YA fanatics...Scott Westerfeld got it very, very right in this smart, slickly crafted re-imagining of World War I.


There are a host of inventive creations in this book full of "nicely done," but I want to run the highlighter over the two primary world-building concepts (i.e., The Clankers and the Darwinists) because they really struck me as swelling with genius, and their engorgement was made all the more pronounced by the art, which is impeccableness itself).

First, the DARWINISTS. So in this a More...

review buffet

✥

A Review in the Classic Style

Behemoth is the second book in Westerfeld's steampunk adventure series for the little ones. It continues at breakneck pace, following its plucky young protagonists as they hurtle through misadventure, politics, and just the teensiest bit of lovelorn longing, all taking place in an alternate World War I-era Ottoman Empire (vividly and vibrantly depicted as a near-ideal melting pot of cultures). All of the tropes of steampunk remain firmly in place. Overa More...

YA steampunk (I finally figured out the name of this genre) is engaging. We see Istanbul get quite a bit of notice here. Even though I can't remember hearing too much about Istanbul in history I think it fit pretty well. Most authors I think pick places like Germany, France, and Great Britain as the setting in their books for the WWI era but Istanbul is a place I've neither seen nor heard much about. I knew it was in Turkey *shrug*. And even if Westerfeld changed some of the history (so to speak More...

I think Bovril counts as an excuse to add a book to my "talking cats" shelf. ;)

Also, I am going to try to add some images to my review for the vewy first time, so please bear with me...


Behemoth was even better than Leviathan. Why?

1. First up, Alek is my fave still. He was a little less pathetic in this book than the first, which was good and bad. Good because he was taking charge of his life in a way that made me want to stand up and cheer, bad because I thought his snobbishness was super amusin More...

Alek and Deryn grow closer in their friendship and much to Deryn/Dylan’s horror, she worries about feeling more than that. Near the last half of B, someone else enters the picture. (Let's just say that that was different.) One of the funnier parts of the book was when Deryn thinks she's going to get a declaration of love from him; she doesn't.

Alek takes a more active role in this book. In the first he was rescued, manipulated into driving a walker. Here most everything that happens to him is bec More...

I absolutely LOVED this book! Especially that one particular scene between Deryn and Lilit on the cliff towards the end of the book. Now that was one scene that had me grinning! Behemoth was a fabulous addition to the Leviathan and an excellent steampunk novel. It had a little of just about everything in it; romance (LOL), history, steampunk-ness, sci-fi, interesting creatures, a bit of German, suspense, drama, and an inside look of opposite views on the same world as told by the two main charac More...

Behemoth is the second book in Westerfeld's WWI steampunk Clankers vs Darwinists alt-U romp. It's packed full of Bechdelicious goodness, from the main character (a cross-dressing midship(wo)man for the Darwinists), to a Turkish anarchist revolutionary, to a rather splendid and dapper "lady boffin" and a Nene with an interesting mobility device.

Behemoth is a whole pile of fun, has a heap of marvelous critters and machines, and has as a bonus plenty of fabulous black and white illustrations that More...

This series...

God damn, this series.

I want to go sing its praises across campus, to haul people down to the library and shove copies of Leviathan into their hands, to wander the country like a modern-day Johnny Appleseed scattering lovely books wherever I go.

Okay, not so much that last one. But you get my point.

But anyhow. I was quite content with the first book, but I'm elated about this one. It's one of those fabulous novels in which it's not just the characters who mature and grow (as all cha More...

3 ½ stars

This is another fun, fast-paced adventure with Deryn and Aleksandr in the futuristic alternate World War I history first introduced in Leviathan. I enjoyed this story just as much as the first installment; I think that my slight lessening of enthusiasm might actually relate to this book’s heavy focus on the Clankers and their technological marvels. I found the Darwinists far more interesting – luckily it seems like the next book is heading into Darwinist Japan (Darwinists and Japan? Yay More...

I found Behemoth quite a bit slower than Leviathan; the fast-paced, breathless adventure and action of the first book is considerably reduced in favour of stealth, as the war really gets underway. Deryn travels to Istanbul as part of the diplomatic mission carrying gifts for the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in hopes that they'd smoothe over Churchill's faux pas, and Alek is dragged along in tow. Things never go quite as planned, of course, and the two end up on what initially appeared to be sep More...

