Fall of Giants (The Century Trilogy #1)

I must admit that I was put off by the negative reviews I read. I listened to it anyway and loved it. With good characters that I cared about it is a very easy read. What I was amazed at was how little I learned in school about WW1. I think you could easily teach a course based on this book. I went to the internet constantly to learn more about incidents that were mentioned in the book. I could not put it down.

Ken Follet is a master. His books are modern day classics. Well researched and written a joy to experience. John Lee has to be the best Narrator in the business. He could make a dryer instruction manual sound interesting. In Fall of Giants, as in his other works, Lees consistency and character distinction are impressive indeed. Where this complex and intertwined story line with numerous characters would have been a disaster in anothers hands in Lees capable grasp the story unfolds clearly and beautifully. A book to savor.

This is a wonderfully plotted and scripted story that tells the tale of the events of the early 20th Century that set the stage for all that followed over that 100-year period. Ken Follett gives us the history as told and illustrated through his great and varied group of characters. Follett\’s fine writing and the great narration by John Lee entertainingly bring to life a period that is often misinterpreted when looking back through that period. I can hardly wait to see where Follett\’s characters take us as part 2 leads us into the post-Great War decades.

I enjoyed Fall of Giants. I thought it was a very good novel that closely followed the build-up to and prosecution of World War I from multiple perspectives. Overall it seemed, from my reading of various non-fiction historical accounts of WWI, very accurate. In fact I found this approach to be one of the most accessible ways to understand WWI that I have encountered. I thought the multiple interweaving storylines were each interesting and unlike some other reviewers, I didn\’t have an issue keeping track of different characters or their motivations. In fact, if I consider the novel stand-alone, my only significant criticisms would be the lack of a clear antagonist (other than circumstances) as all the characters seemed noble in their own way and personally I would have liked to see more of the \”bad\” Russian brother, who seemed the most interesting of the main characters. But that is the problem, isn\’t it? It is very difficult to consider this novel independently given Follet\’s other massive historical novels – Pillars and World\’s End – were just so remarkable. Fall of Giants doesn\’t really compare to either book, but I felt it deserved 4 stars because it is enjoyable in its own right. I understand that this is the beginning of a trilogy and perhaps the subsequent books will allow for even more interesting developments and be on par with Pillars and World\’s End. But even if they don\’t achieve those heights, they still could be very good books – and there is nothing wrong with that. I can certainly recommend listening to this book, just keep your lofty expectations in check.

I had been looking for a good story that also explains how WWI came about, and found it in \”Fall of Giants, Book 1\”. This was my first Ken Follett book, and I really enjoyed the way he tells a story and explains history at the same time. It moved right along and didn\’t get weighed down in elaborate descriptions that take forever to get through. Yet, he describes things well . . . I really had a good picture in my mind of the characters, scenes, etc. It is true that the main characters reconnect with one another throughout the book in ways that are somewhat unbelievable. I was forgiving of Follett for this because he is such a good storyteller. However, I do hope this feedback reaches the author so he can work on improving this one weak point. Despite this, I still give it five stars. In fact, I liked it so much that I read it twice before moving on to a new book!

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