Edge of Eternity: Book Three of The Century Trilogy
Written by Ken Follett
Narrated by John Lee
4/5
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About this audiobook
Ken Follett's Century Trilogy follows the fortunes of five intertwined families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they make their way through the twentieth century. It has been called "potent, engrossing" (Publishers Weekly) and "truly epic" (Huffington Post). USA Today said, "You actually feel like you're there."
Edge of Eternity, the finale, covers one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through the 1980s, encompassing civil rights, assassinations, Vietnam, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution-and rock and roll.
East German teacher Rebecca Hoffman discovers she's been spied on by the Stasi for years and commits an impulsive act that will affect her family for generations… George Jakes, himself bi-racial, bypasses corporate law to join Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department and finds himself in the middle of not only the seminal events of the civil rights battle, but also a much more personal battle… Cameron Dewar, the grandson of a senator, jumps at the chance to do some espionage for a cause he believes in, only to discover that the world is much more dangerous than he'd imagined… Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Khrushchev, becomes an agent for good and for ill as the Soviet Union and the United States race to the brink of nuclear war, while his twin sister, Tania, carves out a role that will take her from Moscow to Cuba to Prague to Warsaw-and into history.
These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as they add their personal stories and insight to the most defining events of the 20th century. From the opulent offices of the most powerful world leaders to the shabby apartments of those trying to begin a new empire, from the elite clubs of the wealthy and highborn to the passionate protests of a country's most marginalized citizens, this is truly a drama for the ages.
With the Century Trilogy, Follett has guided readers through an entire era of history with a master's touch. His unique ability to tell fascinating, brilliantly researched stories that captivate readers and keep them turning the pages is unparalleled. In this climactic and concluding saga, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.
Ken Follett
Ken Follett was born in Cardiff, Wales. Barred from watching films and television by his parents, he developed an early interest in reading thanks to a local library. After studying philosophy at University College London, he became involved in centre-left politics, entering into journalism soon after. His first thriller, the wartime spy drama Eye of the Needle, became an international bestseller and has sold over 10 million copies. He then astonished everyone with his first historical novel, The Pillars of the Earth, the story of the building of a medieval cathedral, which went on to become one of the most beloved books of the twentieth century. One of the most popular authors in the world, his many books including the Kingsbridge series and the Century trilogy - a body of work which together chronicles over a thousand years of history - and his latest novel Never - which envisages how World War III could happen - have sold more than 188 million copies. A father and husband, Ken lives with his wife in England and enjoys travelling the world when he can.
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Reviews for Edge of Eternity
629 ratings46 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My favorite book in the trilogy, probably because this one is such an interesting mixed-bag of world events and captures late 20th century events that I have memories of watching on TV or reading about in the newspaper. I like how Follett’s characters get close to the events to provide a credible, fictionalized first person point of view. The author has a knack for writing suspenseful stories and skillfully provides the reader with a history lesson that isn’t a dry, fact filled snoozer. Not quite as hip, snappy and rock and rollish as Billy Joel’s song, We Didn’t Start the Fire, but still a highly entertaining read for me. Yes, Follett does capture the rock and roll era through his fictional British band, Plum Nelly. Hard to do a sweeping 20th century novel with out capturing the music scene, but the focus is also on the politics and impact of the Cold War. Given the myriad of events that occurred between 1960 through to the late 1980’s (the time period captured here), it is not surprising that Follett had to pick and choose which events to focus on and which ones to gloss over. Yes, even at over 1,000 pages, he still couldn't cram in EVERYTHING. Even so, he managed to bring some interesting perspectives. For example, while President Kennedy is in the story, he takes a bit of a back seat to his brother, Senator Bobby Kennedy. Follett barely touches on either JFK or Martin Luther King's assassinations - probably makes sense given the number of books already published on those topics. For the Vietnam War, Follett takes another unique approach by drafting a British born, U.S. landed immigrant into the US Army, presenting an “outsider on the inside” perspective of the war. Yes, one has to accept the fact that Follett’s characters always seem to be ‘opportunely’ placed to witness or be involved with various events, but hey, this is fiction, even if it is anchored by historical events. When Follett decides to “go big,” he does so with without restraint. Overall a wonderful conclusion to a truly epic saga and one I can highly recommend if you like your historical fiction reads to be entertaining and engaging.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is the worst Ken Follett book in the series, and the worst Follet book I have ever read. The characters felt largely perfunctory in matching a novel to history. Usually I feel like I'm lost in a perfect time travel when reading Follett, but I ended up skipping through swaths of this book. There were parts that sort of made me sort of cringe that probably say more about me than the author: women having their "maternal instinct" kick in when for other people's children when they have had no children of their own; black people eating fried chicken (I don't think there were any Russians eating borscht) ; soldiers being exonerated by a character for rape, murder, and other war crimes because it was really just the higher up's fault. It just largely felt fake, profoundly boring, and long. Every now and again he would throw in something very insightful that I would love and is prescient in this day and age that would make it worth it for a while but then things dulled down again. It was bad Follett but still a very little bit better than okay book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5What does it mean having to fight for freedom? It's not so obvious to those who were born in freedom and not even suffered lack of it much less experienced tyranny.
