Book talk: It's the conclusion to the Leviathan Trilogy. The same whale airship and clanker devices you know and love but this time they visit Hearst Castle, drop in on Mexican revolutionaries, and save Tesla. And oh yeah, Alek finds out Deryn is a girl, finally! If you've read the other two books you'll need no incentive to read this one and if you haven't read the first two you should really start with them.
Rocks my socks: I read this book in one sitting when I probably should have been doing homework, but no regrets. I love the world, I love the characters, I love the narration style, and I love the pictures. And I've been waiting for Deryn's big reveal for far too long (although thankfully Westerfeld is no Coville when it comes to making you wait for sequels!) This conclusion was worth waiting for, though. It was very satisfying both on a gut level and a brain level, which can be hard to accomplish. "'We save each other,' Deryn whispered. 'That's how it works'" and that is precisely the way it should be. I also appreciate the fact that Westerfeld can laugh at himself. When Alek is introduced to the idea of a cliff-hanger he thinks it "an underhanded scheme" which I thought rich coming from Westerfeld at first, but then in the afterward he awknowledges that he owes a great debt to the man who invented cliff-hangers. It almost makes up for the end of book one...almost *shakes fist*
Rocks in my socks: I was super excited when I found out Tesla was in the novel because he is one of my favorites, but I was a bit disappointed with the portrayal of him. It was like how the portrayal of Victoria and Albert let me down in Prisoners in the Palace. It's probably more accurate than my romantic imaginings of history but still he was not the most sympathetic character and I wanted him to be. Also, it talks about him being a great showman and good at pulling people into his schemes for financial support and I do believe this goes against what I have heard. I was under the impression that it was Edison who was the great showman and that's why Tesla almost lost the ac/dc battle.
Every book its reader: It's really for those who have read the first two books already. For those who haven't, see my review of the first one.
For those who have already read it, check out the bonus chapter on Westerfeld's blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/1866897-bonus-goliath-chapter-and-art
Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
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