Goliath

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
2011
543 pages
YA; Historical; Steampunk
3.5/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC courtesy of Simon & Schuster's GalleyGrab program.

Although I loved the previous books Leviathan and Behemoth, I was disappointed in this book as will be discussed later in the spoiler section because it's potentially a big spoiler. The things I did like were continued incorporation of real-life events but with a twist. The inventor Nikolai Tesla plays a big role in this book as do movie pictures, the Mexican Revolution, and American neutrality during this alternate history steampunk version of WWI. The stakes are getting higher for our intrepid heroes Alek and Dylan (really Deryn) Sharp.

They are still on the Leviathan but are attempting to prepare for their imminent farewells as Deryn continues in service to the British Army while Alek pursues the Austrian-Hungary throne and attempts to end the war.  There are many exciting adventures in and around the Leviathan as they travel from Istanbul to New York City with stops in Russia, Japan, California, and Mexico.  There are only a few new characters but some of those introduced in Behemoth resurface. Additionally many secrets are uncovered and Alek and Deryn's friendship is strained by some of those secrets.

Again for me the lovely illustrations were a highlight, helping me visualize the distinctive world created by Westerfeld.  As someone not interested in the action scenes, I did feel like there were a few too many featuring Deryn doing something daring aboard the Leviathan. But I just skimmed those and got on with the story. Unfortunately it was harder to skip the part I didn't like as it increasingly took up page space-see the spoiler below.

SPOILER:
I was so sad that Alek and Deryn fell for each other! I was really excited about a book where a guy and a girl were just really good friends without the romantic interest.  Additionally I guess I'm kind of a snob because I wanted Alek to marry a princess. Not that she'd necessarily understand him like Deryn does but I was so happy about a YA novel with opposite-sex best friends who weren't romantically involved that it crushed my spirits a bit to see that not-at-all-desired ending occur.
END SPOILER

Overall: Although I was not very pleased with the ending, I mostly enjoyed the ride and heartily recommend at least the first book to readers of YA, even if they don't read much historical.

Behemoth

Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2010
485 pages
YA; Steampunk
4/5 stars
Sequel to Leviathan

Source: Library

After enjoying Leviathan, of course I wanted to read the sequel to follow the further adventures of Alek and Dylan (Deryn).

To my disappointment, much of the book is not set on board the Leviathan as they reach their destination of Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and become involved in thwarting German influence in the city.  However they end up back on the ship to start off the third book.  Despite my worries, the time spent in Istanbul does have a lot of interesting tidbits, including Westerfeld's alternative history and the unique combination of beasties and machines constructed by the Ottomans.

The blending of real-life with fiction was less familiar to me as I know little about the Ottoman Empire.  In this story, the arrival of German and British factions ends up coinciding with an uprising against the sultan, just as there had been earlier.  I knew the Ottoman Empire was faltering and that WWI strikes its death blow but I didn't know much beyond that.  I hope the next book discusses Russia some more as we've only had snippets and I am wondering about France, which has not been mentioned at all.  However the US is briefly mentioned as Eddie Malone, a very sharp newspaperman, plays some important roles; the US is of course neutral at the moment.

Something else I didn't like was Deryn's blossoming feelings for Alek as he remains unaware that she is female and the complication of Lillit, distinctly female but impressing herself onto a man's world, into their pairing.   Additionally more and more people figure out Deryn's secret although Alek remains adorably obtuse despite the hints thrown around.

Like the first book, there were some parts where I just wasn't as engaged but I kept pushing through, looking for more pictures and to get back into the story.  I'm not sure why those parts were less interesting to me but overall I retain a positive impression.

I already have Goliath queued on Galley-Grab so that will be an upcoming review to complete the trilogy.

Leviathan

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2009
434 pages
4/5 stars
First in series

Source: Library

Summary: Steampunk alternative history of WWI

Thoughts: I've read a lot of good things about this book so I was super excited to get started.  It's told from the view points of two characters: British girl Deryn Sharp who is pretending to be Dylan in order to enlist in the army and Alek, (fictional) son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand who is assassinated almost at the beginning thus sparking WWI.  Alek is fleeing Austria-Hungary to neutral Switzerland to avoid enemies who want him dead.  The story is told so that every two chapters it alternates points of view between the two.  Additionally there are incredibly beautiful pictures, in black and white, that illustrate selected scenes.

There are two twists on the book.  One is a delight for nerdy history majors (ahem-me); Franz Ferdinand's marriage to Sophie was morganatic meaning that although it produced a daughter and two sons, neither named Alek as he is an entirely fictional creation, none of them could inherit creating a succession crisis in Austria-Hungary.  In the book, the pope issues a special decree that would allow Alek to inherit making him very dangerous to those who wanted war.

The other twist is the steampunk aspect.  I have never read a steampunk novel although I have some others on my list so I cannot compare.  In this case Charles Darwin discovered DNA and has used that knowledge to create enormous creations manipulating the biology of animals including the creation of the titular ship Leviathan which is heading toward the Ottoman Empire with a secret from the British Empire.  The Germans and Austrians pushed forward the bounds of technology creating giant machines.  I liked this because it reminded me of Modris Ekstein's Rites of Spring that I read earlier which argued for WWI as a clash between German Kultur and British and French civilization.  Interestingly there really aren't any mentions of the French in this book.

Now to the characters; Deryn and Alek are both about 15 but they seemed younger to me. I much preferred Alek's sections to Deryn's although most of the reviews I've seen disagreed.  Their stories intersect when the Leviathan crashes down near Alek's hideout in Switzerland.  They assist and help get the Leviathan back on track.  My least favorite section occurs shortly after the crash of the ship where I thought Deryn acted out of character and out of step morally-if you've read it, let me know if you agree!

Overall: Enchanting world that made me want more; I will definitely be reading Behemoth at some point.

Cover: I preferred the map inside the front cover of Europe as well as the illustrations inside to this cover but I really don't like the new cover with the face on front.