To fight for freedom is to fight evil. To imagine better the consequences of not fighting it one can read Ken Follett's Century trilogy. It vividly and interestingly describes most of the 20th century with two of the worst historical evils (Nazism and Communism) and the echoes of even greater evil: slavery. All high school kids should read Follett's trilogy! - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It ended with just a poof; not at all what I expected considering I enjoyed the first two.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I received an advance copy from the Penguin First to Read program.
It was interesting to read a fictional account of recent history, but this book was so long! I feel that a lot of scenes could have been cut without losing the narrative thread. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Loved Follett's continuing saga concept; loved the characters; did not like author's imposed views on politics; took way to long to reach the climax; fall of the Berlin Wall was anti-climactic. Book let me down after investing so much into the trilogy.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Packing in 1000 pages (the longest of the already hefty Century Trilogy) Ken Follett has certainly provided value for money in the final book of this sequence. The book carries on the saga from the advent of the Berlin Wall through to its fall, with a more recent epilogue moment.
Follett has written these books to be enjoyed on their own terms as well as being part of a sequence. In some ways reading Edge of Eternity on its own might be a more satisfying experience. My main criticism of the book is the sense of repetition of some of the plot devices and situations from the prior novels. Another teenage girl discovers to her horror that she is pregnant (ruining her dreams), a lead character discovers hurtful infidelity - OK these are staples of popular fiction but here on the third book they just felt a bit too familiar.
That said Follett still writes a solid readable book. The recount of dramatic events is great and gives a much more powerful perspective than reading a straight history book. From the frustration and sense of imprisonment in East Berlin to the fear of nuclear destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the corruption of the Nixon years, the accomplished novelist has the ability to make vivid the feelings and human drama.
The characters were interesting, although perhaps there were too many. I just didn't feel quite the same level of engagement as with the earlier books. Interestingly there are actually less characters in this book than Fall of Giants (75 including peripheral roles as opposed to 84) although there are significantly more real historical figures. I think some of the figures in the earlier books like Ethel, Fitz, Billy and Grigori were better drawn and evoked with dialogue and incident. Perhaps also the struggles here seem a bit less dramatic - Dave Williams trying to get ahead as a pop singer doesn't really compare to Billy's life down the mines and at war, although that is a slightly extreme comparison.
