Rated of 5
by MaribethK Fall of Giants
Ken Follet is one of my favorite authors - unfortunately I do not think this is one of his best books. I truly enjoy historical novels but I got a bit bogged down with the sometimes tedious sidebars on World War II. The Russian history part was much more interesting and I am not sure why. I know quite a bit about both but I just felt the World War II dragged on and on and sometimes i found myself skipping pages. Since my husband's family is from Buffalo I loved all of those descriptions of many familiar and well loved places and streets.
Rated of 5
by Gail L. Follett Never Disappoints
Ken Follett is my all-time favorite author because of the detailed research and style in which he writes. Fall of Giants was a great book, although not one of my favorites. The characters were interesting and I will definitely be waiting to see how their life experiences unfold in the next novel. However, I got bogged down in the details of World War I and it may be that I'm just not interested in the historical portion concerning the war. The fact that there are 5 families from 5 different countries and backgrounds brings a special flavor and adds dimension to the novel. The way the author compares and contrasts brothers, employer and employee, and diplomats from different countries was most enjoyable. I usually cannot put Follet's books down, but this one was harder for me to get through than others, such as The Pillars of the Earth and Jackdaws (2 of my favorites). He has never written a book that I haven't enjoyed though and I'm looking forward to the next novel in the trilogy.
Rated of 5
by Vivian H. Not Follett's Best, But Still An Engrossing Tale
"Pillars of the Earth" and "World Without End" are among my favorite books of all time. I love Follett's style of writing and his in depth research. While I enjoyed the story told by "Fall of Giants", I did not love any of the characters in the book. For the most part they were too thinly drawn or just plain unlikeable. This is why, to me, the book falls short of Follett's best work. The sweep of the narrative is extremely ambitious as Follett interweaves characters and the political machinations of the world powers prior to and through World War I from Wales, and London, to Berlin, Petrograd and Moscow, to Washington, DC and Buffalo, New York. From a historical perspective, Follett provides an excellent insight into the motivations of the parties that launched and subsequently entered into WWI. Although I didn't love it, I liked the book and will read the next two books in the trilogy.
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of 5
by MaribethK 
