Winter of the World

972 pages

English language

Published April 2, 2013 by Penguin Publishing Group.

ISBN:: 978-0-451-41924-8

(5 reviews)

Continuing the story of five interrelated families as they become entangled in events from the beginning of the twentieth century, from the rise of the Third Reich, through the Spanish Civil War and the great dramas of World War II, up to the explosions of the American and Soviet atomic bombs.

"En esta magnífica novela épica, Ken Follett conduce al lector a través de una Europa en ruinas, quebrada de nuevo por las guerras y los conflictos ideológicos. Los hijos de las cinco familias protagonistas de 'La Caída de los Gigantes' forjarán su destino en los años turbulentos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la guerra civil española, el bombardeo de Pearl Harbor y la era de la bomba atómica." --p.[4] of cover.

17 editions

Kadomi reviewed Winter of the world by Ken Follett (Century trilogy -- bk. 2)

Review of 'Winter of the World (The Century Trilogy #2)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Winter of the World continues the saga begun in Fall of Giants, with the events within happening in the years 1933 to 1949. Most of the characters from the first book are still here, but the focus has shifted to the following generation. The writing felt a bit formulaic this time round. There's always a couple destined to be together. In the first book this was Lady Maud Fitzherbert and Walter von Ulrich. In this book it's Daisy Peshkov, daughter to the now American scoundrel Lev Peshkov, and Lloyd Williams, son of Ethel Williams and Earl Fitzherbert. Woody Dewar was definitely pretty much a copy of his father in the first book, and Volodya's chapters were a lot like Grigori's, the Russian who supports Communism but has his doubts about the system. And so on. The characters are all still a bit flat, rather one-dimensional. They could have been so …

Winter of the World continues the saga begun in Fall of Giants, with the events within happening in the years 1933 to 1949. Most of the characters from the first book are still here, but the focus has shifted to the following generation. The writing felt a bit formulaic this time round. There's always a couple destined to be together. In the first book this was Lady Maud Fitzherbert and Walter von Ulrich. In this book it's Daisy Peshkov, daughter to the now American scoundrel Lev Peshkov, and Lloyd Williams, son of Ethel Williams and Earl Fitzherbert. Woody Dewar was definitely pretty much a copy of his father in the first book, and Volodya's chapters were a lot like Grigori's, the Russian who supports Communism but has his doubts about the system. And so on. The characters are all still a bit flat, rather one-dimensional. They could have been so much more.

I have few quibbles aside from that. I probably liked Fall of Giants a little better because I previously had little knowledge about World War I. As a historical lesson, Winter of the World is wide-spread and covers just about every large-scale event that happened during WWII. From the rise of the Nazis to the war in Spain, to the Blitz over London, to Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway, to Hiroshima and the beginning of the nuclear arms race. It's a massive book, it's exciting to read, and it even picks up on stuff like homosexuality in the navy and the mass-rapes of the Red Army reaching Germany.

I should note that Ken Follett has the habit of focusing quite a bit on sexual relationships when it comes to his characters. As such, there are many, somewhat cringeworthy (or lol-worthy) sex scenes. You have been warned.

That said, I am looking forward to the concluding book which will come out later this year, with a focus on the cold war.