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beanjoles's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Winter of the World was a bit disappointing coming off of Fall of Giants.
Factually and historically, it's an informative and interesting book. I enjoyed learning about the lives of everyday people during this time period, particularly that of the German resistance. And I'm actually glad Follett didn't attempt to write heavily about or from the perspective of someone in a concentration camp — it would have been hard for him to do respectfully yet realistically.
That's actually my primary criticism of this book: lack of respectful and realistic representation. Having read the entire Kingsbridge series and now two of the Century of Giants trilogy, I am simply BEGGING Ken to learn how to write a woman character. I cannot describe how irritated I was reading about Carla's experiencebeing raped by multiple Red Army soldiers at the end of the book. Did we NEED details about how they bit her nipples??? DID WE? And of COURSE she became pregnant, because Ken is allergic to just letting women exist without sexual harm coming to them. Look, I get it: women do face sexual violence all the time. But we don't need gory details to shock readers. Sometimes the way he describes these acts almost comes off like a kink to me and I don't like it. And to have her basically accept this child of rape and be "thankful" that she got a son out of the encounter... If I hadn't been listening to an audiobook, I would have slammed the book down and walked away for a few. 🥴 . That had me really fucked up and salty for basically the remainder of the book.
Ken's treatment of queer people is better, although we still lose Chuck partway through the story. I genuinely expected it would be Eddie, but I guess we got lucky enough to subvert that trope. . I definitely laughed about Chuck picking up Eddie when he's wounded and calling him "buddy." It was one of those small details that reminds you a heterosexual man is writing, lol. I'm just plain thankful that we didn't have to watch Robert von Ulrich get sent to a camp. It was brutal reading his partners death though.
I remain baffled that Ken has been married multiple times to women, because the sex scenes always feel so weird. This criticism applies for all his previous books that I've read, and I'm unsure how he's managed to never improve them over the years. I guess when the books sell, why bother. The descriptions of bodies and acts can feel a bit schoolboyish. Why do I need to know the size of each woman character's bush and breasts? The male characters never get this treatment. (Not that I want them to!)
I think this all boils down to Ken's inherent difficulty relating with the female characters he writes. To his credit, he does try to have them engage with the feminism topics du jour, and sometimes he achieves meaningful commentary and true-to-life reactions. But (many) other times his writing resembles that tongue-in-cheek meme about Cassandra "breasting boobily to the stairs." It's a real weakness for all of his work, and Winter of the World represented a particular low for me. I get the impression that Ken thinks making a woman character smart and strong makes up for being unable to meaningfully write about their motivations and emotional landscapes. That approach rarely pays off, and despite their intricacy and historical value, his books are worse off for it.
I'll continue on in the series because for me, the historically-grounded and well-researched stories are still worthwhile. But I could really do without the sophomoric romances between shallow characters. Here's hoping the next one is less cringe in that department.
Factually and historically, it's an informative and interesting book. I enjoyed learning about the lives of everyday people during this time period, particularly that of the German resistance. And I'm actually glad Follett didn't attempt to write heavily about or from the perspective of someone in a concentration camp — it would have been hard for him to do respectfully yet realistically.
That's actually my primary criticism of this book: lack of respectful and realistic representation. Having read the entire Kingsbridge series and now two of the Century of Giants trilogy, I am simply BEGGING Ken to learn how to write a woman character. I cannot describe how irritated I was reading about Carla's experience
Ken's treatment of queer people is better, although
I remain baffled that Ken has been married multiple times to women, because the sex scenes always feel so weird. This criticism applies for all his previous books that I've read, and I'm unsure how he's managed to never improve them over the years. I guess when the books sell, why bother. The descriptions of bodies and acts can feel a bit schoolboyish. Why do I need to know the size of each woman character's bush and breasts? The male characters never get this treatment. (Not that I want them to!)
I think this all boils down to Ken's inherent difficulty relating with the female characters he writes. To his credit, he does try to have them engage with the feminism topics du jour, and sometimes he achieves meaningful commentary and true-to-life reactions. But (many) other times his writing resembles that tongue-in-cheek meme about Cassandra "breasting boobily to the stairs." It's a real weakness for all of his work, and Winter of the World represented a particular low for me. I get the impression that Ken thinks making a woman character smart and strong makes up for being unable to meaningfully write about their motivations and emotional landscapes. That approach rarely pays off, and despite their intricacy and historical value, his books are worse off for it.
I'll continue on in the series because for me, the historically-grounded and well-researched stories are still worthwhile. But I could really do without the sophomoric romances between shallow characters. Here's hoping the next one is less cringe in that department.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and War
Moderate: Abortion
Heaviest possible content warning possible for rape. This is not a triggering topic I'm particularly sensitive to, but I was still a bit nauseated by the writing.