Brief Thoughts: Goliath

Goliath

by Scott Westerfeld
audio book narrated by Alan Cumming
Book 3 (final) of Leviathan

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Alek and Deryn are abroad the Leviathan when the ship is ordered to pick up an unusual passenger.  This brilliant/maniacal inventor claims to have a weapon called Goliath that can end the war.  But whose side is he really on?

While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn's deeply kept secret.  Two, actually.  Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a guy... she has feelings for Alek.

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek's next--and final--move.

I found this last book of the trilogy immensely more riveting than the previous book, as the story kind of comes to a head.  From the very beginning of the book, I got caught up in all the events, from the rescuing of Tesla to the revelation of Deryn's true identity to Alek and others.

But I can't help noticing that after some thought, I had a few quibbles with a lot of the latter part of the book.  I suppose I felt like Deryn's actions and behavior after her disguise was revealed to Alek felt a bit out of character.  I don't mean the part where they're fighting and angry at each other--Alek because Deryn kept such a big secret from him; Deryn because she feels like Alek should be more understanding of her circumstances.  But after the two sort of reconcile, their relationship was just so stunted and awkward, and Deryn's behavior felt kind of contradictory to how her character had been since the first book.

I get that they probably can't carry on the same way afterwards, but it still felt more awkward than I think it needed to.

Meanwhile, I DID continue to find Alek's "provenance" declaration extremely exhausting, much like Deryn did.  But I suppose that was the best way to continue propelling the story forward.

However, in the end, I really just kind of kicked back and enjoyed the rest of the book, though I confess, I'm a bit conflicted about how everything ended.

Leviathan was a really entertaining and enjoyable story, with a well-crafted alternate universe with loads of potential.  I don't know if I can truly determine whether or not that potential was reached, as I DID have my complaints.  But in the end, the adventure that took place following Deryn and Alek kept me hooked.

And what made my day was the awesome narration by Alan Cumming throughout!