Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Were I a well-known pithy book reviewer I might have titled this review "Fall of Giant".  But I'm not, so suffice it to say this was not one of my favorite books this year. 

The premise is appealing:  Follett sets out to write a trilogy of books about a large set of characters (five families' worth although I lost count) spanning the 1900s and multiple continents.  This first book in the trilogy follows several characters during the outbreak and length of WWI. 

Except Follett's skill as an epic storyteller, so perfectly executed in The Pillars of the Earth, was missing.  The characters were thinly developed, and every third page had someone conducting an illicit affair.  The descriptions of battle were incredibly boring while those of diplomacy were tedious.  And there was no flow to the book as a whole - perhaps that is what happens when you know you are writing a trilogy at the beginning of Book One.

As a Follett fan, I am bummed.  I wanted to like this book but it missed the mark entirely for me.  Too bad, too, that I have to sit out his next two before I can read something new of his again.  Good thing I still have World Without End sitting unread in my bookcase to tide me over.