Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
Ok, general info beforehand: I am not a fan of spy novels. I AM a fan of historical fiction. I got to like Ken Follett because of his Pillars of the Earth books, I noticed soon however, that most of his other books are "modern" spy novels and decided not to read them. That being said, this book was recommended to me as providing an interesting perspective on WWI. What better time to read it then to the 100th anniversary of the events described in the book.
I was pleasently surprised by the depth of the characters and I enjoyed watching them develop. It provided an interesting perspective (or persepctives) on the events up to and during WWI and it was a joy to read.
Nevertheless, I did notice myself getting slightly bored around the beginning of 1914, when the "politic-ing" was at its heaviest, therefore 4-Stars instead of 5. I would have liked to see more details in the last chapters, but every story has to come to a close somewhere, I suppose. I hope, though, that there isn't too much time lost between the end of this book and the beginning of the next.
I was pleasently surprised by the depth of the characters and I enjoyed watching them develop. It provided an interesting perspective (or persepctives) on the events up to and during WWI and it was a joy to read.
Nevertheless, I did notice myself getting slightly bored around the beginning of 1914, when the "politic-ing" was at its heaviest, therefore 4-Stars instead of 5. I would have liked to see more details in the last chapters, but every story has to come to a close somewhere, I suppose. I hope, though, that there isn't too much time lost between the end of this book and the beginning of the next.
I absolutely adored Pillars of the Earth, World Without End and Column of fire. I liked this. Nowhere near as much, but Ken Follett has a way of making you care for characters, even if you don't want to. This book follows Germans, Russians, Welsh, English and Americans. It was enjoyable enough as a read, but didn't hit me as hard by any means, but maybe that's because I'm less interested in this particular period of history. The story starts with Billy Williams, but he is barely mentioned when the war starts, Earl Fitzherbert starts off as a likable young Earl to a complete douche. I even ended up not liking Ethel Williams by the end. Maud and Walter were by far the characters I kept reading to find out what happened to them. But I feel like that was a major problem, I kept reading to find out what happened to the characters, not because I enjoyed the book as much as I did the other trilogy. I feel like one major event of 1918 was left out in order to finish the book. The Spanish flu was mentioned once, and then never again, even though it occurred during the war and killed more than the war did. It felt that by leaving it out, Follett forgot to remain true to history. This book however did succeed in making me angry about WWI and the futility of it all, millions died because of one assassination, it also made me angry about the Versailles treaty. If that was the aim, Follett certainly succeeded, if not, I don't understand what he was trying to achieve.
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
This is the first book in The Century Trilogy, an epic historical fiction novel that takes you on a journey through the time just before, during, and after World War I. It even covers suffragette period and the Russian Revolution. Ken Follet brings together characters from different countries to show you the chaos and different viewpoints of that era. This lets you see how people saw the war and why it happened. But, the book has so many characters that it can be hard to keep track of who they are and what their motivations are.
The book tries to cover a lot of time and different perspectives, but it doesn’t do a great job of developing the characters. Many of them are one-dimensional and don’t have much depth or moral compass. It’s surprising, considering the era the book is set in. Many of the male characters were cheating jerks, and the female characters were naive and unsure of themselves. It was hard to care about whether or not they survived the war.
Overall, the book is okay, but I feel tries to do too much in its nearly 1000 pages. Out of the family and friends who have read this book, I’m the only one who didn’t love it.
The book tries to cover a lot of time and different perspectives, but it doesn’t do a great job of developing the characters. Many of them are one-dimensional and don’t have much depth or moral compass. It’s surprising, considering the era the book is set in. Many of the male characters were cheating jerks, and the female characters were naive and unsure of themselves. It was hard to care about whether or not they survived the war.
Overall, the book is okay, but I feel tries to do too much in its nearly 1000 pages. Out of the family and friends who have read this book, I’m the only one who didn’t love it.
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
informative
slow-paced
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Wauw, wat heb ik van dit boek genoten! Ik vind het altijd fijn om tijdens het lezen ook iets te leren, dus het was erg interessant om over de Eerste Wereldoorlog en de Russische revolutie te lezen. De personages waren goed uitgewerkt, hoewel er veel personen in het verhaal voorkomen was ik nooit kwijt wie wie ook alweer was. Geen boek om in een paar dagen uit te lezen, maar wel een ontzettend mooi verhaal.