radorachev's review against another edition
2.0
Книгата имаше силно начало, което ме изненада приятно, но бързо загуби инерцията си и в край на сметка ме разочарова. За разлика от първата част, героите и светът изглеждаха някак по-зрели, а конфликтът много по-реален. Случваха се инциденти, хора биваха убити или ранени. Тези идеи обаче не бяха развити по никакъв начин. Всички жертви в непосредствена близост до 15-годишните герои не се отразяваха по абсолютно никакъв начин на техните характер или психика. Обратно на първата книга, тук се обръщаше повече внимание на машинистите за сметка на дарвинистите. Подобно на първата книга, обаче, този фокус беше за сметка на войната. Създава се нулево усещане за световната война. Като за финал, в кулминационната битка се набягаше повече на счупените машини, отколкото на ранени или убити хора. Останах с усещането, че цената на революцията е един човек и дузина роботи :\
bookhaulin's review against another edition
4.0
3.5-4.0 stars!
I loved Behemoth has much as Leviathan-there's just something about these books that remind me of children's-books-of-yore? Not that Westerfeld didn't create complex characters or a complex plot in Deryn and Alek, but the style of writing, the way the characters speak is just oddly reminiscent of days spent when I was a kid playing "adventure-time" out in the abandoned parking lots and fields behind my building.
Fast-paced plot, still loving the slang, and beautiful book as usual (love the illustrations! but I preferred the cover of Leviathan to Behemoth), and I cannot /wait/ to find out how everything ends in Goliath.
I loved Behemoth has much as Leviathan-there's just something about these books that remind me of children's-books-of-yore? Not that Westerfeld didn't create complex characters or a complex plot in Deryn and Alek, but the style of writing, the way the characters speak is just oddly reminiscent of days spent when I was a kid playing "adventure-time" out in the abandoned parking lots and fields behind my building.
Fast-paced plot, still loving the slang, and beautiful book as usual (love the illustrations! but I preferred the cover of Leviathan to Behemoth), and I cannot /wait/ to find out how everything ends in Goliath.
michael_k's review against another edition
3.0
Nice work! Entertaining and I am quite happy at the treatment of the historical context!
fortunesdear's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the first book a bit more than this one but the whole series has only been just okay so far. Still really only listening to the books because I live listening to the narrator.
justinecm's review against another edition
4.0
Loved this book. Gorgeous art work inside. well written exiting imaginative. Scott Westerfeld is very adept at explaining complicated objects that do not exist outside of this books.
tinyhands15's review against another edition
4.0
The sequel is just as entertaining as the first book. The writing is a bit ham-fisted or blunt at times... at those moments, I have to remember the audience. Still, there are YA/children's books who pull off subtlety quite well.
finneas's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
viljaneito's review against another edition
Sattuu vähän sydämeeni jättää tämä kesken, sillä pidin kyllä lukemastani. Sama juttu kuin Odininlapsen kanssa; haluan jatkaa uusien kirjojen pariin ja monen kuukauden aikana olen jo ehtinyt unohtaa, mitä tässä tapahtuu. Saatan aloittaa joskus uudelleen, sillä kirjan huonoudesta keskeytys ei johtunut.
emiliebookworld's review against another edition
After reading Leviathan last year, I was really looking forward to reading Behemoth, the sequel, but for a variety of reasons I unfortunately didn’t do so until quite recently. I really should have taken the time to read it sooner because it was an incredible book and it reminded me of why had loved the first book so much.
Now aboard the Leviathan and headed toward the Ottoman Empire, Alek finally feels like he belongs somewhere. But in order to not become a prisoner, he has to do everything in his power to hid his true identity, especially now that Austria-Hungary and Britain are officially at war with each other. Deryn has proven she is a good soldier but that still doesn’t mean she can tell everyone she is a girl disguised as a boy. If she did so, it would mean the end of her career in the British Air Service. But with her attraction to Alek growing, going on pretending to be a boy may be more difficult than she originally thought. But Alek and Deryn may have bigger things to worry about, as they find out when they arrive in Constantinople. Soon enough, they find themselves in way over their heads and they might just have the chance to change the entire course of the war.
