Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Penguin Books sent me a copy of Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants back in the summer. It’s taken this long to finally get it read. But you shouldn’t let that scare you. I’m not really a fan of historical fiction so it sat for a while before I picked it up. What might scare you is the size of the book. At 985 pages it’s a big book. I think that might end up being a detriment to some people as you literally have to sit with the book in your lap as it’s too heavy to hold up.

But he does need that many pages and more to tell the story. This is book one of the Century Trilogy so there is a hundred years of storytelling to be done between this and the next two books. This book covers 1911-1924. The story spans 2 continents, a world war, 5 families and politics at every level. He follows the families as they are impacted by the war and the politicking that accompanies the war. The families represent both the poor and the aristocracy. Several real historical characters are featured such as Lenin and Woodrow Wilson but these aren’t the main characters.

I enjoyed this book even though it took me awhile to get into it. If you like historical fiction and aren’t intimidated by the size of the book I think you will really like this book. His characters are engaging and even though it’s fiction it reads like these events could have happened. He stays true to the feel of the time and place.

When I started the book I wasn’t that interested in finishing it. However, now that I’m done I am interested enough to want to read the sequel, on my kindle. And that I think is the true test of a good novel, it leaves you wanting more.