Scott Westerfeld

Uglies — (2005-2007) Young adult. Publisher: Everybody gets to be supermodel gorgeous. What could be wrong with that? Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait. Not for her license — for turning pretty. In Tally's world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there. But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to be pretty. She'd rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world — and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Uglies

Scott Westerfeld's Uglies is a futuristic teen adventure book that will keep even adult readers enthralled from the first page.

Tally is ready to be pretty. When you turn sixteen in this futuristic world, you are plucked from school and taken to have the “operation” that turns you from an Ugly into a Pretty. When you're pretty you can do anything. You get to move to New Pretty Town and party all night long if you choose and Tally can't wait to join her friends who have already “turned.”

By turn of chance Tally meets Shay. Another “Ugly” like herself who happens to share her birthday. As their friendship grows and they embark on new adventures together, Shay lets Tally in on her secret: She doesn't want to be pretty. Tally can't understand her new friend's defiance and refuses to run away with her. When the authorities find out that Shay is missing however, they know that Tally is the key to finding her and now Tally must face a choice: Betray her friend, or stay ugly...forever.

I was sad when this book ended. I can't wait to read the second book and I would totally recommend it to any teen who is having issues with how they look or with society's idea of what beauty is. Westerfeld's message is simple, but surprisingly hard to grasp for many youths these days: Embrace diversity and be yourself. Rave reviews! Five stars! —Julie Waineo

Pretties

Finally, a sequel that does not disappoint!

Tally finally has all she ever wanted: She's pretty, she's popular, she's in the coolest clique in New Pretty Town. What could possibly go wrong now?

Nothing does...until the night of the coolest costume party ever when a blast from the past shows up and leaves her a mystery to follow. All of a sudden Tally and her new friend Zane not only have a mystery to solve, but two tiny white pills to take...and no clue what they will do to them.

Once again, Scott Westerfeld has whisked us off to a sci-fi adventure world with more twists and turns that even a Hoverboard can handle. I can't wait to read the next book! —Julie Waineo

Specials

Tally has changed since she was caught by Special Circumstances. She has become one of them: a Special. Her body and mind have been altered and she is now an elite fighting machine with super-fast reflexes and a hardened body that can withstand almost anything…but none of this can really make her happy. Tally is surrounded by "friends," but none of them can take away her memories of her friends from the Smoke and the lessons they taught her. Then she and Shay get a breakthrough and once again whiz off into the wild on their hoverboards searching for the elusive "New Smoke" where the rebels are said to be hiding. If they can find the New Smoke and bring their boss Dr. Cable to it, their lives will be easy at last…or so they think.

Although it was great to be back in Scott Westerfeld's futuristic world which I have come to know and love, Specials lacked a certain charm that was palpable throughout Uglies and Pretties. In Specials, Tally is the antagonist instead of the protagonist, and the flip in positions is a giant leap from the end of Pretties. What disturbed me most about Specials is that I stopped liking Tally. She became sort of a mean person and I was less drawn to her character.

So, the end of the series was less than satisfying, to say the least. Specials left me disappointed. I felt that Westerfeld took the easy way out by ending the series the way he did.

If you've already read Uglies and Pretties, you will have to read Specials just to satisfy your curiosity. But don't expect much. It's quite maddening, actually. —Julie Waineo

Leviathan — (2009-2011) Young adult. Available for download at Audible.com. Publisher: Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered. With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way… taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Leviathan

Leviathan is the beginning of a new steampunk YA series by Scott Westerfeld, author of other well-known (and highly recommended) YA series such as Uglies and Midnighters, along with one of my favorite non-YA science fiction works of recent memory, The Risen Empire (even more highly recommended). As is usual with good YA, don’t let the label turn you away; Westerfeld knows how to write for a younger audience without dumbing things down and without excluding older readers.

Leviathan is set in a mostly familiar historical world just on the cusp of World War I. Familiar as in the geography, populations, etc. are all pretty much the same — you’ve got your Austro-Hungarians, Germans, British Empire, etc and your Arch-Duke Ferdinand, who does go and get himself assassinated. In this version, however, he has a son, Alek, who manages to escape with the help of some loyal staffers.