The second book in the Leviathan series has more adventures of Alek and Deryn/Dylan in their alternate universe. WWI (the battle between the steampunk "Clankers" and the Darwinist allies) continues and Deryn and Alek have a chance to try to stop the war with their own battle plan...
Behemoth was hilarious and fun to read. I liked learning about all the new "beasties" from the Darwinists and the new "walkers" from the Clankers. I also liked the fact that Deryn slowly picks up German ("Clanker tal More...

I didn’t recall the specifics of how Leviathan left off, but Behemoth was easy enough to get into and enjoy.

The story is quickly paced now that the introductions are over. It still reads like a children’s story but I wasn’t expecting different, so that was fine. Alek remains a hard character to sympathize with. He seems too trusting, too guileless; his behavior should really be adjusted by now. Deryn is much more interesting, I love watching what she does to get out of a pickle. She’s starting t More...

If you have never read a book by Scott Westerfeld, you really ought to. He is the singularly most creative writer in young adult literature bar none. In Behemoth, his sequel to Leviathan, we rejoin Alek, the son of the recently assassinated Franz Ferdinand and secret heir to the Austria-Hungarian Empire and Devyn, the young British air-corps officer with a secret. (She's a GIRL!) In this clever steampunk reimagining of World War One the Central Powers of Europe are known as "Clankers", builders More...

Behemoth was slower-going than Leviathan, but whipped into full-throttle once the last battle began. The relationship between Alek and Deryn/Dylan grows more interesting as Alek finds what he believes to be his clear destiny: to stop the Germans and end the war, and in the process, reclaim his throne.

I can't help comparing Deryn to Katniss (Hunger Games): determination, cleverness, loyalty and physical prowess define their exterior personalities. Katniss, of course, is not hiding her femaleness More...

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"Behemoth" had the same wit and charm as "Leviathan" the plot was just lacking a little bit. "Behemoth" felt like a filler book between "Leviathan" and "Goliath" and some of the new characters introduced I kind of kept forgetting they were there (ex. Lillit, I forgot she existed everytime she left a room and then when she came back in I was like 'right new character'), the only one I didn't forget? THE LORIS! He is just too damn cute for words! I love him More...

DERYN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *grumbles to self about how stupid girls are who are pretending to be boys and don't tell the guy they love that they're actually not a guy when they have a chance to because he's telling her about how a girl seems to have a crush on her*

This 2nd in the series was so good! I found myself on Scott Westerfeld's website searching for scraps of information about Goliath. The adventures that Dillan and Alec get into are amazing. The Darwin beasties are fun and make this series stand out. I cannot even remember everything that I forgot about what I learned in my history courses but I am kind of glad that it is not in the forefront of my memory so I do not spend a lot of time poo-poo'ing the things that are not fact. When I was reading More...

This is the sequel to Leviathan and the second in a trilogy.[return][return]Behemoth takes place against the backdrop of a steampunk World War I. Britain's military might is due to their Darwinism, the construction of fabricated but living creatures such as whale airships and kraken submarines. German consists of Clankers: brilliant machines and tanks and inventions. The story follows two narratives. Deryn is a girl in disguise, enlisted as a midshipman on the airship Leviathan. Fate throws her More...

I didn't like this series as much as Uglies (of course). I was a little underwhelmed and it took me a bit to get into, but once I got into it it kept me reading. The characters were interesting and the plot kept me guessing but it felt very gimmicky. I think it was maybe intended for the younger spectrum of the YA audience so that might have had something to do with it.

I was underwhelmed by this series, but I'd still be hard pressed to write something better. Westerfeld is a master of world buil More...

Tak, dočítané...

V prvej časti Nemci vyvolali prvú svetovú. Tentokrát to nebolo "sedum kuli v Sarajevu", ale jed. To dostalo do blbej situácie nástupcu trónu Aleka, ktorý musí teraz zdrhať. Cestou sa dostane na palubu lietajúcej veľryby Leviatana a nadviaže priateľské kontakty s Dylanom, ktorý je vlastne baba Derryn, a odletí smer Osmanská ríša. V druhej časti do vojny vstúpi aj Veľká Británia a tým pádom je Alek v ešte horšej situácii. Musí riešiť útek, revolúciu a navyše sa snaží o ukončenie vo More...

