I started reading this book after hearing about it on here. I really enjoyed the beginning. It was a seemingly new take on medieval adventure.
But it is turning into such a silly storyline that I can’t keep reading.
The way the head monk runs into these political problems and just happens to outmaneuver his opponents in such an easy fashion has removed all sense of immersion for me.
They are tying to use the quarry but are blocked by armed guards. So all the monks sneak in at night, set up on the scaffolding, and start praying in the morning when the guards wake up? It seemed so corny I couldn’t help but laugh.
And then, oh no, the bishop is coming and will see we are behind schedule with building the new cathedral. I know! Let’s invite everyone, put them to work, and when the bishop shows up he’ll see all this commotion and be happy. But wait, what if people don’t show? Our head monk is so nervous, but trusts in god. Day of the visit, only a few people show up and the monk is sad. But wait! Come look head monk! Then he goes up and sees thousands of people marching towards his cathedral to help.
I threw the book at the wall. All of these problems became so trivial with such neat and clean solutions that I just can’t read the book anymore.
I just wanted to share. Please tell me it follows the same pattern so I can just leave the book on the ground.
by makealittlesplash
13 Comments
I liked it a lot. It’s not perfect and it’s “simple” in the way that the bad guys are completely bad and the good guys are pretty much completely good (not a lot of nuance), but I enjoyed it overall. Haven’t really been able to get into the sequel though, but I’ll try again one day.
Typical of the author. He also indulges in throwing in a rape or two to spice up the plot.
Oh thank god, you’ve totally saved me. I was so fed up with Follett’s 20th Century trilogy that I bailed after the second book, but browsing r/books I’ve seen nothing but praise for Pillars of the Earth before this post. Now that I know his writing runs into the same problems every time I’ll be staying away for good.
I really liked it when I was 12, not only because of all the hornieness, I think.
I personally liked it, especially for Philip. What I couldn’t stand was Ellen, she was so unlikable.
Yes the book follows this format the entire time. As do the prequel and sequel. Still my favorite book of all time
Thank you. I always wondered what I did not like about this and you nailed it ..
Ellen was annoying and the rape scene… no. No.
Take those out, and I thought it was an awesome book. Could not get into World Without End.
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Just start skimming over the annoy characters and scenes. That’s how I got through it. His books start out great but such a depressing slog in the middle.
It’s one of the few books I couldn’t get past the first chapter, it is so poorly written.
I found it all a bit “soap opera” and like you say, very contrived in many areas. BUT I kind of threw myself into that and enjoyed it as an entertaining but occasionally daft and very exaggerated historical drama.
I normally read hard sci-fi and cheesy pulp fantasy so it was something different for me at least!
I didn’t mind the cheesy scenes like that at all. But I definitely could’ve skipped a) the disturbing rape scenes from the POV of the rapist, b) the Arab girl later in the book who basically exists to be exotically hot and sexually throw herself at Jack.
If you want a book that gives you a sense of immersion into ordinary medieval life, may I recommend Tidelands by Phillipa Gregory? Main character is a medieval herbalist. Lots of stuff detailing the sheer amount and variety of physical labor that peasants did to survive.