I am admittedly writing this review after having completed the travesty that was Winter of the World, and being 200 pages short of finishing the boring Edge of Eternity. I really loved Follett’s Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, so I had high hopes coming into the Century Trilogy. This novel did not meet those expectations. The characters in this book are not the problem: Ethel, Walter, Maud, and Fitz in particular are very memorable and interesting. The problem lies in elements of Follett’s writing that starts in this book and becomes a full blown parasite in the sequels. I think that Follett is lazy when it comes to getting his characters where they need to be and is willing to break the reader’s immersion and the believability of them inhabiting the real world: Fitz and Walter just happen to stumble into one another on the Western Front; two Russian characters with entirely different backgrounds and life experiences just happen to encounter each other in a rural Welsh village of all places; Walter travels all the way through 1917 Russia to deliver information to another one of our fictional characters who he has no previous ties to at all. For a book trying to convey the grandeur of history, the way characters from all over the world in the 1910s bump into each other more often than I randomly run into people I know in my city in 2022 is totally unrealistic.
Follett’s treatment of history in Fall of Giants is much better than in later entries. The characters aren’t quite yet seizing the reins of 20th century history in a way that raised my eyebrows. However, Follett’s success in conveying the different historical environments is very uneven. Unsurprisingly, he does a great job immersing the reader in his native Wales. The coal pit, the splendor of the Fitzherbert estate, and the soot-stained village itself are well-constructed. Follett also does a great job conveying the tragic human cost on the Western Front. Less successful, however, is Follett’s boring overview of the Russian Revolution and his description of American politics and society.
I’ve had people ask me if the Century Trilogy is worth reading. My answer is a resounding no. However, I would tentatively recommend Fall of Giants as a one-off read not to be taken too seriously.
The Once and Future Lit 