Slightly more predictable than the first in the series (The Pillars of the Earth), and for that reason a bit less exciting, but a solid novel, by most accounts, nonetheless.

Since I was reading the 48 Laws of Power simultaneously, it began to occur to me that nearly each law is demonstrated somehow in the story. Thus, is this Ken’s formula? Or for that matter, does every great novelist start with the laws of power and build around them?

Here’s a few:

• Never Outshine the Master Early on in the book, the struggle between the apprentice, Merthin, and his master, Elfric eventually pushed Merthin out of Kingsbridge. Ultimately, this is for the better, but the relational strain between the two would come back to haunt Merthin over and over again. Although Merthin was the superior crafstman, this power law may have come in handy.
• Conceal Your Intentions Godwyn mastered this one, with the help of his mother, in order to rise to power in the church. Understanding how he maneuvered to power, mostly by not appearing to want it, provides a great window into the mechanisms at play here.
• Keep your hands clean Credit goes to Godwyn for this as well. Instead of doing the dirty work himself, he had Philemon do it for him. Stealing from the church, spying on others, etc was mostly the work of Godwyn, via Philemon.
• Use absence to increase strength and honor This law is akin to the saying, “You never know what you have until you lose it”. When Merthin took off for Italy, he created a void in Kingsbridge and when he came back, his status had rose. Sure, he had amassed wealth while away, but it also became apparent to the rest of the townfolk that those in charge (ie Elfric) were not fit for duty.

My absolute favorite part of reading historical fiction is being able to follow along certain characters and plot lines with records of history. Where the first novel ended with the assassination of Thomas Becket by King Henry II (a specific historical event I was able to draw the correlation to), World Without End didn’t seem to tie into anything specific, besides, maybe the plague? Next time I travel to England, I will certainly visit the Canterbury Cathedral, where Thomas Becket was killed. But how can I interact with a relic of the plague?