World Without End
Ken Follett, 2007
Historical fiction Contemporary fictionMystery, thriller & crime
In fourteenth-century Kingsbridge, four children who witness a secret grow into adults divided by ambition, faith and plague. Follett’s medieval world is grimy, gripping and full of moral price.
Feels like serenity. About society and power.
A page from the book
Hunger frightens a child more than hellfire does.
Gwenda knew that Jesus was telling her not to sin, or she would be tortured by demons; but humans frightened her more than demons. If she failed to steal Sir Gerald’s purse, she would be whipped by her father. Worse, there would be nothing for the family to eat but soup made with acorns. She and Philemon would be hungry for weeks on end. Ma’s breasts would dry up, and the new baby would die, as the last two had. Pa would disappear for days, and come back with nothing for the pot but a scrawny heron or a couple of squirrels. Being hungry was worse than being whipped—it hurt longer. Ken Follett.Follett returns to Kingsbridge, the fictional cathedral town of The Pillars of the Earth, but two centuries later, opening on All Hallows Eve 1327.
Books that feel like this
More by Ken Follett
The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett, 1989
A master mason risks his family’s safety to chase the building of a cathedral in 12th-century England, where faith and power collide.
Fall of Giants
Ken Follett, 2010
Five families, a Welsh mining boy, and the First World War: a historical saga about ordinary people caught in the machinery of empire.
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Questions readers ask
- What is World Without End like?
- Feels like serenity. About society and power.
- What should I read after World Without End?
- If you liked World Without End, try Deception Point (Dan Brown), Prodigy (Marie Lu) and The Paris Apartment (Lucy Foley).
A taste of the feed
The word for bear hides inside the names of both poles.
In my mind, the men and women of NASA are history’s modern pioneers. They attempt the impossible, accept failure, and then back to the drawing board while the rest of us stand back and criticize.
Deception Point · Dan Brown
A marriage priced like a contract, and what time does to the balance.
When I married Jacques I understood it as an exchange. My youth and beauty for his wealth. Over the years, as is the way with this particular kind of contract, my worth only diminished as his increased.
The Paris Apartment · Lucy Foley
A question that sounds like flirtation, answered like a vow.
I can feel Peeta press his forehead into my temple and he asks, ‘So now that you’ve got me, what are you going to do with me?’ I turn into him. ‘Put you somewhere you can’t get hurt.
The Hunger Games · Suzanne Collins
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