# A sequel to "Pillars of the Earth!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551 "2007-08-22T20:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/1 "2007-08-22T20:28:27Z")
OOOH, am I excited! Ken Follett has written a sequel to Pillars of the Earth! I really enjoyed that book, but had given up on ever seeing another one like it from him. The book is called [World Without End](http://www.amazon.com/World-Without-End-Ken-Follett/dp/0525950079/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-2467248-7023160?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187814332&sr=8-1), and will be release on October 9. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/2 "2007-08-22T20:45:15Z")
Well there goes $20 of MY money. Thanks for pointing this out! ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/3 "2007-08-22T22:03:38Z")
Pillars of the Earth was the last Follett novel I actuality liked, I hope he still has some magic left. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/4 "2007-08-22T22:16:57Z")
If it’s anywhere near as good as Pillars of the Earth, I’m sure I’ll be reading it. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/5 "2007-08-22T22:47:37Z")
That was a wonderful book. Thanks for letting us know. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/6 "2007-08-22T22:48:52Z")
Yay! 🆒 I loved Pillars of the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/7 "2007-08-22T23:00:31Z")
I have awesome memories of Pillars of the Earth as I read it last fall, while touring France. It was pretty amazing to read all the descriptions of the cathedrals at night, and go tour similar cathedrals during the day. Put a whole different spin on the architecture. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/8 "2007-08-22T23:10:58Z")
Cool. Thanks for this. I love _Pillars_. I’ve read it three times. Looks like it will be time to read it once more before October. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/9 "2007-08-22T23:19:10Z")
You’re welcome, everyone! I would like to read Pillars over again before I read it, too, **Diogenes** , but between work and the kids, I’m not sure I’d get through a 1000-pager by October! The info on Amazon seems to imply that it’s not a true “sequel,” in the sense that maybe you don’t have to remember a lot of details from Pillars to enjoy it. I’m hoping that’s the case. ---
**Author:** ![Greywolf73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@Greywolf73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greywolf73)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/10 "2007-08-23T00:00:20Z")
Yes! Sweet! I’d heard he was working on a sequel but I didn’t dare hope it’d be finished so soon. I’m gonna have to dig out my dogeared copy of Pillars out from under the bed. It’s been years since I last read it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/11 "2007-08-23T02:57:28Z")
It’s a sequel but only in a broad sense. _World Without End_ is set in the same town as _Pillars of the Earth_ but two hundred years later. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/12 "2007-08-23T03:26:10Z")
I loved _Pillars of the Earth_. This one will be a birthday present to myself, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/13 "2007-08-23T05:48:57Z")
From Publishers Weekly: > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/14 "2007-11-06T01:51:20Z")
Bump to say I just finished _World Without End_ and I think it was just as good as the first book. As with _Pillars_, Follett writes as a storyteller and entertainer more than as a historical pedant. His research is on display in the book but it serves the story. It’s very character driven with an assortment of sympathetic protgonists and hissable villains and it has a pretty satisfying ending. Anyone who liked _Pillars of the Earth_ will like _World Without End_. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/15 "2007-11-06T02:05:57Z")
I don’t think it was as good as the first book, but I still think it was really good, and I enjoyed it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/16 "2007-11-06T14:05:56Z")
_ **Pillars of the Earth** _ is currently rated by me as the best book I’ve ever read. Using it as a benchmark I’d give _ **World Without End** _ a B or B+. Great read and great story but the original still stands alone on its lofty perch. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/17 "2007-11-06T14:23:09Z")
I wonder if they’ll make a boardgame from the sequel like they did with Pillars of the Earth. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Aguecheek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Aguecheek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aguecheek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/18 "2007-11-06T17:23:17Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] I don’t think it was as good as the first book, but I still think it was really good, and I enjoyed it a lot. [/QUOTE] What he said. It was good - really good. But it’s no _Pillars of the Earth._ ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/19 "2007-11-06T17:32:11Z")
I guess I agree. It’s not as transcendent as _Pillars_ and it lacks the central theme which that book had (the building of the cathedral) and it lacks a central character like Prior Philip, who was the moral heart of the first book, but _World_ is still a page turner with engaging characters and storylines and a few affecting moments. It does give readers a lot of what they liked about he first book and I think they’ll find it enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551/20 "2007-11-06T18:22:59Z")
Loved Pillars and look forward too the sequel. 🙂 -XT [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-sequel-to-pillars-of-the-earth/416551.md?page=2)