It’s not the end of the “World”
“Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follet is one of my all time favorite books. So it’s no surprise then that I jumped at the chance to take “A World Without End” on vacation to read the long awaited sequel. Was it worth the wait? Was it as good as “Pillars”?Of course it wasn’t. Sequels are never as good as the original (that’s even true of “The Lord of the Rings”). However, the sequel to the best book ever, though not equal to its predecessor, was still incredibly good. It won’t make it into my top 10 list, but that’s largely because I’ve read a ton of fantastically wonderful books.
If you’re a huge “Pillars” fan, it’s worth reading “World” but I will say that it seemed darker to me. “Pillars of the Earth” is no laugh a minute, but somehow there is a lighter balance between the good and evil. Even in the sections that seem hopeless, where the “bad guys” are triumphing and appear to continue to triumph, you feel sure that it will all come out right in the end. I didn’t feel the same hope while reading “World”. While it was still wonderfully engaging and with a mix of intriguing characters, there was a relentless bleakness that dampened my enthusiasm for reading.
Still it will draw you in and you’ll want to read through to the end. There’s a character to remind you of Alienna, another who is a bit like Jack. What’s lacking is a Prior Phillip or Tom Builder like character - a character of such moral fiber and dignity that you feel better for having read about them. Strangely enough, I believe that Follet did a suberb job again of painting a supremely evil character. I find it a bit sad that he can continue to paint a villain so vividly but seems to have lost his ability to write a great righteous character to balance it out.
If you liked “Pillars of the Earth”, you’ll likely enjoy “World” and you should check out George RR Martin’s “Game of Thrones” (part of the Ice and Fire series).
Posted in Historical Fiction
June 19th, 2008 at 8:36 am
I have to agree with you. I loved Pillars of the Earth, definitely in my top 5 list. While Word Without End was good — also worth the read — it just didn’t leave me with the same feeling Pillars did. I felt the characters were too much like the characters in the first novel, the story was nearly the same, and it was missing a strong and moral character like Prior Philip, who was one of my favorite characters in the first novel. Also, the pacing was a bit slower; it really didn’t start to pick up for me until I was about a 1/3 or 1/2 of the way into it, about the time the Black Death started to strike. And while Ralph was definitely a strong villain, he wasn’t nearly as repulsive in my opinion as William Hamleigh.