Overall though, I would still recommend this book. You'll be drawn into the story, the events and experience frustration and triumph (and probably a tear on the last page or two). It certainly was a tumultuous century, and well evoked in epic fiction by Ken Follett. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5More a factual epic than a thrill-a-minute story
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Entertaining, but probably my least favorite of the trilogy.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A triumphant conclusion...though rushed through the most recent past (70s on).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm glad I completed the trilogy by reading this book, although I found it was getting a bit predictable and, at times, repetitive. Overall, a great story running through all three volumes. I must say that this third book was the first time my feelings about the Berlin Wall went beyond intellectual, even beyond a general sympathy for those separated by it. The story of Walli's family hit my empathy button really hard!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I'm sorry but I feel that Follett is really a very bad writer. This was like reading a thousand page long People magazine.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5His failure to control his heavy handed political views detracts from this story.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5rather disappointing. After starting with a STELLAR book 1, the slowed in book 2 and here I had the feeling the characters were just minor just to excuse some dialog. I had the feeling he jotted down the history of the world and then just added his characters to it. Whereever something in the world happened ( killing JFK, MLK, Bobby Kennedy), one of the characters happens to be there. Could have been so much better. Only read it all the way to get it over with.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Blah! Blah! Blah! Ran out of time on my library book with a couple of chapters left and decided I didn't care enough to wait for my turn to come around again to read the rest. Never finished.I love Ken Follett, but his newer books, especially the trilogies, have become too formulaic.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great narratoring! It takes you to another time and place!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Me and my family fled our country (Latvia), in the late 80’s. Throughout this trilogy, I felt like a piece of my family’s story is in this trilogy. The Peristroyka, fall of Communism, Fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, I remember those things very well. I was only 4 years old then.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As always brilliant! And reader very good and profesional. Recomend
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5O narrador e a versão que,não sendo a completa aborda o principal.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5amazing vivid description of the 20th century history. loved it
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked the broad sweep of history, and especially of the era during which I have lived.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5This one was a SLOG. It covered too much territory. What happened to the Century Trilogy?! Characters were losers mostly, rock stars, amoral journalists, women sleeping around, unlikable, all pushed apart for various reasons. The life stories were empty from the prior books, felt more contrived. Conflict and world affairs only impact the young? Weird.Where the last two books showed both sides, beliefs, historically, this book was a personal political voice of Follett himself, with gross bias. For example when there are murders in Cuba during JFK's time, it's blamed on his underlings, when murders occur under Reagan term, it's "Reagan's a Murderer". Carter's a hero for no obvious reason, the Iranian hostage crisis is ignored. We lost in this book the FEEL of each location, the atmosphere of the land they each lived in. Should've been separate books, or two installments at the very least. Really disappointed in Follett's weakness here as an author posing as a witness to history. And the epilogue? Really? Was that relevant to that book? No, and I think Follett is a hypocrite, he doesn't touch on racism in his own lands of Wales nor England. I guess we'll never see a 4th installment and I'm honestly very very glad.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5More than 1000 pages, but worth it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is the third book in the series and continues the stories of several different families. From the very start with the building of the Berlin Wall we are right at the heart of history from very personal perspectives.
This is a really good read but concentrates heavily on what are obviously the author's favourite topics to the detriment of others. The sixties are covered in great detail while later times are glossed over. Where it really worked was in the personal stories rather than the grand events
At times the writing was clumsy in putting our characters in important places.
I would have given this book 5 stars but for the continuous and unwarranted sex scenes with graphic details. We don't need to know the exact way that people have sex!! It seems that everyone was unable to remain faithful which is ridiculous even in the 'swinging' sixties. The ending was also rather abrupt leaving many strands uncompleted. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I am including this review nearly 5 years after having read the book. I found my notes and a half-written review in a pile of papers so I am going to include these to the best of my ability.I was actually disappointed in this book. The first two of this Trilogy (The Century Trilogy) were actually some of my favorite books to read and seemed to have been much better written. I even questioned within my own mind whether Follett had out-sourced the writing to someone else. One charm of the previous two books was how he inter-wove the stories of everyday fictional characters into the larger narrative of real major historical events, including rubbing elbows with major power-brokers of the era. That authorial device is at play in this novel as well, yet is horribly executed. Some, of the serendipitous encounters are so implausible that it takes more than a casual suspension of belief from the reader. The book was always quite unbalanced in the coverage of the time period it seeks to include. A large portion of the book centers around the 1960's which leaves little space for some of the major events such as the Vietnam War, Cold War, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The dialogue between the characters was at times less inspired and more clearly just a way to include and explain historical facts that Follett wanted to get in. Lastly, there was an obviously heavy-handed one-side political agenda found within the narrative. Perhaps, this was evidenced in the last two books as well and only noticed by me since this book wended its way into decades that I actually lived through. It may require a second look at the first two books to see if this is true. Though I feel like it actually leaned a certain way and was trying to impose an agenda rather than offering an unbiased and critical look at multiple sides of issues. If you read the first two in this series, I would say it is worth following through to the end to see the outcomes of the five sets of families that the book has followed throughout the series. Yet, I would caution one to expect to be as enamored and able to lose yourself in this one in the same manner as the first two of the series.