The story in Behemoth takes you on a crazy adventure to say the very least. The action starts right on the first page and doesn’t stop until the very last word. Once again, I was completely captivated by the story Scott Westerfeld told in this book. More than anything, I love the way he has re-imagined the events of World War One. The way the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance powers are presented as Darwinist and Clanker powers, respectively, sort of brings a new perspective to the whole thing. Like I said in my review of Leviathan, I more or less know the events of the First World War by heart and it’s a period of history I love studying. So the fact that the story is a retelling of those events only makes me love the book that much more.
As much as I thought Alek would be nothing more than a spoiled prince when I read Leviathan, in Behemoth my opinion of him completely changed. He definitely grew and really wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to save himself and those he cared about. But more than anything, he was willing to do anything to stop the war, even when it meant revealing some of his more precious secrets. Personally, I liked Alek more and more with every page I turned. Once again, Deryn amused me to no end. She always seemed to find herself in the craziest situations and I couldn’t help but laugh at half of what came out of her mouth. now that she finally knew what her feelings for Alek were, I couldn’t help but feel for her. As much as I wanted her to tell Alek the truth about who she is, I could also understand that she couldn’t do that without throwing away her career in the British Air Service. In her position, I don’t know what I would have done.
Behemoth was an absolutely amazing book and Scott Westerfeld once again proved that is a truly fantastic writer. I now can’t wait to see how this incredible journey will come to an end in Goliath, the third and final book in this trilogy.
Now aboard the Leviathan and headed toward the Ottoman Empire, Alek finally feels like he belongs somewhere. But in order to not become a prisoner, he has to do everything in his power to hid his true identity, especially now that Austria-Hungary and Britain are officially at war with each other. Deryn has proven she is a good soldier but that still doesn’t mean she can tell everyone she is a girl disguised as a boy. If she did so, it would mean the end of her career in the British Air Service. But with her attraction to Alek growing, going on pretending to be a boy may be more difficult than she originally thought. But Alek and Deryn may have bigger things to worry about, as they find out when they arrive in Constantinople. Soon enough, they find themselves in way over their heads and they might just have the chance to change the entire course of the war.
The story in Behemoth takes you on a crazy adventure to say the very least. The action starts right on the first page and doesn’t stop until the very last word. Once again, I was completely captivated by the story Scott Westerfeld told in this book. More than anything, I love the way he has re-imagined the events of World War One. The way the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance powers are presented as Darwinist and Clanker powers, respectively, sort of brings a new perspective to the whole thing. Like I said in my review of Leviathan, I more or less know the events of the First World War by heart and it’s a period of history I love studying. So the fact that the story is a retelling of those events only makes me love the book that much more.
As much as I thought Alek would be nothing more than a spoiled prince when I read Leviathan, in Behemoth my opinion of him completely changed. He definitely grew and really wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to save himself and those he cared about. But more than anything, he was willing to do anything to stop the war, even when it meant revealing some of his more precious secrets. Personally, I liked Alek more and more with every page I turned. Once again, Deryn amused me to no end. She always seemed to find herself in the craziest situations and I couldn’t help but laugh at half of what came out of her mouth. now that she finally knew what her feelings for Alek were, I couldn’t help but feel for her. As much as I wanted her to tell Alek the truth about who she is, I could also understand that she couldn’t do that without throwing away her career in the British Air Service. In her position, I don’t know what I would have done.
Behemoth was an absolutely amazing book and Scott Westerfeld once again proved that is a truly fantastic writer. I now can’t wait to see how this incredible journey will come to an end in Goliath, the third and final book in this trilogy.
sandraagee's review against another edition
4.0
I'm pretty sure that I listened to [b:Leviathan|6050678|Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)|Scott Westerfeld|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1275694232s/6050678.jpg|6226342] two years ago when I moved. Listened to this one as I'm in the process of moving again. I'm disappointed in myself for waiting so long to pick it up. Thankfully, Westerfeld did a good job of bringing me up to speed.
Great alternate history/steampunk elements. This book does not suffer at all from "second book syndrome," both building up to what will certainly be a stunning conclusion while also containing its own solid story.
Great alternate history/steampunk elements. This book does not suffer at all from "second book syndrome," both building up to what will certainly be a stunning conclusion while also containing its own solid story.