A review by scribesprite
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
5.0
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) I think he tried to keep the culture of the place intact. I could enjoy the culture without it getting too cumbersome to the story.
Now for the stuff I really read the book for. The Action, Deryn, Alek, the beasties, and machines. Plenty of action for both Deryn and Alek. Some new machines and creatures are presented. I don't think I'm spoiling if I say the eggs hatch. The Behemoth doesn't show up as much as I thought it would-it being the title and all. But we get some real Clanker action in the last part of the book. The climax left no disappointments for me.
Deryn is moving right along with her secret but now she is starting to feel a little guilty about keeping it from Alek when he trusts her so much. Alek is his trusting, (or gullible whichever you prefer, I like trusting) and a bit more humbled self. Where Alek is earnest Deryn is clever. Things are getting a bit more complicated between them though Alek doesn't know it yet.
Love the illustrations. I think there might be more of them in this one than the first but I could be wrong. They help people like me with small imaginations and they are nice to look at.
Now I have some suspicions about the Count and the Dr but I'll keep them to myself and just wait for the next book [b:Goliath|105739|Goliath|Steve Alten|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316635957s/105739.jpg|2057884], which of course is not coming out soon enough. Expect for one small part I think the book is just right.
Now for the stuff I really read the book for. The Action, Deryn, Alek, the beasties, and machines. Plenty of action for both Deryn and Alek. Some new machines and creatures are presented. I don't think I'm spoiling if I say the eggs hatch. The Behemoth doesn't show up as much as I thought it would-it being the title and all. But we get some real Clanker action in the last part of the book. The climax left no disappointments for me.
Deryn is moving right along with her secret but now she is starting to feel a little guilty about keeping it from Alek when he trusts her so much. Alek is his trusting, (or gullible whichever you prefer, I like trusting) and a bit more humbled self. Where Alek is earnest Deryn is clever. Things are getting a bit more complicated between them though Alek doesn't know it yet.
Love the illustrations. I think there might be more of them in this one than the first but I could be wrong. They help people like me with small imaginations and they are nice to look at.
Now I have some suspicions about the Count and the Dr but I'll keep them to myself and just wait for the next book [b:Goliath|105739|Goliath|Steve Alten|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316635957s/105739.jpg|2057884], which of course is not coming out soon enough. Expect for one small part I think the book is just right.