Edge of Eternity

The Century Trilogy, Book 3

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 36 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Edge of Eternity is the sweeping, passionate conclusion to Ken Follett's extraordinary historical epic, The Century Trilogy.

Throughout these books, Follett has followed the fortunes of five intertwined families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they make their way through the twentieth century. Now they come to one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the enormous social, political, and economic turmoil of the 1960s through the 1980s, from civil rights, assassinations, mass political movements and Vietnam to 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 the rest of their lives. George Jakes, the child of a mixed-race couple, bypasses a corporate law career to join Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department, and finds himself in the middle not only of the seminal events of the civil rights battle, but a much more personal battle of his own. Cameron Dewar, the grandson of a senator, jumps at the chance to do some official and unofficial espionage for a cause he believes in, only to discover that the world is a much more dangerous place than he'd imagined. Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Nikita Khrushchev, becomes a prime agent both for good and for ill as the United States and the Soviet Union 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.

As always with Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. With the hand of a master, he brings us into a world we thought we knew but now will never seem the same again.

©2014 Ken Follett (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"[Follett] is a commanding storyteller who has taken on an impossibly large task and accomplished it with passion, intelligence, and skill. Like its predecessors, Edge of Eternity is a solid, rigorously researched work of popular fiction. It's an honest entertainment that brings back vivid, sometimes painful, memories of the not-too-distant past." (The Washington Post)

"Edge of Eternity is as compulsively readable a mighty page-turner as its two predecessors." (The Seattle Times)

"Hugely ambitious, the trilogy serves as a massive history lesson as well as an example of good, old-fashioned storytelling." (The New York Daily News)

Incredible

Amazing trilogy. The characters intertwined with the history is incredible. Read the first two books and listened to the third. Either way I was captivated through each one.

Calm Down, People. Keep Reading, Friends!

I was pretty close to stopping after the second novel because of the odd, negative reviews about the explicate sex. Ummmm - what?! I am here to tell you - DON'T stop reading - finish the trilogy and you will be happy you did. It was so great to complete the arcs of the characters we have come to care for and find out how things resolve for each family. Is there sex? Yes. Is a bit more explicit than the last two? Perhaps. To me, that can be accounted for, in large part, to the eras during which these stories take place - 60's, 70's and 80's - including the "free love" period. It is NOT worth passing up the conclusion of another amazing trilogy by Mr. Follett!

Amazing Trilogy!

Love these books so much! Got to learn history and enjout very different story lines from all perspectives!

Epic!

Loved the intergenerational saga, which was a great primer in European history. Recommended for anybody who loves historical fiction.

Simply the best trilogy

No trilogy of books will ever better humanize the 20th century. Thank you Ken Follett for your imagination and your words. And thank you John Lee for for your spectacular performance. This will be required reading for my children, and hopefully their children and their children’s children.

Clear and varied story lines

A well interwoven complex series of stories and characters, privilege and pathos, struggles and success.

Great Finish

This was a great finish to the trilogy. I gave it 4 stars vs 5 for the first two books because I felt it dragged a bit. This is not to say that it wasn't good, but that it just wasn't quite the 5 star that the first two were.

Great series

I enjoyed the series. Great way to learn history. Author does slam Reagan and the Pope who did contribute to the fall of communism in Europe. So his revisionist history makes me think other parts of the story have a liberal slant.

Good, if you are liberal.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Actual facts and not made up liberal hate.

If you’ve listened to books by Ken Follett before, how does this one compare?

Worst book yet, author should have left his own feelings out of book.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

John Lee's the man!

Do you think Edge of Eternity needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

No.

Any additional comments?

I hope Ken Follet sticks to older historical fiction it is obvious he is bias from 1950 on.

An amazing series

This series is an epic journey of multiple families and it covers multiple countries and different political views, and how the wars hurt everyone. Can’t wait to listen again! Highly recommend.