Fall of Giants

Book One of the Century Trilogy

By: Ken Follett

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Loved it and learned alot.

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 Follett and John Lee / Audible's Dream Team

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, Lee’s consistency and character distinction are impressive indeed. Where this complex and intertwined story line with numerous characters would have been a disaster in another’s hands in Lee’s capable grasp the story unfolds clearly and beautifully. A book to savor.

As Good As POTE and WWE

Pillars of the Earth was the first novel I downloaded from Audible. I have re-listened to it and World Without End dozens of times and never seem to tire of them. I can see myself doing the same with Fall of Giants. There are many characters in this book because they are necessary in order to give the perspective of all the countries involved in the First World War. I feel the characters are given plenty of depth and like the other two massive tomes, this is certainly another page turner.

I imagines it would take me at least a week to listen to this book, yet I find I'm halfway through the third part after only two days. The purpose of this book is to tell a very complicated story, well enough to keep the reader wanting more. It would be so easy to get bogged down in rhetoric or politics when writing a book like this, yet Follett's writing is clear and concise, without unnecessary embellishments, descriptive enough to captivate readers with its plot and characters. Certainly worth every minute!

Very Disappointed

I enjoyed Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and thought John Lee did a great job narrating them. I looked forward to walking my dog every afternoon because that's when I had the time to listen to these wonderful books. I'm a huge fan of Ken Follett so it was with eager anticipation that I endured the plodding speed of my internet connection here in Panama, and plodding is exactly the word to describe Fall of Giants. No one will ever accuse Follett of writing literature but he's generally a consummate story teller. Not this time. It's as if he were writing so that third graders wouldn't have a problem reading this. His characters have all the depth and vibrancy of coloring book characters before children have had a go at them with crayons. I had to go back and listen to parts of POE and WWE to hear John Lee's narration again. All I can attribute his dull rendition of this book to is that Follett didn't give him much to work with. It's a shame, and to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.

Great story about World War I

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!

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.

some good social history , but...

I respect that Follet is a great storyteller although I don't like the subjects of his blockbusters and don't enjoy his prose. Because I love the social history of the period of "Fall of Giants," I really wanted to love the novel . My Irish-Canadian "grampa" went down into the mine at the same age and year as Billy - so I was primed to be engaged by the story even if it wasn't great literaure. But this very pedestrian novel is not even as well narrated as I'd expected by John Lee to make up for the writing. I will probably plod on through the others in the series when they appear - but like the present installment, I will save the novels for background to housework, etc., not prime time listening. It's a two star novel with an extra star for good intentions.

Perhaps if I had not just finsihed Anthony Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time" I could better tolerate Follett's stuff - Powell was prime time listening about the 20th century.

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.

Its Worth The Credit

I believe I have read or listened to each one of Follet's many novels. In my opinion, he is one of the best storytellers of the 20th century. This novel is no exception. Well researched and rich in the history of WWI, The Fall of Giants exposed my woeful lack of knowledge of that time period and, in particular, the events leading up to as well the the aftermath of the great conflict which ultimately led to WWII. I loved every minute of this book.

The characters are well developed and engrossing. However, there are always common and extremely shallow themes one finds in virtually all of Follet's fictional works. He is obsessed with sex and always, without exception, reveals his heroes' sex lives as virile and unabashed, while giving his villains deviant and sadistic sexual drives. Also without exception, he presents religious figures, priests in particular, as either gay or pedophiles. In reality, even at the height of the sex scandals involving priests, the guilty ones made up less than 2% of the priestly population. But Follet insists on vilifying anyone and any institution that promotes righteousness.

His extremely liberal political views have yet to taint his novels, but I fear his disdain for more recent prominent conservative figures, (he called Margaret Thatcher one of the world's truly evil leaders on NPR in 1994), will make me uneasy in the final novel of this trilogy.

Really enjoyed this book

This was a good listen. I got very involved with the characters and look forward to the next book. Yes sometimes it was predictable and trite but for someone who really loves historical fiction, this was a treat.