Oh yeah — another small difference is that the Austro-Hungarians and Germans (and allies) employ powerful steam-driven machinery (Alek, for example, escapes in a Walker — a steam-powered version, though even cooler, of the walkers in Star Wars) and are known as Clankers for their marvelous mechanical devices. The English and their allies, on the other hand, went in a wholly different direction, following the path of Charles Darwin, who in this history learned how to manipulate DNA. They now bioengineer what they need, such as the eponymous Leviathan, a huge airship which is really an entire eco-system centered on a whale, but also including creatures such as hydrogen-sniffers to find leaks, floating jellyfish as personal balloons, messenger lizards that speak, and bats that, well, why ruin the fun with that one? Logically enough, the English and friends are known as Darwinists and so, rather than Allies-Axis, one has a war between Clankers and Darwinists, with an heir to an empire running around trying to avoid capture.

Alex’s story takes up one narrative strand from the start, beginning with the news of his father’s death and Alek’s subsequent escape. A twinned narrative is set in England and follows a young girl, Deryn, who disguises herself as a boy in order to join the British Air Service, as her now-dead father once did. As one would expect, the two strands eventually come together and Alek and Deryn meet, eventually ending up together as they move toward book two.

The world-building in terms of Clankers and Darwinists is wonderful, with lots of vibrant, original imagery; it’s clear that Westerfeld had a good time coming up with the various mechanicals and “beasties,” and his enthusiastic creativity and fanciful prose descriptions are nicely complemented by Keith Thompson’s black-and-white illustrations throughout.

The plot is well-paced throughout (no bloat in this book) and suspense comes in a variety of ways — from small stealth-stalk scenes to full-pitched aerial battles, but also from moments of personal decision — whom to trust, how to act on that trust, what secrets to keep, etc.

Westerfeld’s strength has always been his characterization, and this is true of Leviathan as well. Both Alek and Deryn are fully fleshed-out realistic teen characters, with none of the two annoying extremes one often finds in such portrayals: the wise-beyond-their-years type or the slangy too-dumbed-down type. Both feel like real teens and act as such, for good and bad. Side characters are sharply drawn and complex, such as Count Volger, one of Alek’s loyal staffers, or Dawinia, a mysterious passenger picked up in London. And all the characters grow/develop/unfold new complexities as the story continues.

Leviathan is a wonderful mix of the utterly original and the familiar — alternate history layered atop known history, engineering and biology tweaked a bit askew from what we now know and do, fresh portrayal of age-old fantasy/storytelling tropes (orphan protagonists, an heir in hiding, a girl disguised as a boy, adolescent bickering combined with attraction, etc.), use of paired imagery/themes (Clankers vs. Darwinists, Luddites vs Progressives, boy vs. girl, etc.) It all just works as a compelling story, a fun ride, an exuberantly creative ride, and confirms Scott Westerfeld as one of the best writers going now. Highly recommended. —Bill Capossere

Leviathan

Take Heart at this Impoliteness...It Proves that You Are Still a Threat to the Throne…

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife were assassinated; this single event put into motion a chain of events that lead to what we now call World War I. That event begins the story told in Leviathan, but it soon becomes clear that everything else about Scott Westerfeld's setting is completely different from history as we know it.

The great European powers are divided into two opposing sides, but in Leviathan, each side has its own distinct technology and weaponry. Austro-Hungary and Germany are known as Clankers, having mastered the use of steam-driven war machines, whilst the British powers are known as Darwinists, having learnt how to manipulate the "threads of life" and genetically engineer animals to serve in their armies. The book's namesake is one such creature, a giant leviathan that carries its own eco-system of bats, lizards, glowworms and other creatures living in symbiosis, and which serves as a living airship to its crew.

The story follows two young protagonists as they are drawn into the war that is steadily brewing across the continent, and the chapters alternate between of the two of them in the lead-up to their inevitable meeting halfway through the book. The first involves the Archduke's only son Aleksander who is whisked away from his bedroom in the middle of the night by his fencing master to a mechanical stormwalker, soon to find himself on the run from the German forces that are out to assassinate the last heir to the Austrian throne. Having to deal with his parents' deaths and his exile into a harsh environment, Aleksander is forced to grow up quickly as a leader of men and a crucial figure in the coming war.

