Another winner!

This book was as good as it's predecessor "The Pillars of the Earth", if not better. I wasn't ready for the story to end.

Equally As Good

After reading "Pillars of Earth", I really wanted to read "World Without End" while the story was fresh in my mind. A friend of mine asked me if you can read the series independently from each other, but why would you want to?

At first it was a bit tough for me to get into the story, but I really liked the process of building the church in the first book,but once you regroup your thoughts and take notice that the story continues just over a century after the church, you can quickly get into the story again, but this time the plot is about the plague and the disagreement between the monks and the nuns on how to treat the sick.

Unlike in the first book, there is less sticky, wet, sex, but there is still enough love making to be entertain.

I could not get enough of this book and enjoyed every minute of it. Unlike other authors, Follett doesn't goes on a tangent, where he loses the reader by constantly introducing new materials. There is no need to back track where you left off because his writing is always straight forward and well put together.

I would had never thought that I would like the series this much. I just wished that there was a trilogy or more because it would be equally as good as the first two books.

If you already read "Pillars" and thinking about reading "World", do yourself the favor and invest 45 hours to bring closure to the series.

THR NEXT GREAT HIT FOR STARZ!!!

GREAT BOOK,THE STORY LINES ARE GREAT HOE KEN TIES EVERYTHING TOGETHER IS AWESOME. IVE READ PILLERS AND FALL OF GIANTS ,THIS IS ANOTHER MASTER PEACE.YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WATCH ALL THE CHARACTERS GROW UP IN FRONT OF YOU...IF STARZ DOESN'T MAKE THIS A SERIES THEY WILL HAVE MISSED OUT...

World Without End

Great book! Listen to Pillars of the Earth first if you haven't already. Characters are so well developed you get so involved you don't want it to end.

Greatness of the reader, too

This book along with Pillars of the Earth are simply wonderful examples of historical fiction. The depiction of characters of their eras gives much food for thought.

However, I was also struck by how wonderful John Lee is. I consistently marveled at his reading.