“Winter of the World” by Ken Follett – Wars Aplenty

The first book in the Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants, introduced us to the five families, the setting, the characters themselves, the morals of that time. The second book by Ken Follett in this trilogy, Winter of the World, picks up where the first one left off, as each family is headed for some kind of war-related turmoil. 

I really won’t go into detail as to which family faces what (let’s admit it, it would take a me a long time and you probably wouldn't even read it anyways), but in one way or another, each one of them finds itself entangled in some kind of significant conflict, whether it’s against actual people or ideas.

Just like the first book in the trilogy, it shows that a considerable amount of research was done before putting it together. The novel is littered with historical facts and accuracies, even tiny details most of us wouldn’t even care to pay attention to. Because the story and setting have already been put in place in the previous book, the events in this one unfold at a somewhat faster pace, which is also understandable considering we have moved onward in time a bit; we are in World War II now.

While the first volume may have felt somewhat more original because it was the beginning of something new, I still preferred this one better, but that may be due to me finding the Second World War to be more interesting to study than the first. 

The best way I could illustrate how I feel about this book in relation to the first one are the Terminator movies; sure, the first one did set the pace and was mind-blowing (sort of), but the second one was more enjoyable. 

The faster pace at which events unfold does make this book a bit more enthralling; any number of things can happen next, and I’ll be damned if I don’t know which one before going to sleep. Also, this time around there is a bit more blood and violence, although part of the book is focused on fighting the ideology of communism (at least that’s a path taken by one of the characters), and my favorite, spy games between the Allies and the Axis.

All in all, it would seem that any author who attempts to develop so many different storylines will have a bit of hard time with it, but Ken Follett shows who’s the man, crafting one of the most memorable trilogies in the world of literature.

To check out the first part of the trilogy, simply have a look at my Fall of Giants review.

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Ken Follett Personal site Ken Follett is an author of Welsh origin, mainly adhering to the creation of thrillers and historical novels (often combining the two). He obtained more than 11 awards in literature so far, with some of his most recognized bestsellers being Fall of Giants and Winter of the World.