On the other side of the conflict is Deryn Sharp, a midshipman with a secret: he is actually a she, drawn by a love of flying to disguise herself as a boy and join the crew of the Leviathan. When the ship is commandeered to transport a scientist to the Ottoman Empire, Deryn is astonished to find that Doctor Barlow is a vivacious young woman with a pet Tasmanian tiger and a heavy crate of something that is every bit as secret as Deryn's true identity. Unsure what their mission is, Deryn is determined to simply enjoy her newfound freedom while it lasts.

Eventually the teenagers cross paths in Switzerland, where loyalties are called into question as each comes to rely on the other for their own survival. With the Germans closing in and food in short supply, an alliance between the two groups is necessary as their mutual enemy approaches. Though it's quite episodic in nature, the story has a great build up to its climax and a broad scope as the characters traverse the mountains, various countries, and of course, the sky.

The main draw-card of the book (and its sequels) is the fascinating world that Westerfeld has created. Melding a WWI setting with steampunk sensibilities, the world of Leviathan is filled with intriguing quirks and discoveries, from the living airship to the rattling mechanics and how each character operates in this off-kilter world. Westerfeld clearly as a lot of fun with his skewed version of history, adding in a few genuine historical figures and anecdotes (which he discusses in his afterword) and using it as a backdrop to raise several questions about the nature of allies and enemies and what each means to the other in times of war.

Another nice touch is the stylistic differences between Alek and Deryn's chapters; whereas Alek's narrative is written in clear, refined prose, Deryn's is more casual and littered with heavy use of slang terms such as 'clart,' 'beastie,' 'bum-rag' and 'barking spiders,' which double as swear-words in times of crisis. Alek reconciling his privileged upbringing with life on the run, and Deryn trying to grasp the behavior and mannerisms of a young man, are well realized and make up most of their characterization throughout the story.

Deryn and Alek are surrounded by capable, intelligent adults that often help and seldom hinder them, allowing them to grow into adults without the need for them to upstage every adult that crosses their path. It's a rare thing in YA fiction to have sympathetic grownups involved heavily in the action, while still letting the young protagonists be the heroes. Westerfeld strikes a good balance, with adults and youngsters alike relying on each other, making mistakes, and learning valuable life lessons as Alek and Deryn's idealism is simultaneously eroded and validated by their actions. Alek and Deryn's interaction with the surly, no-nonsense Count Volger and the sharp, rather self-involved Doctor Barlow are particularly good.

I don't read a lot of steampunk (it's not that I don't like it, I just seldom come across it), but Westerfeld is masterful at creating the visceral elements of this world, from the smell of oil to the sound of fabricated animals to what it must feel like to dangle at one hundred feet from a giant floating jellyfish. The book is completely immersive when it comes to the sights and sounds of its setting, and despite the strangeness of his spin on science and biology, Westerfeld makes it all feel oddly plausible. He's in clear control of the rules that he's set for himself in the making of this world, and everything has a weight and internal logic to it that lets it all hang together.

The ending is wide open for a sequel, and with plenty of humor, invention, action, intrigue and the first hints of an impending romance in this installment, the series can only get better as Westerfeld delves deeper into this alternative history with Behemoth. —Rebecca Fisher

Behemoth

Behemoth is Scott Westerfeld’s follow-up to Leviathan, the first book in a new steampunk series set in an alternative Europe on the edge of WWI with the Austro-Hungarians and Germans (“Clankers”) using steam-driven machines and the British and their allies (“Darwinists”) using genetic engineering. Leviathan was one of my best reads of 2009, and Behemoth would have been on my list for 2010 had I gotten around to reading it by the time I compiled my list. It has all the usual Westerfeld strengths and it keeps this series rolling along.

The setting for Behemoth has shifted to Constantinople/Istanbul (depending on who is speaking, and I defy you not to have the They Might Be Giants song not playing in your head as you read) as both the Clankers and the Darwinists try to get the upper political hand in this integral location. The worldbuilding opens up not just geographically but also with regard to the two competing technologies as we see wonderfully inventive new creations from both, such as the “Spottiswoode Rebreather... woven from salamander skin and tortoise shell... a set of fabricated gills that had to be kept wet even in storage.”

