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A review by aejohnson85
Winter of the World by Ken Follett
3.0
Winter of the World is the second in Ken Follett's Century Trilogy, which follows the same families we met in Fall of Giants. This time, the younger generation contend with the events leading up to, during, and after World War II.
Follett does a great job of weaving historical fact into the story, with the characters being witness to many historical events and characters - the reader is required to suspend belief a bit when it comes to this...for instance, Woody (the American) and his family go to visit his naval officer brother, Chuck, in Hawaii...in December 1941 - which of course means they are involved in Pearl Harbor! Perhaps a bit much to believe that his family would just happen to be there, but nonetheless, a very important and well written section of the novel!
I was a bit disappointed with the characters in this one...I didn't find myself as drawn to them, as to the elder generation of Fall of Giants. That being said, I did quite enjoy Lloyd (Ethel and Fitz's son), Carla (Maude and Walter's daughter) and surprisingly, Daisy (Lev's American daughter) - her British sections were great once she started maturing from the obnoxious socialite she was in Buffalo.
My other disappointment was that the story focused more on the spy aspect of WWII. I would have liked to see more from the battlefront and the homefront - Carla's sections on what the war was like in Germany was great, as was what little we saw of Daisy as an ambulance driver. I've always been interested in the homefront and was a bit sad to see so much was focused on espionage (which I admit I know little about in WWII).
Follett chose to focus on a large chunk of time with a large cast of characters. This worked well in the first of the series and was adequate in this outing, however, it was often quite a few years before we were able to "check back in" with some of the characters, which meant that the reader missed things like weddings, births of children, promotions, etc. I wish more of that could have been elaborated on, but with the book already at 900+ pages, I understand why Follett had to choose certain sections to omit!!
I look forward to reading the third in the series to see how the Cold War treats this group of families (although looks like it will be released in 2014, so I do have quite a bit to wait)!
Follett does a great job of weaving historical fact into the story, with the characters being witness to many historical events and characters - the reader is required to suspend belief a bit when it comes to this...for instance, Woody (the American) and his family go to visit his naval officer brother, Chuck, in Hawaii...in December 1941 - which of course means they are involved in Pearl Harbor! Perhaps a bit much to believe that his family would just happen to be there, but nonetheless, a very important and well written section of the novel!
I was a bit disappointed with the characters in this one...I didn't find myself as drawn to them, as to the elder generation of Fall of Giants. That being said, I did quite enjoy Lloyd (Ethel and Fitz's son), Carla (Maude and Walter's daughter) and surprisingly, Daisy (Lev's American daughter) - her British sections were great once she started maturing from the obnoxious socialite she was in Buffalo.
My other disappointment was that the story focused more on the spy aspect of WWII. I would have liked to see more from the battlefront and the homefront - Carla's sections on what the war was like in Germany was great, as was what little we saw of Daisy as an ambulance driver. I've always been interested in the homefront and was a bit sad to see so much was focused on espionage (which I admit I know little about in WWII).
Follett chose to focus on a large chunk of time with a large cast of characters. This worked well in the first of the series and was adequate in this outing, however, it was often quite a few years before we were able to "check back in" with some of the characters, which meant that the reader missed things like weddings, births of children, promotions, etc. I wish more of that could have been elaborated on, but with the book already at 900+ pages, I understand why Follett had to choose certain sections to omit!!
I look forward to reading the third in the series to see how the Cold War treats this group of families (although looks like it will be released in 2014, so I do have quite a bit to wait)!