"Fall of Giants" by Ken Follett

[Nella]

So I wasn't very frugal when I bought this book new, but then again I've had hours and hours of enjoyment while reading it. Actually, pretty inexpensive entertainment per hour when I break it down. It's the first of the "Century Trilogy." I love historical fiction and as I've enjoyed Follett's other books, I figured I'd like this one, and I have. Opinions from other's who have read "Fall of Giants" that you'd like to post?

[Rogar]

I actually just finished it last night. I bought mine new as well, but cost per page for Follet books seems pretty low:) I was pleasantly surprized at how much I liked it. The non-fiction accounts of how WWI started were fascinating. It seemed like trivial issues in the beginning that then escalated into millions of lives. And the distinctions between the good guys and bad guys were not as clear as history portrays. Maybe in retrospect that's how a lot of wars go. I found myself looking up certain things on wiki during the read just to find out more. I thought Woodrow Wilson was especially interesting.

The ficticious characters were slightly thin. Follet made some good points about the morals of the day with the sexual encounters of the main characters but I thought he over did the sex a bit. But he did a good job showing the great divisions between the aristocracy and the common folks of the various countries. There was just enough decent fiction to keep the history from becoming boring.

[Acorn]

I enjoyed it, thought it was an easy way to learn some lite history. Agree with Rogar the characters were rather thin, but nevertheless found the story engaging.