We’re back with the two main youthful characters, Alek and Deryn, who continue to be engaging and interesting, sharply defined and realistically developed, both as individuals and in their burgeoning relationship. One of my favorite aspects of this book is how Westerfeld keeps their characters fresh by forcing them out of their familiar culture and into the opposing one: in the first book, Alek is forced into the Darwinist world of the Leviathan (the ship, not the book), while in Behemoth, Deryn ends up in the Clanker-dominated city amidst a group of Clankers. Alek, though, isn’t spared having his point of view challenged as one of the Darwinist creatures attaches itself to him, forcing him to deal with it on an ongoing basis. The creature is also of interest in that it not only challenges Alek’s point of view but Deryn’s as well: the Clanker ugliness is easy to see (noise, grime, pollution, cold mechanization) but the darker side of Darwinism is more subtle. Westerfeld does a nice job using the creature as a means of showing that dark side. New characters are a bit more diverse than in Leviathan, as one might expect in a cosmopolitan Istanbul that sits astride two cultures/continents. The new ones are efficiently drawn and interesting in their own right as opposed to simple plot devices, so much so I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of them, perhaps even in another point-of-view narration.

Westerfeld writes books that are exactly as long as they need to be (oh for more like him!) and Behemoth is no exception: the plot is fast-paced and rollicking, a tightly constructed adventure story with action scenes coming at the reader regularly, finally building up to a spectacular confrontation, a sequence one would love to see on film. That isn’t to say it’s all speed; he knows when to slow things down for a telling detail, as when he describes the long trunk of a giant Clanker walker that “pushed carts aside, and even rescued a child’s fallen toy from being crushed by the walker’s giant feet.” There are some excellent twists and turns, a balanced mix of humor and tragedy, and a surprising love interest.

As mentioned with regard to Leviathan, don’t be put off by Behemoth’s YA label — this is a fun, smart series suitable for all ages. Highly recommended. —Bill Capossere

Behemoth

Behemoth is the second book in Scott Westerfeld’s YA Leviathan trilogy. In the first book, Leviathan, Prince Aleksander, son of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, goes on the run after his parents are assassinated in Sarajevo. Austria-Hungary is an ally of Germany, which has just declared war on England; and a proponent of Clanker technology, steam-powered machines including weapons like the fearsome walkers. England is filled with “Darwinists,” who eschew mechanical invention and prefer to tweak the infinitesimal “life-thread” of DNA to create organic machines such as the living airship Leviathan. In the first book Alek meets Deryn, a midshipman aboard the Leviathan. She is disguised as a boy and uses the name Dylan. Circumstances force the crew of the wounded Leviathan and the fugitive royal party to work together, forging a hybrid machine, and now Leviathan has metal steam engines implanted aboard.

Behemoth finds our adventurers in Istanbul. Before the war, England had agreed to build a warship with a “companion creature” for the Ottoman Empire. With the outbreak of hostilities, England reneged on its promise and kept the warship. Leviathan is sent to deliver the Sultan a gift, or a bribe to bring him back around to the British side. At least, that is the stated purpose for their visit.

Alek is in an awkward position aboard the Leviathan, part guest, part prisoner. He uses the stop at Istanbul to escape from the airship, but his mentor the Wildcount Volker is recaptured. Deryn, meanwhile, is put in charge of a perilous secret mission. She is successful but at great cost, losing her men and becoming stranded. She heads into Istanbul herself, where she reconnects with Alek and his new friends, anti-government rebels.

The book is fast-paced, filled with detailed descriptions of a colorful and diverse city. Westerfeld introduces interesting new characters, including an American reporter and a family of revolutionaries. He even sets up a romantic triangle (the rebel girl has a crush on Deryn, who isn’t a boy, and who has a crush on the real boy) although the plot does not allow much time for this theme to play out. Alek and Deryn soon discover that the Germans, who are well established in Istanbul, are building a Tesla Tower, a weapon that will incinerate the Leviathan and her crew. From then, the suspense mounts as they race to stop the Leviathan from flying into a trap.

