Following the adventures recorded in Leviathan and Behemoth, Goliath takes readers on a round-the-world adventure heavy with giant bears, dangerous inventors, and romantic tension. For fans of the first two books, Goliath is a satisfying conclusion to a unique steam-punk trilogy.
Westerfeld takes loose ends and ties them up nicely in this 500+ page book. Although I'll attempt to not give too much away, Goliath is heavy on the romance and relationships. (When one of the love interests has been dressed as a boy for the last two books, there's a bit of catching up to do.) Westerfeld mixes sweet moments in with plenty of political intrigue. Fictional characters are mixed with alternate interpretations of historical facts; through these pages we meet William Randolph Hearst and watch The Perils of Pauline. Keith Thompson's drawings add to the mood of the book and catch the characters perfectly.
Neither I nor Westerfeld have to convince past fans to read Goliath, but I would recommend that new persons interested in the series start with Leviathan, as most of Goliath's power comes from relational and political tension built up in the first two books. The ending is bitter-sweet and satisfying, gently closing the door on the series. Fans with withdraws can look forward to an upcoming guide to the universe, set to be published in August 2012.
Pros:
All the pros from the earlier books, plus...
*More historical characters/happenings! Yay!
*A trip to America
*Incredibly sweet scenes
*Clean prose
*All the back knowledge you need without copious info-dumps
*Heroics
*Very perspicacious lorises
Cons:
*A little mild swearing
*Some violence
*Some creepy pictures (although if you're young enough to be scared of the pictures, you probably shouldn't be reading this book anyway)
*Dialogue occasionally sounds stilted/unrealistic
Westerfeld takes loose ends and ties them up nicely in this 500+ page book. Although I'll attempt to not give too much away, Goliath is heavy on the romance and relationships. (When one of the love interests has been dressed as a boy for the last two books, there's a bit of catching up to do.) Westerfeld mixes sweet moments in with plenty of political intrigue. Fictional characters are mixed with alternate interpretations of historical facts; through these pages we meet William Randolph Hearst and watch The Perils of Pauline. Keith Thompson's drawings add to the mood of the book and catch the characters perfectly.
Neither I nor Westerfeld have to convince past fans to read Goliath, but I would recommend that new persons interested in the series start with Leviathan, as most of Goliath's power comes from relational and political tension built up in the first two books. The ending is bitter-sweet and satisfying, gently closing the door on the series. Fans with withdraws can look forward to an upcoming guide to the universe, set to be published in August 2012.
Pros:
All the pros from the earlier books, plus...
*More historical characters/happenings! Yay!
*A trip to America
*Incredibly sweet scenes
*Clean prose
*All the back knowledge you need without copious info-dumps
*Heroics
*Very perspicacious lorises
Cons:
*A little mild swearing
*Some violence
*Some creepy pictures (although if you're young enough to be scared of the pictures, you probably shouldn't be reading this book anyway)
*Dialogue occasionally sounds stilted/unrealistic
I totally agree with this post and the previous Leviathan post. I started reading this trilogy on the recommendation of this blog and I am so glad I did.
ReplyDeleteThe last book in the trilogy was a great conclusion, though I did predict the ending surprisingly accurately from the very beginning of the book. :)