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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is an excellent story about what could happen in today’s world if political tensions keep rising and conflicts don’t deescalate. It brings to light a realistic scenario of everything going wrong. I would recommend this book to anyone old enough to understand the impacts these events could have on humanity as a whole.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
FUCK.
Ok, it wasn't a great book. Ken Follett's characters are always either annoyingly perfect people with hearts of gold, or the scum of the earth. Everything that happened with the terrorists in Chad was awesome, but ultimately kind of irrelevant. It sort of felt like two separate books, tbh--one about terrorists in Chad, and one about China and America. I kind of wish the American president wasn't one of the pov characters--we had the pov of a random spy guy in China, and it would have been more fun to have the American equivalent in America. They'd both subtly pull the strings of their leaders, trying to avert war and failing. But, alas, we got the American President instead, and she... was super boring. She also seemed super dumb--why is she constantly asking how things work when she 100% should already know?
Overall, this book was super cliche and tropey.
But.
Fucking devastating.
This book made nuclear war seem completely plausible and that's fucking scary.
Ok, it wasn't a great book. Ken Follett's characters are always either annoyingly perfect people with hearts of gold, or the scum of the earth. Everything that happened with the terrorists in Chad was awesome, but ultimately kind of irrelevant. It sort of felt like two separate books, tbh--one about terrorists in Chad, and one about China and America. I kind of wish the American president wasn't one of the pov characters--we had the pov of a random spy guy in China, and it would have been more fun to have the American equivalent in America. They'd both subtly pull the strings of their leaders, trying to avert war and failing. But, alas, we got the American President instead, and she... was super boring. She also seemed super dumb--why is she constantly asking how things work when she 100% should already know?
Overall, this book was super cliche and tropey.
But.
Fucking devastating.
This book made nuclear war seem completely plausible and that's fucking scary.
This book owned me from the first chapter. Never by Ken Follett is one of those thrillers that creeps under your skin, not with horror or gore, but with the terrifying idea that everything happening in the story could easily happen in real life. The tension builds gradually but relentlessly, and the story unfolds with a rhythm that keeps you completely locked in. Every chapter left me needing to know what came next, even when I knew it was probably going to stress me out!
The characters are brilliantly drawn, flawed, human, and often caught in impossible situations where there are no good choices. I especially appreciated how Follett weaves together different perspectives from around the globe without it ever feeling forced or confusing. It gave the story a massive scope without losing the emotional punch.
What really hit me, though, was how real it all felt. This isn’t far-future sci-fi; it’s a political thriller set in the very near future, and it plays out like a warning. The way small decisions spiral into global consequences is chilling, and it’s not sensationalised; it’s grounded and believable, which makes it even more unsettling.
This is a huge, urgent story that feels frighteningly close to reality.
The characters are brilliantly drawn, flawed, human, and often caught in impossible situations where there are no good choices. I especially appreciated how Follett weaves together different perspectives from around the globe without it ever feeling forced or confusing. It gave the story a massive scope without losing the emotional punch.
What really hit me, though, was how real it all felt. This isn’t far-future sci-fi; it’s a political thriller set in the very near future, and it plays out like a warning. The way small decisions spiral into global consequences is chilling, and it’s not sensationalised; it’s grounded and believable, which makes it even more unsettling.
This is a huge, urgent story that feels frighteningly close to reality.
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
DNFed 100 pages in. Nothing was interesting or compelling by that point. I love Ken Follett books but this one didn't hold a candle to anything else I've read by him.