• Fall of Giants

  • Book One of the Century Trilogy
  • By: Ken Follett
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (19,893 ratings)

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Fall of Giants  By  cover art

Fall of Giants

By: Ken Follett
Narrated by: John Lee
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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.

©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)

What listeners say about Fall of Giants

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wildly entertaining and educational too

I primarily listen to books on tape as I jog or take a long car trip. With a work like this, I am sorry when my exercise or trip is done. Mr. Follett is a master story teller, and if some complain about his politics, they are missing the point of this entertaining and gripping book. I can hardly wait to read the next in the trilogy. The reading by John Lee is a perfect complement to the book.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Pay off is at the satisfying end

I am not a huge Ken Follett fan, and tend to gravitate toward such authors as Russell Banks, Jonathan Safron Foer, Julia Glass, Nicole Krause, Geraldine Brooks, and Audrey Niffenegger. But I do like books in the "sweeping sage" genre, long books that give me a lot of character detail. For these reasons, I bought this book..

It started off verrrrry slow for me. I don't know why, because the narration was quite good and, on paper, the character should have been very compelling. I nearly ditched it (me, a lover of history, esp. WWI-era history!) when it bogged-down in the middle, during all the in-fighting among porminent Russian Revolutionaries.

But I am pleased that I stuck with it. For me, it came to a satisfying conclusion. And I am looking forward (not with jumping-out-of-my-shoes eagerness, but a pleasant, that-will-be-nice kind of looking forward) to the next installment, which will lead into WWII. It should bring up some very intriguing plot twists.

If you want a really great historical novel, filled with intrigue, fast-pacing, and terrific characters navigating real-life events, read Louis Bayard's "The Black Tower." I couldn't stop listening and I hated to see it end!

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30 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

I am now a fan of Ken Follet. Jon Lee makes the listen great. He is able to make the book come alive. Can not wait for the next book

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The Jury's Out, Part 1...

I'm writing this review after listening to part 1&2 (out of 4). I've listened or read every novel Mr. Follett has written over the years, as far back as Triple and Key to Rebecca and of course, POTE and WWE. I can't help finding this book, well, a bit boring. I will continue to listen because I still have high hopes that something will draw me into the story and knowing that 2 more sequels are to follow, I have to believe it will pick up. I will say, the book makes me want to polish up on my WW1 history and the events leading up to the war. I plan to post another review after finishing part 3&4.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great History Lesson, but...

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.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

ONE OF 2010's BEST!!!

I did not think that Ken Follett could keep me as interested as he did in The Pillars of the Earth or World Without End but he did it! Fall of Giants is one of his best! I am only sorry that it ended when it did and that was after almost 1000 pages and waiting until 2012 for the next book in the trilogy is going to be tough! You will fall in love with his characters, at least those of them that you don't want to kill. I can't wait for Part II...

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

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 -

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Groundwork for a Trilogy

I am amazed at the number of critics who gave this book a poor review and then COMPLETELY missed the boat as to WHY it might be labeled a poor effort!

Most of the critics I saw referenced poor character development, which by the way utter HOGWASH. The vast majority of the book is devoted to character development - and masterful character development at that.

While the book does plod along at times, I believe it was clearly Follett's intent to do so as he sets the stage for parts 2 and 3, with exhaustive character development in this initial offering.

Secondly, a good number of critics attack the fact there are no significant villains in this story. Again, the reviewers not only missed the boat, but they let the oars bounce off their collective noggins with those comments ;)

There are several MINOR characters who are evil and or malicious, and most of them due to their incompetence and/or inexperience as wartime officers. These characters, from an overall perspective, along with the WAR itself, are the evil antagonists of the book - and again, positioned and developed quite well by Follet.

Lastly, whomever would label Ken Follett's work in its entirety as anything other than fine literary work is simply opening mouth and inserting foot with a feeble attempt to boost their ego with braggadocio that simply proves they have no idea what they are saying.

In summary, it's a good start, but whether or not it develops into a good trilogy is yet to be seen. As a standalone product, it will rate poorly. Clearly we really have no idea if it will rival POE and WWE at this point. So far, I am guessing "probably not"; but if I had to guess, I'd say it's still probably going to be worth the time and money.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

easy listening

A good choice for menial household tasks and trips to the dog park--not too much thinking required. I'm not too disappointed, as that's what I was doing when I listened, but wouldn't have kept me going on a long road trip.
Predictable characters, each with predictable stories and dialogue--even a few lines I found myself saying out loud before the narrator read them. But an easy overview to some of the political and military decisions made during WWI, and a useful illustrator of some of the feelings that contributed to WWII. The gratuitous sex and its description was unnecessary.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Long on History and Short on Character Development

Ken Follet's Fall of Giants is long on history and short on character development. Unlike WWE & POTE, where the characters are central to the plot, Follett in Fall of Giants makes the characters secondary to the plot and fails totally in drawing the reader to the characters as the story of their lives unfold. The story may be interesting from a historical perspective about the changes in society during World War I in Europe and the US, but the characters are underdeveloped and stereotypical. There are so many characters in this book,their lives loosely intersecting in parallel stories across Europe and the United States that Follett fails to draw the reader to any one central heroic character or characters that the reader cares to continue reading on about. There are no heroines or heros in this book, except for perhaps Billy Williams, but since he is only one of a cast of dozen characters, his heroism is minimalized. The book is too long and too detailed in minutue, especially the battles scenes during WWI & the Russian Revolution. Very disappointing & predictable! After finishing this first of three books, the reader can predict exactly what is going to happen to the main characters in the next two books.

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19 people found this helpful