This YA novel is the second in the “Leviathan” trilogy and takes up within days after the first book, Leviathan, leaves off. As in the first book, it is written from the perspective of the two protagonists: Deryn Sharp, a midshipman who disguised herself as a boy in order to join the British Air Service, and Prince Aleksander, the heir to the Austria-Hungary Empire, in hiding from those who murdered his parents for political gain.

Set mostly in Istanbul, the Ottoman Empire’s seat of government, i More...

Barking Spiders! Behemoth is a brilliant sequel to Leviathan! I really enjoyed it!

Events in Behemoth gets really interesting when Leviathan arrives in Istanbul. Alek and Deryn/Dylan face more trouble as they help start a revolution that might change the course of the war. Of course, with Deryn's confused feelings for Alek, she has hide her secret, while struggling with her loyalties to Alek (as her friend) and to the crew of Leviathan, things get really interesting for her. I really like Deryn a More...

The moment the sovereign of Austria is murdered, Alek is on the run with a loyal crew. He is the legal heir to the Austrian throne, proven only by a scroll signed by the Pope. He boards the Leviathan, a ship made of living organisms, in an attempt to save his life from the raging war of the Darwinists and the Clankers. In the meantime, he befriends a member of the crew, Dylan Sharp, who would be kicked off the instant people found out about her real gender. The theme of “being able to adapt” is More...

Prince Aleksander and Dylan (Deryn) Sharp, travel aboard the Leviathan to Istanbul with a cause to end the war.

This hardcover edition is also accompanied with black and white illustrations by Keith Thompson. The intensity and rather gruesome aesthetic appeal of the scenes and imagery plays hand-in-hand with the story. The world of Darwinists and Clankers is demonstrated strongly. It is filled with newly born technology and the birth of fabricated creatures.

An enchanting read, that got me from t More...

Concept and Themes: 4/5

Let me get something off my chest first: the science is really bad. Is it bad enough to detract from my enjoyment of the book? Kind of, but you, the reader, get two choices, see: you either nitpick on the inaccuracies in a work of fiction, or you sit back, relax, and allow yourself to feel the engrossing, childish-wonder kind of magic you haven't felt since Star Wars.

Because seriously, guys. Tesla cannons. Giant mech elephants. Ironclads. Cthulhu.

The awesomeness continues More...

Writing an alternate history is risky business. All sorts of things need to be taken into consideration, firs and foremost being: will this make sense?

I don't pretend to know much about World War I. In fact, I'm just starting to learn about it. But thanks to that, and the fact that Mr. Westerfeld so courteously added an informative afterward to his novel, I can appreciate just how much research was put into it to make it at least partially historically accurate.

Often, when a book or TV show has More...

I obviously could not put the book down. Westerfeld adds even more engaging characters.

My notes from Leviathan, the first title in the series:
The first of a trilogy about an alternative history of the World War I, where the world is divided between two approaches to technology. There are the Clankers who follow a mechanical, steampunk approach to technology (Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire) and the Darwinists how follow a genetic,biologival approach (Britain, Russia and Japan). Some coun More...

Dear Mrs. Severson,
I’ve finished a book called behemoth by Scott Westerfeld so I’m writing a book review for you to grade.
Aleck Ferdinand and Dyren Sharp are off to the Ottoman Empire, on board the air ship Leviathan, on a peace mission with a gift to the sultan. When the mission fails and the Germans destroy the gift, Aleck ditches the Leviathan with a newly hatched beast that won’t shut its mouth. Meanwhile Dyren sets up a trap to let in the behemoth. Then they meet again, pulled in to a rebel More...

Over education has it's downside. I really wanted to enjoy the book and I'm fully aware that it's a fantasy & Sci-fi and it's not a based on real life stories. BUT saying that, the bad science behind the book just made me cringe.
Please ignore my review since it's just a random rant of a science person.
I got this book since it was on special at a bookstore and my first impression of the book was good. I love the drawing, the concepts, the steam punk theme and the war time actions. I didn't kn More...