In a previous article, we listed five books on The Motley Experience’s “wish list”. One of these books was the highly acclaimed novel by Max Barry, Lexicon.
This is a science fiction novel that reads as a thriller. The premise of the story is based on an organization of people that are talented in the art of persuasion and linguistics, called “poets”, and what happens when they attempt to teach an undisciplined girl from the streets, Emily Ruff, their methods.
It is 1944 and the Allies are preparing for the invasion of Europe. In the occupied town of Sainte-Cecile, the French Resistance is preparing to blow up the chateau that now houses the crucial telephone exchange connecting the French telephone system to that of Germany. Bombers have been unable to inflict enough damage on the chateau to disrupt communications for more than a few hours at a time, but the Allies need to make sure that communications is down for longer so that there will be as little warning of the invasion as possible.
A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to come across The Century Trilogy while perusing the Barnes & Noble website.
The trilogy is written by Ken Follett and currently has 2 of the 3 books published. The second book, “Winter of the World” was released just last year and is available in hardcover.
The first book of the trilogy, “Fall of Giants” is a #1 New York Times Bestseller and revolves around the happenings of five families in the early twentieth century. The families represent different countries and socio-economic backgrounds; a Welsh mining family, Russian factory workers, upper class American family, and aristocratic English and German families. As the book progresses, you discover that all of these families become interrelated through the politics and events of the Great War.