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- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This book was blatantly political and possesses a one sided inaccurate view of 20th century politics. It left behind the good family story lines of the previous two books. Not really worth the time I took to read it.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A bit disappointed with this one. 'Edge of Eternity' lacks the charm of 'Fall of Giants' and 'Winter of the World', from character likability to plot development. Old characters become quickly obsolete, and the new cast is whiny, self-loathing, yet at the same time utterly narcissistic.
Follett is a genius of historical fiction, but I get the distinct feeling that he tried to do too much here. Some scenes are marvelously done - I haven't yet read a better take on the worldwide reaction to the Kennedy assassination - yet the 1970s-1989 are brushed over as if little happened relative to the 1960s. Follett is generally also a master of apolitical writing where no political persuasion or issue is viewed as 100% just or evil, yet 'Edge of Eternity' definitely read as politically slanted in many ways. Where the first and second books gave everyone a fair shake, I got the distinct feeling that the characters were written in a way to push for a particular agenda.
The biggest disappointment is that I simply didn't care about the characters. Other than Dimka (and maybe Cam Dewar, later on), they are all inherently hypocritical and self-serving, and have the rare ability to make even just political causes seem childish, easy, or utterly uncomplicated. 'Fall of Giants' and 'Winter of the World' were masterpieces because they were the exact opposite: a window into history that showed just how difficult, complex, and uncertain things were in a time of destruction, fear, and hope. 'Edge of Eternity' offers little other than a sense of cynicism against any government and its respective politicians.
The book did capture an incredible breadth of history, for which I give Follett credit. His writing style is easy and engaging to read, regardless of the book's length.
Ultimately, The Century Trilogy will be well regarded for the outstanding successes of the first two books, where this one carries the torch over the finish line at a light jog. Could have been richer, more meaningful, and with stronger characters, but still entertaining nonetheless. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The final book of the Century Trilogy, and I think it might be my favorite of the three. Bracketed by the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall on the international side, and the Freedom Riders and Obama's election in the U.S., the wide cast of characters built up in the previous two novels, and their growing families, continue to be improbably present for a large number of historic events. Maybe because it takes place in a time I can personally remember, I found it endlessly involving. I was in tears at the scene when the Berlin Wall was opened up. A fitting end to the series.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Last of series. Brings story up to current times. Many of the characters brought forward from two earlier books, but are now parents or grandparents. Good explanation of the Cuban missle crisis.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5So very disappointing. I wish I had borrowed this from the library instead of spending hard earned money. The perspective is distorted, the characters flat and often phoney, lacking depth and realism. The obsession with sex is distasteful and boring. It is hard to believe that the same person wrote this book as wrote Pillars of the Earth. I found the writer's attitude to the era disconcerting and the details inaccurate, right down to distractions such as using a phrase like "yadda, yadda, yadda", with such strong associations with a tv programme that didn't evn begin until just before the wall came down. How did that one get by so many editors and proof readers? In placing his characters in positions so close to the leading figures of the day the author attempts to inject reality but in the end it all lacks credibility. There is an aura of hatred and contempt that makes this book anything but enjoyable. The era this book spans covers much of my life. I can tell you there was much more of positive spirit and optimism in our time than is reflected here. I found it odd that reviewers panned the book but continued to give it more stars than I felt were warranted. Don't waste your time.