Behemoth

The premise: ganked from BN.com: The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker Powers.Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what’s ahead.My RatingMust Read: I will note, however, that this is a direct continuation of Leviathan, and it is not a book you can read without having read its predecessor, or you'll be a bit lost in regards to the differing sides and who's doing what and why. So if you haven't read Leviathan, go forth and read so you can hurry to this one, because it's a lot of fun. Not only is a fast, enjoyable read, but it's filled with such wonderful little details that I can't possibly list them all, other than to say I'm thoroughly engrossed in Westerfeld's world-building, as well as his alternate history (kudos for including the afterward that differentiates fact from fiction), and Deryn is simply a character to celebrate. I look forward to the conclusion of this trilogy, and I'm wicked glad I gave this series a shot. So far, it's been more than worth it.Review style: two sections, what I liked and what I didn't, but let's be honest, there's not much I didn't like. Short and sweet and no spoilers, so feel free to keep reading; HOWEVER, I don't recommend reading this review if you haven't yet read Leviathan. If that's the case, do NOT click the link to my review below. Everyone else, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)REVIEW: Scott Westerfeld's BEHEMOTHHappy Reading!

Excellent steampunk - really interesting twist to World War 1, with a strong female heroine.

I'm really enjoying these books. I've listened to them, with Alan Cumming narrating, and he's wonderful!

Not as engaging as the first book. The first book was a constant assortment of wonders and details whereas this one takes it too much for granted that the reader gets the jist of Clunkers v Darwinists by now and strictly wants story instead of atmosphere and setting. There were far less of those "Willy Wonka opening the doors to the candy room" moments. I would have adored more exploration of the societies Westerfeld has created in this series - instead I got a fairly run-of-the-mill heir-to-the-throne running for his life story. Don't get me wrong, I still greatly enjoyed it - it just wasn't as much of what I was hoping for.

3.5 stars. This is really my fault. It took me a long time to read this book and due to that, I didn't enjoy it as much. I got into a reading slump shortly after starting it and had to put it down...for more than 6 months. I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did the first. I still enjoyed the world though. There are new characters in the sequel that I really like and hope to learn more about in the third book.

In this fast-moving sequel to Leviathan, Prince Alek and Midshipman Derrin Sharp find themselves on a diplomatic mission to Istanbul. Things don't go well for the diplomats, and Alek and Derrin find themselves on their own.