Many of us have been let down after long waits for the next installment of some amazing volume. Long Review: The fear of the sequel is quite reasonable. In this rollicking adventure we weave through the back streets of Istanbul, eggs are hatched, some secrets are revealed while others stay safely hidden. Short Review: In this stunning follow up to Leviathan, Alek and Deryn continue on their intricate path through the steampunk inspired alternate World War I created by Westerfeld.

This has become one of my favorite series, starting with Leviathan in January and with Goliath (the last installment of the series) coming out on September 20th.Bonus: Endnote read by the author detailing what is fact and what is fiction I’ve had a few favorites so far, with “I Don’t Want to Kill You” being my favorite read of the year, and “The Graveyard Book” becoming one of my favorite reads of all-time. However, the Leviathan series reads a little more innocently, like a higher-aged middle-grade book. If you’ve read any of Westerfeld’s other books (I read Peeps after this one, and am getting ready to start on the Pretties), you might come to expect a certain sexual tension from his them. I love how Westerfeld conveys a complex mixture of thoughts and beliefs by Europeans at that time, giving readers the beginnings of a broad outlook which we can apply to our study, if we so desire to learn more about the war. It seems like history class, the discovery channel, and the book shelves are all preoccupied with World War II, and the two are very different.

This has been fascinating to me, since honestly I don’t know much about World War I. I really appreciate that he clarifies the changes he made for the purpose of fiction. Westerfeld ends each installment with an afterword that explains the differences between what happened in World War I and his alternate-history take. One of the things I love about this series is the real history we are getting, attached to a fantastical world of flying whale-ships and steam-punk mechas. It’s a feeling that I hadn’t realized I’d missed, and one only a fantastic series can provide. The fabricated beasts and large, clunky diesel engines give the world a distinct flavor that I love returning to. I liked that the book had me laughing from page 1, and looking forward to the kind of high-adventure I’ve come to expect from the series. Behemoth is Book 2 of the Leviathan Trilogy.īehemoth picks up on a cheerful front with Aleksandyr giving Daryn his (her) first fencing lesson.

Behemoth scott westerfeld