So here we are reading the book without end

World without End by Ken Follet

In a nutshell, this is exactly the same book as Pillars of the earth (read review here) by the same author, only it is set 200 years later and is a bit shorter I think. Aliena is called Caris, Jack is called Merthin, William is called Ralph, the cathedral is a bridge and there is the plague.

The blurb: Follett sold and made millions with PoE so he kept exactly the same formula for this "sequel". Not so much a sequel as it does not take up where the last left, nor does it give any info on the characters of its prequel. Instead we follow the descendants of PoE's heroes (which can justify the very similar characters) much as we did their ancestors. The backdrop, depending on where you are in the book, is the building of a bridge, the social and economic devastation (and opportunities) linked to the plague and the usual politics of religion and power, only this time in the 14th century. Again we span 50 or so years of British history, from the invasion of France to the horrors of the plague, and from every point of view- nuns, evil knights, heartbroken builders, farm labourers and so on with a hefty dose of sex, rape and violence.

IMHO this book would have been OK if its prequel hadn't been almost identical. My mistake was probably reading Pillars of the Earth and World without End one after the other. Serious overdose. Again, the book is characterised by rather 2D (albeit enjoyable) characters, debatable historical accuracy and insane ups and downs in the people's lives. Fair enough, a couple of (sub)plot lines are original, but it's not really worth trawling through 1200 pages of WwE to get 90% rehashed PoE (already over a thousand pages). If you liked PoE definitely wait a while before reading this or it will all seem too familiar. If you didn't like PoE, then forget it. if you haven't read PoE, start with that.