Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Every once in awhile, I enjoy a nice long saga. Double points if it's historical fiction. In the past, I've enjoyed Ken Follett's historical works Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, so I figured I'd check out his latest book Fall of Giants, which is the 1st book in his new Century Trilogy. Fall of Giants details the events leading up to and including World War I through the eyes of several different characters. What's interesting about FoG is that these characters are all not only from different socioeconomic situations (e.g. an Earl, a suffragette, a poor mining community), but also from different countries as well (Allies as well as German), so it was definitely enlightening to view the war through various lenses. The bulk of the novel deals with a lot of military talk, so if that's your thing, great. For me, at times, it seemed a little tedious. Despite that, Follett is a decent storyteller and his depictions of battle were very cinematic. As par for the course, Follett throws in a lot of unneccessary sex scenes into the mix as well.

It's probably safe to say that the other books in the trilogy will be about World War II and Vietnam, but who knows? At the rate, I'll definitely check them out.

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