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Sunday, October 16, 2011

Goliath

Late last night, I finished reading Scott Westerfield's Goliath, the conclusion of his Leviathan series.

The valiant crew of the British airship Leviathan is back and this time, they're on a mission that could bring the war gripping the world to a sudden stop. A scientist from America claims that a weapon he's invented can easily bring every major world power to its knees. The British Admiralty believes the threat is real. So does Prince Alek, who continues to travel with the Darwinist forces. He feels responsible for the war in the first place, and he'll take any chance he can to end the destructive conflict. But Deryn Sharp, still masquerading as a boy, isn't so sure. But then, she's got a lot on her mind: her secret could unravel at any moment and worse, she's beginning to realize that she doesn't just see Alek as a colleague but as something more.

Can Alek and Deryn work together one last time to end the war? Or will the Clanker and Darwinist forces tear each other apart and take the world with them?

This was a fun read. The story was fast-paced and the action great. Once again, I loved Westerfield's imaginative recreation of a steampunk alternate history. His Darwinist creations, basically living vehicles, were fun to see in action, overshadowing the steam-driven war machines they faced. And the plot was superb as well, what with a certain famous American inventor claiming that he could end the war early.

But there lay the one flaw with this book: if you know your history, especially when it comes to unusual events in the early twentieth century, the book's biggest secret becomes glaringly obvious. Now perhaps I noticed this because I do know a little about unusual events that occurred in Europe in the early twentieth and the typical reader of this book won't.

How's that for trying to avoid spoilers?

It's not a major flaw. Even knowing what I know, I still was sucked in to the story, which came to a pretty satisfying conclusion. So if you haven't checked out this series, do so. You'll be entertained, that's for sure.

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