Windmills of the gods vs Yellow-dog contract: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Spy Fiction, Fiction

Windmills of the gods Sidney Sheldon · 1987 ★★★★☆ 3.9 384 pages · ≈ 7 h 07 m · Moderate

“Stanton Rogers was destined to be President of the United States.”

A college professor, a naive Kansan, becomes the US ambassador to Romania and learns a lot about life.

Yellow-dog contract Ross Thomas · 1977 ★★★★☆ 4.0 264 pages · ≈ 4 h 53 m · Moderate

An ex-political operative is a master of dirty tricks, but now he's mixed up in something far worse: "Ross Thomas is without peer in American suspense" (Los Angeles Times).   There are few jobs that Harvey…

Mystery

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
Yellow-dog contract is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 7 for Windmills of the gods.
Windmills of the gods has the widest readership — 32345 ratings behind its score.
Windmills of the gods runs the darker storyline; Yellow-dog contract stays the lighter read.

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Yellow-dog contract ≈ 4h vs 7h for Windmills of the gods In the mood for something dark? Windmills of the gods a darker storyline than Yellow-dog contract Want something lighter? Yellow-dog contract an easier tone than Windmills of the gods

Scores by source

	Windmills of the gods	Yellow-dog contract
Goodreads	3.9 (32345)	4.0 (352)
Hardcover	3.7 (36)	—
Apple Books	4.5 (55)	4.0 (14)
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Reception

	Windmills of the gods	Yellow-dog contract
Ratings	32345	352
Editions	14	16
Citations	1	1
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	7999	113
Reading it now	530	51
Written reviews	826	20
Wikipedia attention	802	633
Pages	384	264
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Windmills of the gods or Yellow-dog contract?

Yellow-dog contract has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Yellow-dog contract 4.0/5, Windmills of the gods 3.9/5).

Which is shorter to read: Windmills of the gods or Yellow-dog contract?

Yellow-dog contract is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Yellow-dog contract (264 pages, ≈ 4 h 53 m); Windmills of the gods (384 pages, ≈ 7 h 07 m).

Which is harder to read: Windmills of the gods or Yellow-dog contract?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Windmills of the gods: Moderate; Yellow-dog contract: Moderate.