Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy [Paperback]

Ken Follett's new novel, "Fall of Giants", is a big boy. It's so big that it could be used as a door stop for a steel door. But I have a feeling that most people reading this review already know it's a big book and don't expect anything less from Ken Follett.

"Giants" is the first in a trilogy about the 20th century. At least I assume it is, because this book is about the run-up to the "Great War" (WW1) and the four years of war. Follett, as usual, has many characters from Europe and the United States. Most are fictional but some are real. He has the talent to draw these many fictional characters with a deft brush, nuanced-enough to be distinguishable from each other. That's no mean feat, actually; how many novels have you read whose characters just blend into each other and you're never sure about who's who? To help out, though, Follett puts a "character page" in the front of the book.

I can't decide if the reader has to have fundamental knowledge of WW1 to appreciate this book. Follett is a pretty good amateur historian and he's written an excellent "historical novel". So, I guess it would appeal to, and help teach, readers of any kind. I thought the same thing about his novels about medieval England.

Follett follows the fortunes and fates of roughly 10 main characters. All intersect to a certain extent - thwarted lovers, Welsh miners-from-Russia, and diplomats-trying-to-prevent-war - in Follett's pages. I'm looking forward to Follett's next two books in the trilogy to learn what happens to these people as the 20th century unfolds. He's a good writer, as most anyone reading this book would probably agree.

Years ago I read a few of Ken Follett's thrillers: Lie Down With Lions comes to mind. I think I also read Key To Rebecca and Man From St Petersburg. Honestly, they were fun reads but none of them got under my skin like Pillars of the Earth released in 1989. Or eighteen long years later, World Without End.

I suppose Follett is best known for his thrillers. Goodness knows he's written twenty-odd. But it's his historical fiction I love. As far as I'm concerned the guy is a genius of the genre.

I don't know where Follett falls in literary circles. My guess is his work wouldn't be considered 'Literature' with a capital "L". Who cares? When it comes to storytelling, the man is pure gold.

His most recent work is Fall of Giants, Book One of the Century Trilogy. And the only negative thing I can say about it is I have to wait until the Fall of 2012 for the next installment, Winter of the World.

Fall of Giants is a giant of a book. Just shy of 1000 pages, it's a veritable door stopper. Despite its length, I read it faster than books a third of its size for the simple reason I couldn't put it down. It is the kind of read that you happily lug around so you can snag a few extra pages here and there. By the same token, I was sad when it ended. Now that's a good book!

A Brief Synopsis

The story begins just prior to the commencement of WWI. It follows the lives of several families from various areas of the globe: America, England & Scotland, Wales, France, Germany & Austria and Russia. Follett's characters, fictional as well as real, were so vivid I was invested in all of them, their families and their communities. So when WWI unfolds I was right there, experiencing that monumental war with them. That's the thing about historical fiction, it brings the event,as well as the people, to life.

Of course a novel like Fall of Giants doesn't replace scholarly study of WWI but it is an overview. And as such, it offers examples of how people from the various areas were affected and how the war was a catalyst for other events and political movements. And for this purpose, Follett's facts are well-researched.

Within the first pages of Fall of Giants, there's a map of Europe, circa 1914 and a Cast of Characters that went on for several pages. This did cause me pause. Don't let it put you off. I never once had to refer to the characters' names or relationship to one another. That's because Follett is also a master of logic. At his hand, the entwined stories make perfect sense.

The story ends after the Great War, leaving Follett's pen perfectly poised to take flight with Winter of the World.

My Final Word

If you appreciate historical fiction and books you can get lost in, you'll love Fall of Giants!

I have long been a fan of Ken Follett, who usually writes brilliantly. But this time? Well, I agree with the other reviews I have just read that gave Follett only one star. I am not a professional historian (although I am a professor emeritus of Russian Language and Literature) but why would Follett change well-known historical facts?

I mention only two. The cruiser that fired on the Winter Palace in 1917, bringing about the Bolshevik Revolution, was not the Amur but the Avrora, which is still moored across the River Neva today--it can be visited. And Germany's surrender to the allies took place not in the Palace of Versailles, but in a railway carriage--which the Germans later used again, as a piece of deliberate humiliation, for the Allies' surrender in 1918.

I was looking forward to these two well-known events in history. The fact that Follett changed them leads me to wonder how accurate his other historical descriptions are.