Book Review: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Goliath
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Publisher: Simon and Pulse
Genre: YA (steampunk)
Why I read it/how I found it: Third book in the Leviathan trilogy

Description:
Alek and Deryn are on the last leg of their round-the-world quest to end World War I, reclaim Alek’s throne as prince of Austria, and finally fall in love. The first two objectives are complicated by the fact that their ship, the Leviathan, continues to detour farther away from the heart of the war (and crown). And the love thing would be a lot easier if Alek knew Deryn was a girl. (She has to pose as a boy in order to serve in the British Air Service.) And if they weren’t technically enemies.


Review:
The first book, Leviathan, was a little harder for me to get into because a lot of it felt like introduction. But I'm really glad I stuck through with this series, because Goliath was amazing! There's a lot of angst and action, and I love Deryn's character. Even Alek grew on me, when I was apathetic toward him before. Seeing this alternate version of history wrap up was exciting and unpredictable. The illustrations are as brilliant as ever, and they make me wish every book had pictures with them.

Other information: This is the last book in the Leviathan series. Scott Westerfeld's website is here.

Book Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Title: Leviathan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Genre: YA (steampunk)
Why I read it/how I found it: I've been wanting to read a steampunk, and as Scott Westerfeld introduced me to dystopian, I thought having him introduce me to steampunk seemed like a good idea.

Description:
It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.

Review:

First: ILLUSTRATIONS! After this book, I am determined that more YA books should have illustrations. Especially for fantasy, sci-fi, and steampunk. I loved that they included illustrations in this book, as it helped me envision what they world looked like, since it was different from what I'm used to reading. I think that Westerfeld took an interesting turn with history for this, and the genetic engineering or the Darwinist English and the mechanics of the German Clankers made sense, and he built that up great.

The first half of the novel seemed to just be building up to the last half. Every two chapters or so, the POV of the third-person switched between Alek and Deryn. I kept waiting and waiting for them to finally meet. It took about half the book, and I feel that's when the story really started picking up, at least for Deryn. 
I have to say, the most entertaining part for me was Deryn hiding the fact she's a girl, and I have a feeling that in the sequels that will get more interesting with Alek.

Other information: This is the first in a trilogy. Scott Westerfeld's website is here and Keith Thompson's is here.