Another rip-snorter from Ken Follett

I read Ken Follett's two mediaeval England books and they were riveting. Tremendous stories that kept me transfixed throughout. Next I read his World War I book and I have just finished listening to 'Winter of the World', the second book of this 20th century trilogy - the story of World War II.

Like the above-mentioned three books, this was a good entertaining story and very enjoyable. The only trouble is that Follett has to manufacture the plot so that every major character from his two basic families (Russian and Welsh) appears at key moments in the war and intervenes to change the whole course of the conflict: inventing the atom bomb, stopping Hitler from systematically killing disabled people, forming the united nations, passing the Nazi invasion plans to the Russians etc, etc.

Unfortunately, this stretches the credulity of the listener and it is always in the back of your mind that two families couldn't have had such an impact. This wasn't a problem with the mediaeval novels, because they were based in a small country with a small population , so it wasn't as far-fetched that the key characters could have such an influence on major historical events.

As for the narrator, he was generally pretty good, but he struggled a bit with some of the accents. At one point I wasn't sure if his Welshman was a Geordie or an Indian!

These were the only blemishes on what was otherwise a great listen.

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Listen and learn

I really looked forward to this book. I'm not disappointed.

I must say that the most annoying thing about this audio book is that I personally really didn't enjoy the fact that John Lee makes voices - especially because it means that large parts of it is spoken in a German accent - sort of. I much prefer the reader to just READ the book aloud. I really think making voices are not suitable for a book for adults.

But I do see that other reviewers like it so I guess it's just a matter of preference.

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History with a good story

I have always enjoyed Ken Follett and he didn't let me down with this book. He once more had me confused for a while with keeping up with the different characters as he zig zagged round the world, but then all of a sudden everything fell into place... great historical story teller...

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Not as good as Herman Wouk's WW2 novels

Where does Winter of the World rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The first novel in the series, "Fall of Giants" was a bit better, in my opinion, and compared to Herman Wouk's epic novel "The Winds of War", Ken Follett's book could have gone a lot deeper.Having just listened to Herman Wouk's World War II novels (very similar approach with fictional characters and real contemporaries mixed), Ken Follett's book just falls short.

Nevertheless, it's a very good effort to bring the horrors of war closer to today's audience.

What other book might you compare Winter of the World to and why?

See above - "The Winds of War" by Herman Wouk.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

Solid, reliable performance.

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What about the holocaust?

Very nice book, but almost totally ignores the holocaust (that was part of World War Two

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ALONZO

A book easily read, my first Kollett book. I will certainly read others. The characters, as well as the times are well drawn.. Whilst I generally thought the book met all criteria as far as entertainment went, I felt there were times that it dragged perhaps it is to long and at times a little to much detail. Was I pleased to have bought it?, certainly, would I recommend purchase? very much so.

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GRIPPING

I cannot rate this entire trilogy, the story nor the narrator John Lee highly enough. The stories are epic accounts of history recounted with exquisite detail so you are transported directly into the lives of the characters - but the narrator makes them come alive - oh my - John Lee is astounding, his accents and story telling ability is remarkable. I don’t want it to end. Standing ovation for this masterful rendition. And again. And again. And again.

excellent

This is possibly one of those rare occasions where part 2 of a novel is better than part 1. this is a well written book. Someone said it didn't mention the holocaust, but it didn't have to it's good just the way it is.

What a ride!

Tragedy, Romance, Action, History!
This book had me in tears, biting my nails, looking at history books, and making me blush with the most tender (and hot! I gotta say...) scenes of romance. It made me look at a period I had really never dared look too close at. A wound in humanity's soul, in people's lives. This book makes you look at that, the people, and the inspiration of their imensurable strength. Love it!

Great value

superbly insightful account of the two world wars form the background to the tale of generations this family from a welsh mining town.