A Whopper of a Tale

Living airships made from the DNA of a whale and consisting of a symbiotic flying ecosystem involving a hundred species? Giant mechanical walkers and enormous Tesla cannons? A courageous airwoman disguised as a man to join the British Air Service? Characters like Lord Churchill, Nikola Tesla, William Randolph Hearst, and Pancho Villa? A perspicacious loris?

You've landed in the midst of Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy. 

I just finished reading the final installment, Goliath, and I am so happy. I found it in the "used" section of Barnes and Noble (yes my Barnes and Noble has a used section and escalators and YES IT IS AWESOME) and snatched it up like gold. Let me tell you a quick history of my experience with the previous two books.

A very good friend of mine recommended the first book, Leviathan. I read all of its over 400 pages in about a day. Holy fiddleheads. It ended practically in the middle of a vital conversation, and this friend of mine hadn't told me there was a sequel! Argh! Clearly, I rushed out to find the sequel. Read through Behemoth in about as much time as the first book. What? Another cliffhanger?! Who said anything about this being a trilogy?

So where's the third book? Wait, what? Oh dear. Yes, I finished Behemoth long before Goliath's release date. Boy was that frustrating. I'd given up in despair and pushed it to the back of my mind, until it magically appeared on the used shelf for a great deal. Hooray! 

I don't own the first two yet, however; so I was hesitant to jump right into Goliath without first tracking them down and re-reading them. I don't know who I was trying to kid. I lasted about two days before I picked it up and devoured it in a few more days. (I know, I know; but I'm a working woman now--sadly I don't have many full days to read entire books.)

It was a success! Goliath is written well enough to trigger memories from the earlier books without feeling repetitive. And I was hooked again. So it's not critical to read them all-at-once, but fair warning if you want to keep your sanity: when you start this series (which you should do as soon as possible), make sure you have access to the whole thing first!

In the author's note at the end of Goliath, Mr. Scott Westerfeld sketches out which parts of this steampunk alternate history adventure are based on real-life history. This quote demonstrates that at least he's aware of his cruel, torturous writing habits: "William Randolph Hearst... loved motion pictures, and created the Perils of Pauline serial, the first of which is described herein, and which featured the original 'cliff-hanger.' (Let's just say I owe the guy.)". Yes, Mr. Westerfeld; you do.

The Leviathan trilogy is a headlong rush through the pages. I went through this series faster than I went through (don't judge) Twilight, and that's saying something. Except you get to the end of this series and you don't feel like you're going to be sick. You feel exhilarated. This trilogy is action-packed while remaining smart and thought-provoking. Several times I would stop and ask my husband the history major about some historical event, to see how it matched up to how the book was playing out. He enjoyed giving the mini-lessons.

The scope of this story is huge, yet focused. There are many strong supporting characters, but only two main characters. They travel all over the world in a bizarre and fascinating alternate version of the time period surrounding what, in our world, was the beginning of World War I. And as I hinted in the first paragraph, there are many historical names that you'll recognize.

I can't say enough how awesome these books are. Go read them. And if you have read them, comment! Discuss! I want a perspicacious loris as a pet!