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Friday, October 21, 2011

Follow Friday - Ken Follett's Fall of Giants

Last month I was traveling and finished reading the book I had brought along much faster than I anticipated. I must mention that books are imperative items for my travels as I use them to ward off unwanted airplane conversations...plus I love to read. But I digress. Without a book on a plane I am lost, so I decided to check out the selection at the airport book store. I quickly stumbled across Ken Follet's latest tome, Fall of Giants. It is most certainly a tome as it is nearly 1,000 pages long. But being an ardent fan of historical fiction novels I ignored the insanely expensive price and bought the book. I'm very glad I did.

Fall of Giants is a historical-fiction novel that follows the lives of five families as they traverse through the turbulent times prior to and during World War I. The families are from Britain, Germany, Russia and America and find themselves intertwined. Ken Follett is a master of making even the most complicated historical facts understandable through the eyes of his characters and he does so well throughout the novel. From the carefree times of the elite and the hard times of the downtrodden, Follett follows the characters as tables begin to turn and giants begin to fall. The book is billed as the first in the series, with the second book slated for a fall 2012 release. The book includes many, many characters, but I did not find it hard to follow. Although I would personally have preferred a little more focus on the war itself, I would still recommend the book. It is a definite must-read for anyone interested in historical fiction, particularly the history of the 20th century.

1 comment:

Gini said...

Sounds like a great read . . . may have to pick that one up. I did just finish, Annie's Ghosts and it was wonderful! I didn't want it to end and now, I am hoping to find a book that is similar and just as good. I too love to read and mostly, I love books like Annie's Ghosts, that is about family history. Thank you for the recommendation, Heather.