The character who grows the most in the course of this book is Alek, who progresses as both a man and a prince. Westerfeld is not afraid to let the politics be complex, demonstrating diplomacy, treachery, and layers of loyalty. Alek struggles with his own role as the legitimate heir of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, despite the fact that his mother was a commoner; he deplores the Darwinist experiments as “abominations” but feels most at home aboard the Leviathan. Deryn’s loyalty is to Britain but she can’t help trying to help Alek, who will probably be a prisoner in a golden cage if he ends up in Britain. Chauvinistic Count Volker resented the Archduke’s marriage to Alek’s mother, but he proves his devotion to Alek over and over. These complexities lend color and spice to a story already nicely filled with action and intrigue.

Deryn does not develop. She is already smart, observant, inventive and brave. Early in the book, she faces what should be her greatest fear with hardly any agonizing. Her feelings for Alek developed very quickly, and off the page, as near as I can tell. All she really needs to do is tell him she’s a girl. To be fair, in Behemoth, she does invent one of the best guerrilla warfare weapons I’ve seen recently, but she is practically perfect and too good to be true.

The behemoth is also disappointing. This is merely a problem of expectation. The Leviathan played a large role in both books, so I was expecting the behemoth to be as interesting. When the war-beast shows up near the end of the book, it is a more general monster, not as fascinating as the airship.

Keith Thompson’s black and white illustrations help create the theme of Edwardian other-worldliness, with his slender fey-looking figures. I had some trouble with the larger pictures because I found them just too dark — they seemed to swallow up detail — but the four-color end-papers of the hardback edition are exquisite.

By creating an alternate-history world based on real-world events, Westerfeld generates curiosity and interest. Schoolroom history is often about memorization of facts and events: Novels help us understand the reasons for those events. I hope that Westerfeld’s readers will go to the internet — or maybe even their local library — to find out more about the historical events he has used as his starting points.
—Marion Deeds

Goliath

Goliath is the concluding third book in Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy (imagine that — a trilogy with only three books) and it brings a wonderfully entertaining YA steampunk/alternate WWI series to a suitably strong close. I won’t bother recapping the world or background since you really need to read books one and two first, so read my review of Leviathan (above) to catch up on the backstory if you’d like.

Goliath picks up shortly after the events of Behemoth, with the British airship Leviathan cruising over the frozen waste of Siberia, having been diverted there on a top-secret rescue mission. Our two heroes — airman Dylan/Deryn Sharp (recall she’s masquerading as a boy) and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Alek — soon learn the mission is to rescue Nikola Tesla from the Tunguska site where he’s been investigating the effect of his ultimate weapon, the titular Goliath. Based on the devastation in the Tunguska forest, Tesla is convinced he can use Goliath to force an end to this horrific war, a concept that Alek, who feels responsible for the war due to his family’s involvement, quickly signs on for. Deryn, however, is not quite so sure about Tesla. From Siberia, Leviathan flies on in breakneck fashion for Japan, California, Mexico, and finally New York City.

One of the strengths of the series has always been the wonderfully inventive creations Westerfeld has dreamed up and placed in the hands of his warring sides, the Darwinists (bio-engineers) and the Clankers (steam engineers). There is less of this sort of thing here, and to be honest I missed it — not because it had any major impact on the book but simply because it was just so much fun in the first two books. But what is here has its moments, both dark and light, such as the grimly effective weapon the Japanese employ against an Austrian ship, how Pancho Villa gets around, or the underwater network that allows communication between the continents. As a side note, reading about these fantastic creations has always been enhanced by the illustrations by Keith Thompson and this installment is no exception. And make sure you look at the inside covers rather than simply skipping right to the text.

Deryn and Alek have always been enjoyable characters to spend time with, and this continues throughout Goliath. Westerfeld has always found a way to keep some tension between the two and in this book Tesla provides the catalyst. Tesla is an intriguing character, though he doesn’t get much time on the page. The same holds true for the other historical people we meet, such as William Randolph Hearst and Pancho Villa. My favorite new character is actually one of Hearst’s “girl reporters” (like many of the characters, based on a real person), though again, she doesn’t get a lot of page time. More so than the other two books, this is nearly wholly Deryn and Alek’s book, which is as it should be in the conclusion. I should point out, though, that perhaps the most interesting characters in this one, at least on an interest-per-word ratio, are the perspicacious lorises (lorisi?). I love their droll wit, their slow development, and their wryly terse but sage commentary.

