Review : Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Title : Goliath Author : Scott Westerfeld Reading Dates : 22 Sep - 24 Sep 2012 Total Pages : 543
Leviathan Leviathan Behemoth Goliath
From Amazon : The riveting conclusion to Scott Westerfeld’s New York Times bestselling trilogy that’s “sure to become a classic” (School Library Journal). 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. The tension thickens as the Leviathan steams toward New York City with a homicidal lunatic on board: Secrets suddenly unravel, characters reappear, and nothing is as it seems in this thunderous conclusion to Scott Westerfeld’s brilliant trilogy.

Book Review of Goliath.

I’ll admit to being more than a bit disappointed with Goliath. Not that the story was bad, just that I didn’t feel that Alek and Deryn’s tale was over yet.

Goliath has all the elements that I should love but I just couldn’t love it. The world that Alek and Deryn inhabits is the same one I loved in Leviathan but the focus has shifted from the Darwinists to the Clankers. Still, no matter how powerful Nikolas Tesla’s inventions were, I’d have love to learn more about the developments in Darwinist technology.

The other part that had me disappointed was the ending to Alek and Deryn’s tale. I love that their relationship doesn’t change much even after Alek finds out about Deryn’s true identity, that they were already best friends before they realized they were in love. But it felt as there was so much more to their story at the end of Goliath. Goliath ends the Leviathan series but I felt as if it was only the beginning of Alek and Deryn’s adventures together as they both make life-altering decisions at the end. Ones which signify great changes in the futures they had envisioned for themselves. To have the story end there was simply frustrating.

At the end of the tale, I felt that I’d been left hanging. There were so many loose ends to which I still wanted answers to.

My conclusions :

• Would I re-read the book ? Yes, but only because it's part of a trilogy.
• Would I want to read the next book in the series if there were one ? Definitely. I don't feel as if the story's ended yet.
• Would I want to own my personal copy if I didn’t already own it ? Yes.
• Who would I recommend this too? Steampunk and fantasy readers.
• For those looking to read the book, would I recommend buying or borrowing the book? Buy it. The series is a keeper.

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Challenges : 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge