Review: Goliath - Scott Westerfeld

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
Series: Leviathan #3
Genre: YA, alternate history, steampunk
Published on September 20, 2011
Published by Simon Pulse
Pages: 545
Read From: 3.4.12 - 3.8.12










SYNOPSIS

Alek and Deryn are aboard the Leviathan when the ship is ordered to pick up an unusual passenger. This brilliant/maniacal inventor claims to have a weapon called Goliath that can end the war. But whose side is he really on? 

While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn's deeply kept secret. Two, actually. Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a boy. . . .she has feelings for Alek. 

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek's next - and final - move.

Review

This third, and final, installment is every bit as thrilling as the first two, and the beasties just as disturbing - especially the beastie that acts as a living bandage; no joke. Somehow, though, I was actually able to ignore the beasties pretty effectively in this one. Maybe it's because the Author doesn't go into detail about their looks, having covered all of that in Leviathan. I will give the Author this: he doesn't find it necessary to reiterate things that have already been explained or described. So did I get used to the beasties by the third book? No, but the Authors doesn't spend as much time describing them in Goliath like he does in Leviathan because it's not necessary, so they somehow don't seem as prominent.

As a whole, I liked Goliath. It was an excellent end to the trilogy, there was an abundance of new - and old - characters, and the Author made Alek's discovery of Deryn's true gender happen at the exact moment it needed to happen. It gave Alek enough time to adjust to the reality of her being a girl, and therefore time for a "new" relationship to develop between them. And I am happy to say that even with Alek knowing that she's a girl, Deryn doesn't turn into a sappy female with her head in the clouds and her emotions in a tangle. She still performs her midshipman duties and behaves like a true friend around Alek.

The ending itself is exciting and well-paced. Readers won't be disappointed with the final battle, and Alek's fate will come as both a surprise and a predictable resolution (no, he doesn't die; that would have been surprising). My biggest complaint with Goliath is the Author's villainization of Tesla. I felt that his portrayal of Mr. Tesla was biased; that maybe the Author's personal opinions of Tesla were more than just leaking into the image he presented of the inventor. I do not know this for fact, of course; that is just the impression I got, and such impressions affect how one views a story.

Nevertheless, I was not disappointed with the ending, and I can safely say that this is a trilogy worth finishing, if you are reading it.

Others in This Trilogy:

1)Leviathan

2)Behemoth

3)Goliath