Never A Novel: Follett

(10 customer reviews)

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10 reviews for Never A Novel: Follett

  1. J. Washburn

    Ken Follett has a masterpiece on his hands. Dare I say best yet? Be ready for the ride of your book reading life. Nope I’m not spilling the beans you’ve got to read it. 800 or so pages will fly by, you may even cry…but it will make you think…I’m being greedy now Ken, I hope there is another book..thank you!

  2. Chris D. Melzer

    Wait a minute, another new Follett? There was Kingsbridge IV just a year ago! What happened to the usual three-year intervals? Yes, the 72-year-old has come out with another new novel, and it’s quite thick again (more than 800 pages). And it’s a typical Follett in many ways. But in many ways, just not. And that’s a good thing here.The obvious, of course, is that it’s not a historical novel, the first since “White Out” 16 years ago (there were actually six historical books in between). “Never” is set now, with the reality somewhat altered. A woman (a moderate Republican) rules in the USA and there is not a single real character in the whole book. Even cities were invented, and it took me quite a while to realize that even a sunk aircraft carrier is very realistic, yet invented. But everything in the book sounds very real and not far fetched. Frighteningly real.What is it about? Follett has asked himself whether it is possible today to have a war that no one actually wants. Like the First World War. While researching “Fall of Giants”, he kept asking himself if it could happen today. He chose the USA and China as opponents (the Europeans are practically not mentioned, and the Russians are somewhere in a subordinate sentence). And the scenario he develops sounds believable. It starts with an almost insignificant incident (people die, but that would only be a minor agency news story today), and then it spirals up. And higher and higher. It’s a bit like Breaking Bad, where you also wonder how far Walter White could have gone, where the red line was actually crossed. Everything is so frighteningly logical.Wait, “sunk aircraft carrier”? So, it’s a war novel? Ken Follett goes Tom Clancy? No, not at all. Yes, military operations occur, but that’s backdrop. The main plot is clearly politics. It’s a diplomatic thriller. Conference halls instead of battlefields. Boring? Not at all. And you don’t have to have a degree in politics to follow the plot (in other words, my degree in politics doesn’t do me any good even here).It’s very much a Ken Follett again, because he thinks of his readers. The plot is complex, but not complicated; branching, but not confusing. There are many Chinese protagonists, and the names are more unusual for us, of course, as if they were called John or James. But still, it’s actually always clear who it’s about without having to look it up.I find the frame story of the president and her husband unnecessary, but so what. What is very welcome, on the other hand, is that Follett is not Follett this time, as far as the characters are concerned. There was always a scumbag as the great antagonist of the impeccable hero. Here, the Americans seem more sympathetic than the Chinese (sure, democracy versus communism, I would know which side to choose). But the actions of the Chinese are also understandable and Follett is not one-dimensional here. It’s much more the contest between moderates and reformers on one side and hardliners and warmongers on the other. It reminded me a lot of “Fall of Giants”: the Chinese protagonist and his stubborn father are the exact image of the German count and his father in the novel about the outbreak of the First World War.The end of the book surprised me. This is also unusual for Follett. Namely, at the end…oh, read it for yourself. It’s fun.(Sorry for my English, not a native speaker, German.)

  3. Louis Fazzi

    Follett does not disappoint. This novel is relentlessly entertaining, moves at a very quick pace, and is difficult to put down. I could not stop reading it until I finished the last page.

  4. RonJJ

    This is just another in a long line of brilliant novels written by Follett. Definitely a great read.

  5. BNell

    The book was amazing. The scariest thing I could possibly ever imagine, or read. Ken Follett, your writing is so very great, so real, so vivid! I’ve held so many of your books, not wanting to put them down or for them to end, but this one terrifies me. The real life possibility is more than I want to experience. Please keep writing but please ease up on us, at this point in my life don’t want to handle the terror.

  6. Love2Read

    This book is excellent and very thought-provoking. In the introduction Ken Follett says when he was writing the first book in his trilogy he realized that World War I started not because anybody really wanted it but because of a series of logical steps taken by all of the countries and it made him wonder could it happen again. Yes it could and in modern times that could mean nuclear war. That is what this book is about and it’s frightening because all the players in this world-wide saga are acting in the interests of their own countries and in accordance with treaties but for each action taken there is, of course, a reaction by others. So the dominoes begin to fall ….

  7. L. Carroll

    Couldn’t put it down!!

  8. Claudio

    Very interesting to read.Great narrative and excelent descriptons of persona and situations.Highly recomended as an excelent well written story

  9. steven dunaway

    Ken Follet is a master story teller and this scenario should be branded into the hearts of our worlds leaders. Paraphrasing Einstein, “I know not what weapons will fight in world war 3 but world war 4 will be fought with sticks and stones.”

  10. Kindle Customer

    I could not put it down. Finished in less than two days reading time. One of the best books I have read in some time. Damn scary scenerio

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