Author: Ken Follett

Title: Fall of Giants

Publisher: Dutton

Ken Follet is best known for his blockbuster novel, The Pillars of the Earth, an epic tale set in the Medieval Age about the building of a grand cathedral in England. After following up with its sequel, World Without End, Follet jumped forward eight centuries to write a historical fiction series on the lives of five interconnected families and their descendants through the 20^th century. The Century Trilogy begins with Fall of Giants, covering World War I, book two (due in 2012) will cover World War II, and the final installment (planned for 2014) will describe the families' involvement through the Cold War.

Fall of Giants opens with the 13^th birthday of Billy Williams, a bright lad from a lower class Welsh family who celebrates by following his father to work into the coal mines for his first time. The elder Williams is the union spokesman, a conservative man religiously, but socially progressive in fighting for the rights and safety of his fellow coal workers. Billy's observations at home, church, and at work prepare him for a leadership role in the military once the war breaks out.

The coal mine is located on land that belongs to the Fitzherbert family, the ninth richest family in all of Britain. The Earl, known as Fitz, has a seat in the House of Lords in the British Parliament and is attempting to have an heir with his bride, Bea, a Russian Princess. Fitz values tradition and the British way of life and is more concerned about persevering aristocracy than he is about the lives of those who provide for his opulent lifestyle. Unfortunately he takes this same view when it comes to leading men in battle.

Fitz's sister, Maud, along with Billy's sister, Ethel, resolve their socio-economic differences on the common political battlefield of women's rights, one of the main themes of the book.  Maud, madly in love with a young German ambassador, Walter von Ulrich, is devastated when the Great War positions the lover's two countries and their respective families on opposite sides of the battle field.

Both Walter and Fitz are friends with American Gus Dewar, the son of a senator and an up-and-coming aide to President Woodrow Wilson. Gus is engaged to the daughter of a rich Russian immigrant in New York City, but she leaves him for another Russian, Lev Peshkov, who recently arrived from Russia himself. Lev is responsible for earning enough money to send back to his homeland so that his brother Grigori can follow him to America as well. The two have history with Fitz's wife Bea, her family being responsible for the death of the brothers' parents.

Follet's book unrealistically weaves the interactions of these five Welsh, British, German, American, and Russian families together through the buildup to, conflict during, and the repercussions after the war. Though the events are historically accurate, having these characters continually show up and run into each other at the war's defining moments feels a bit Forest Gumpish. It's entertaining, but hardly believable.

The history lesson itself is valuable. Follet does a good job of presenting the war and the surrounding issues with a more rounded understanding than a simple battle of good vs. evil. There are causes and casualties that readers will resonate with on both fronts. Unfortunately the characters are not that complex. Most of them feel contrived to fit the story and come across as mere shadows. The only two characters that resonate with very much authenticity are the Williams siblings. Giants could have been a richer book with less breadth and more depth. Readers should also be aware that there are many gratuitous descriptions of sexual conquests between the young couples that add nothing to the story.

At 1000 pages Fall of Giants makes for a long reading battle, but as with World War I there is very little settled at the end of the fighting. The family's lives, along with their countries, are left in tension. The next section of history is waiting ominously for them, and readers will wait with expectation to see what Follet will do with the drama of World War II.