World Without End

I should probably start with World Without End by Ken Follett since I loved the prequel so much. I think I would have loved this book as much if I had allowed more time between the two. They were freakishly similar. Both books had a builder as the central character and a strong female lead that tended to fight against the societal norms. In both novels, the builder must leave Kingsbridge to find his inspiration. One of the things that I was most disappointed in was the villain. The villain in Pillars of the Earth was great, he was so evil that you had to hate him. In the sequel, the villain is a pale copy of the original. I think that the two novels are great, but should be read at least a year apart.One really interesting feature of the sequel is that The Plague plays a large part in the story. It was fun watching the characters fighting for survival and seeing which characters made it and which ones died. I was frequently surprised by the twists that the story took. Overall, it was a fun read. I read all 1000 pages in just over 2 weeks.