A review by jessthebookworm
Winter of the World, by Ken Follett
3.0
This is the second book in Follett's Century trilogy. Whereas the first book dealt with various families across the world during World War I, this book now picks up with those families again and follows them through World War II.
Follett once again gives us a broad view of the goings-on leading up to, and during, the War. We see things from a German, British, Russian and American perspective.
I did not enjoy this one as much as the first, and I'm not quite sure why. I think it's because it felt like this book concentrated more on relationships between various characters, but the problem was, the characters felt like cardboard cutouts. So when something bad happened to a character, myself as the reader did not not really care. I didn't really care who died or who got married, it all just seemed very unemotional.
I also thought the parts of the War that Follett chose to focus on were strange. I mean, there are characters based in Germany for the purposes of offering an "on-the-ground" view of Germany during the War, and yet, there was nothing about the Holocaust. I got closer and closer to the end and I was wondering when this would feature. But no, nothing. Just a brief mention in one sentence.
Another thing is that Winston Churchill is usually a huge feature in history regarding this War and in this book he barely featured at all. The author chose to focus on America and Russia's part in the War more than anything else.
In conclusion though, it is an easy read, although very long, and it is a nice way to get a bird's eye view of World War II through an historical fiction lens.
Follett once again gives us a broad view of the goings-on leading up to, and during, the War. We see things from a German, British, Russian and American perspective.
I did not enjoy this one as much as the first, and I'm not quite sure why. I think it's because it felt like this book concentrated more on relationships between various characters, but the problem was, the characters felt like cardboard cutouts. So when something bad happened to a character, myself as the reader did not not really care. I didn't really care who died or who got married, it all just seemed very unemotional.
I also thought the parts of the War that Follett chose to focus on were strange. I mean, there are characters based in Germany for the purposes of offering an "on-the-ground" view of Germany during the War, and yet, there was nothing about the Holocaust. I got closer and closer to the end and I was wondering when this would feature. But no, nothing. Just a brief mention in one sentence.
Another thing is that Winston Churchill is usually a huge feature in history regarding this War and in this book he barely featured at all. The author chose to focus on America and Russia's part in the War more than anything else.
In conclusion though, it is an easy read, although very long, and it is a nice way to get a bird's eye view of World War II through an historical fiction lens.