I feel like a dick, because a customer was in the other day looking for a mass market of Ken Follett’s World Without End, and all we had was the quality paperback. Four days later, what arrived in the stockroom? A couple boxes full of World Without End mass markets. I snagged one that following Sunday, started it on Monday, and finished it a week later, which was yesterday. At over a thousand pages, tightly packed (no James Patterson font 20 triple-spaced drivel for Follett), it’s truly an epic novel, the sequel to Pillars of the Earth, set during the Hundred Years War and the Black Plague.

It’s my belief the mass market release was driven by the forthcoming adaptation of Pillars of the Earth by Starz: an eight hour miniseries that I’ve been alternatively anticipating and dreading. On one hand, it could be like Lonesome Dove: an amazing adaptation of a long, epic novel. On the other hand, it could be like just about everything else adapted for TV: lousy, especially when compared to the source material. And there’s so much going on in Pillars of the Earth, so many characters, involved in so much, over such a long period of time …

So I was kind of happy (kind of? Thrilled!) to read a positive review of the miniseries on HuffPost:

Redmayne makes the biggest impression as the heroic Jack but he is given stiff competition by Ian McShane as Waleran Bigod, an official of the Church, and Parish as the power hungry Regan. McShane plays Waleran as half evil and half crazy while Parish makes her role as Regan a study in motherly obsession.

The characters, the turbulent times, and the battle between the citizenry and the church all combine to make this must see entertainment. The first two hours of the mini-series are playing this week on Starz, with new one hour episodes to be shown on July 30, August 6, August 13 and August 20. On August 27 there will be a two hour conclusion to the story. Since this is a cable show there is violence and nudity in the program.

Having watched all eight hours of the series I can assure you it is worth your time. When the last segment has been shown you will feel a sense of loss as to the continuation of the story. But cheer up, it has been rumored World Without End, Follet’s sequel of sorts to this book, will be filmed as another mini-series next year. If it is as good as this adaptation then we truly do have a television event to look forward to in 2011.

In any case, if you haven’t read either book, they’re both absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend them. And I’m looking forward to seeing Pillars of the Earth when it’s released on DVD (or is it on Hulu? Anyone know?)

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