Goliath draws an end to the series in a somewhat predictable fashion, but that doesn’t make the journey any less enjoyable. And it is a good place to finish it, so kudos to Westerfeld for not milking it too far. But I confess as well, I wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of that American Civil War between the Clanker North and Darwinist South.

The Leviathan books are wildly inventive, playfully creative, and intelligently paced, with strong main characters, evocative details that leave you wanting more, books exactly as long as they should be and no more, a great mix of technology and history, and illustrations that enhance rather than distract. Both Goliath and the entire series are highly recommended. —Bill Capossere

Goliath

Goliath successfully wraps up the story of Alek and Deryn in Scott Westerfeld’s LEVIATHAN series. I do not think it’s the best book of the three, but the world and the characters are engaging, and I always wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Westerfeld’s original steampunk trilogy takes place in the early 20^th century in a world somewhat like ours. The British have made great strides in genetic manipulation, while the Germans and their allies have invested in steam and mechanical technology. Alek, the prince of Austria, in on the run for his life, while Deryn, a girl disguised as a boy, serves as a midshipman on one of England’s organic airships, the Leviathan. Against the backdrop of a war like World War I, but different, these two young people meet and share adventures.

In Goliath, the Leviathan is directed to Russia to help an inventor who says he has created a doomsday weapon, one that will change the direction of the global war. Dr. Barlow, a “boffin” (scientist) and Charles Darwin’s granddaughter, has never trusted the enigmatic Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, but his particle beam weapon is too intriguing to be allowed to fall into the hands of the Germans. The Leviathan is diverted into central Siberia, Tunguska to be exact. Tesla has gotten himself into a bit of a mess and retrieving the scientist and his invention is no easy matter, but the crew of the Leviathan manages. Once Tesla and his invention are safely onboard, the great airship heads to America.

The problems to be solved in Goliath tend toward the personal. Alek finally discovers Deryn’s secret. This leads to complications for him, because Deryn is a commoner. Alek is torn between his feelings for his best friend and his sense of duty to his beleaguered country. The revelation of Deryn’s identity creates serious problems for her, too. She could be court-martialed, and even at best, Alek’s sense of duty to his country will definitely take him away from her if he is returned to the Austrian throne.

These issues play out as the Leviathan heads for America. Dealing with a mechanical weapon is a bit of a switch for the crew of the organic airship. Barlow doubts that it will work. The Wildcount, Alek’s counselor, thinks it might work but suspects Tesla’s motives. Tesla tells Alek that the device can destroy a city, like Berlin, and that it is the ultimate “peacekeeper” weapon. Alek is young and naïve enough to believe in such a thing, even though several characters point out to him that weapons are not created for peace.

The sections with William Randolph Hearst and Pancho Villa were the least interesting to me. The events at the Mexican revolutionary’s camp could have happened anywhere. Westerfeld makes up for this by creating a layered, complex and mysterious character in Tesla. Tesla is one of the riddles of history. Was he just an also-ran? Was he the true genius who was defeated only by the corporatism of Thomas Alva Edison? Genius? Visionary? Nutjob? Westerfeld captures all of that, and Tesla’s actions force Alek to make fundamental choices, choices that define his beliefs.

Aside from the personal problems of Deryn and Alek, it was the development of Borvil, the “perspicacious loris” and its clutch-mate that held my interest and charmed me the most. The lorises were introduced near the end of Behemoth. They are practically organic networked computers, and watching them learn, synthesize, and try to communicate with their distracted (and sometimes just clueless) human companions is delightful. At one point, Dr. Barlow says that her loris is defective, but I think the character is just being sarcastic, because the genetically engineered critters are several steps ahead of the humans at all times. I love the irony; the lorises are the most powerful thing the “boffins” have created and they don’t even realize it.

Deryn is a well-developed character, but the growth arc in this series has always been Alek’s. Ultimately, Alek must decide his destiny, and the choice he makes rings true for him. The book resolves the personal story of Alek in a satisfying and honorable way. I could be cynical and say that Goliath leaves plenty open for future books, or I could just say that the world the Westerfeld has created is interesting, detailed and full enough that it seems like these characters will go on and have real lives and adventures once the last page is turned. —Marion Deeds