Behemoth

This post first published February 12, 2011.

Author: Scott Westerfeld
Published: October 2010
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Series: Leviathan #2
481 pages (hardcover)
 
Okay, they do end up going on a ’round the world adventure. I retract my statement from my Leviathan post! (Though the dust jacket should have been more specific and meant across the trilogy … it made it sound like it would all happen in one book)! I digress.

This is book two of the Leviathan trilogy. I was excited to see a brand spanking new copy available at the library, since the first book is still very fresh in my head. Book two totally lived up to my expectations and didn’t let me down. It’s just as good, if not better, than the first one! I certainly feel that this one was more exciting, and I think I am a bigger fan of book two than book one (which was also great, of course).

In Behemoth, the great airship Leviathan lands in the Ottoman Empire, where Alek and his men decide to try to escape the ship where they are more or less held as prisoners. Unfortunately, plans never go as smoothly as you think they will, and only Alek and two others manage to get away; the other two willingly give themselves up to buy Alek time to escape. However, Alek isn’t about to abandon his other two comrades so easily.

Docked in the Ottoman Empire on the airship, Deryn/Dylan and Dr. Barlow realize that the empire is slowly being taken over by the Germans. Wanting to persuade the sultan to continue his friendship with Britain, the two attempt to offer the sultan a gift. Again, plans don’t go over too smoothly, and Dr. Barlow desperately offers the Leviathan to the sultan instead!

That’s how the story basically starts out. I was a little saddened that Deryn (whom I’ve become quite fond of, despite saying I was attached to nobody in the last book) and Alek were once again separated, but fear not, they meet again soon enough, when due to circumstances beyond their control, they need to work together along with some anarchists (or revolutionaries, depending on your point of view) of the Empire to overthrow the sultan and push the German out. If you’ve already read the first book, then this plot overview of the second one surely sounds more exciting, no??
I felt there was a lot more action, and more plot in general with this book. The characters seemed to become more ‘solidified’, if that makes sense. Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve taken a liking to Deryn despite previously saying I wasn’t fond of anyone. I’m also getting quite pumped up over Deryn’s crush on Alek. There’s quite a few times when I was so sure she would reveal she’s a girl to Alek (and there I was, gripping the pages intensely, completely into the scene), but she doesn’t, and I’m excited for book three, because surely she will reveal it to him then; it’s a trilogy, after all! I simply can’t wait for that to happen because, you know, I think they’d make a super cute couple. There’s also the whole ‘he’s a prince, I’m a commoner’ thing going on too, which makes their relationship even more complex and interesting.

I think another character may be my favourite as well. A ‘perspicacious loris’ beastie is introduced in this book, and Alek has one as a sort of pet with him in this novel. The beastie is called Bolvir and oh my, hahaha. Even though this novel is gorgeously illustrated so I know what a perspicacious loris should look like, I keep imagining Bolvir as Stitch from Lilo & Stitch. Whenever Bolvir ‘talks’, I just imagine him doing it the exact same way Stitch does!

Also, there’s giant walking robots a la Transformers/Gundams. Do I really have to say any more?!

My Rating: 5/5