Fall of Giants

Book One of the Century Trilogy

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Fall of Giants is Ken Follett's magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.

Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits…. Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House…. Two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution…. Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London….

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.

In future volumes of The Century Trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will travel through the great events of the rest of the 20th century, changing themselves—and the century itself. With passion and the hand of a master, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

Exclusive interview: Ken Follett and John Lee Talk about Fall of Giants.©2010 Kevin Follett (P)2010 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A big Book, Follett''s hugely ambitious saga is a sweeping success. Ken Follett has hit another one out of the park with the initial installment of the hugely ambitious Century Trilogy. His fans will rejoice at the richness, complexity, historical sweep and simmering lust in a saga spanning the years 1911 to 1923." ( Newark Star Ledger)

"A dark novel, motivated by an unsparing view of human nature and a clear-eyed scrutiny of an ideal peace. It is not the least of Follett''s feats that the reader finishes this near 1000-page book intrigued and wanting more." ( Chicago Sun-Times)

"[Follett] meticulously reconstructs an era and leads us through the follies and occasional heroics of its protagonists real and imaginary. He is masterly in conveyers so much drama and historical information so vividly...Grippingly told, and readable to the end." ( New York Times Book Review)

magnificient!

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.

Memorably Epic

Would you listen to Fall of Giants again? Why?

Yes, I will listen again because the book is filled with engaging characters, sweeping history and seamless integration of different characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Billy Williams because he is such a good person.

What about John Lee???s performance did you like?

I liked John Lee's ability to give life to the characters in this story.

If you could rename Fall of Giants, what would you call it?

The Rise of the Poor.

page turner

I went through this in 5 days and night. It is an easy listen with soap opera like fictional plots against historical facts -

Mood counts

Perhaps it is only me, but reviews make me nervous. It isn't only that we are all individuals, it's that we have literary moods. Mine run from historical fiction through history on to brain candy horror. If I read a book I'm not in the mood to listen to I always hate it, until I turn back to it in the right mood, then I love it. So if your mood is for a long, well researched, rendition of how green was my valley, you'll love this. Add warm fire, and a comfy chair for added bliss.

Pillars of the Earth meets Winds of War

Another epic by Ken Follett along the lines of Pillars of the Earth. Follett does his best work when dealing with historical fiction. He does an excellent job developing believable characters that entice the reader to fall in love with them. He paints a vibrant, if somewhat simplistic, picture of Europe before the onset of WW1 through its conclusion. Unlike Pillars, in this novel, protagonists and villains are not so clearly delineated, and even the antagonistic characters are endearing. I look forward to the second in this planned trilogy.

Please vote yes on another great book by Follett

I was not deterred from Fall of Giants by the negative reviews, and I am comfortable to say this is as good as the other works of Ken Follett. He paves a perfect path with the events and characters he describes. It was easy to follow each character as the novel progressed. John Lee did an outstanding job with his narration. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did. Please look at my other comments on other books, let me know with a yes or no if they are helpful. Thanks.

Good story, well told

Much better than the two earlier novels, a bit more believable and quite well read.

Great way to learn history

Ken Follet is a master at weaving history into fiction! I feel like I have a better understanding of the World War I era after listening to this book. John Lee is my favorite audiobook narrator. He makes keeping track of all the different characters and their nationalities easy.
The reason for four stars instead of five is the obvious political slant throughout the book. The liberals in the book are brilliant leaders and the conservatives are dumb dummies. I still loved the 36+ hours of listening!

If you liked War and Peace....

I loved war and peace, read it several times. While this book could use little more depth to the character development to be with par of War and Peace, it is a great deal more entertaining and faster moving. If one only remembers WW I and WWII history from elementary school and high school and perhaps some College, this book will certainly shed a lot of light one the events and politics in the turn of the century and early 20th century Europe that lead to the modern western world. I expected a slower 'listen' perhaps on par with Pillars of the Earth or World Without end, which I loved, but this book has so much happening, I couldn't put it down. I absolutely can't wait for the next installment.

Perhaps more character depth would have made it even more interesting, and would have given the reader a chance to fall in live with specific characters, like readers or War and Peace get a chance to fall in love with it's characters, however, overall I don't think this takes away from the book itself.

Accurate View of a Difficult Time

Follett has taken on a period so near to our own, but so foreign to our 21st century life. We typically misunderstand how different the world was to our own prior to 1914. Follett nails the tone in all of the broad scope he captures. England, America and Germany are culturally captured through some thin composites of characters. I have to be disappointed that there is little about France. But it's thin enough without further dilution. This is a monumental page turner novel with enough story and mind candy to be engaging. But Follett has taken it deeper to explore the real issues and give a fascinating sense of real time in the long unfolding of the war and it's horrors. He un-apologetically captures the arrogance of nations prior to the war, the carnage, the role of America and the prelude to an even greater tragedy to follow. Brilliantly deep and built for the masses.