Fall of Giants (Ken Follett)

After penning many successful thrillers, in 1989 author Ken Follett turned to historical novels and published Pillars of the Earth- a tale about a village building a cathedral in Medieval England.  It was extremely successful; he returned to thrillers, but in 2008, Follett wrote a sequel of sorts (set 100 years later) called World Without End, also well-received.  Perhaps encouraged by these successes, he decided to produce a "century trilogy"- three historical novels that follow generations of five families (Welsh, American, English, German, and Russian) throughout the course of the 20th century.  The first, Fall of Giants, is the subject of today's review.

Not surprisingly, Fall of Giants focuses on World War I.  It also, however, gives considerable time to women and workman in England fighting for rights in a society dominated by aristocracy, the revolution in Russia which overthrew the Czar and installed the Bolsheviks as the ruling elite, and touches on American society, prohibition, and President Woodrow Wilson.  We learn about these situations and issues primarily through the eyes of the following characters, whose stories are intertwined throughout the book:
- Ethel Williams, Welsh house-servant to the Fitzherbert family
- Billy Williams, brother to Ethel, Welsh miner and sergeant in WWI
- Earl Fitzherbert, English aristocrat, member of the House of Lords and officer in WWI
- Maud Fitzherbert, sister to the Earl and ardent supporter of women's rights
- Walter von Ulrich, friend of the Fitzherberts, German aristocrat and spy/officer in WWI
- Gus Dewar, American White House worker, originally from Buffalo
- Lev Peshkov, Russian immigrant who settles in Buffalo
- Grigori Peshkov, brother of Lev, who remains behind in Russia and gets plays a prominent part in the Revolution after fighting in WWI

I loved both Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, so I was quite excited to experience Fall of Giants.  I was mildly disappointed.  Fall of Giants suffers in part from trying to tackle a lot of history and interleave a thriller element into the narrative at the same time.  As a result, some situations seemed implausible/unrealistic (like friends on opposite sides meeting on the western front), and some dialogue felt forced/contrived (some characters seemed to be impossibly well-informed about world events, probably for the reader's sake).  Characters were largely stereotypical, and history was simplified (WWI is extremely complex, to be fair).  Follett did his homework, and he's a good writer; I don't want to take that away from him.  This book was pretty good- it just wasn't great, and that's what I was expecting.  Perhaps it was just too much material for one volume.

Rating: A-