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by Tim Curran
I've been hearing Tim Curran is good for some time and have had this one and Dead Sea on my Kindle for a while, so I finally decided it's about time I read one of his books! This one called me first.
I could see right away that the writing was good. The cover was enough to tell me to expect a good monster story and that's what I got. The beginning set up a situation that might be called predictable, but the execution is what carries it. A deserted beach with police warnings on a coast that is otherwise full of tourists and a monster on the cover... let's see... what might happen? As the protagonist is a photographer, it's guaranteed to happen up close.
Though I felt the character development could have been sustained longer, the story moved fast and was full of imagery and excitement. I read most of the last three quarters in one sitting which is a sign of a gripping story! I did feel that a few loose ends weren't adequately followed up at the end, but by then I was too out of breath to worry about it. I'll definitely be reading my other book by this author soon and probably more besides.
Either the second half got tedious or I had lost the flow. Way too much inner reflection of the detective. And the very end got a little sappy.
by Scott Westerfeld
audio book narrated by Alan Cumming
Book 3 (final) of Leviathan
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!
by Scott Westerfeld
audio book narrated by Alan Cumming
Book 2 of Leviathan
If I wanted to be honest with myself, I both don't remember much about this book, but also very much enjoyed listening to it. I can see that Behemoth sort of suffers from that second book syndrome--at least in my case, it didn't do much for me--and yet, at the same time, there were a lot of new character developments that helped propel the book forward.
I won't reiterate the concept behind the Leviathan series--the whole Darwinists versus Clankers of World War I. But I DID find the introduction of the Perspicacious loris quite fun. It DID take some time before I could picture the creature in my head... and probably would have benefited from going out and doing a search for an artist's rendering. After all, for the longest time, I thought it was some sort of reptilian creature until the narrative started mentioning its fur. Of course, that was my own stupid imagination considering a loris is, indeed, a cute little primate thing... duh.
And in the book, it is a cute little primate thing, and it tends toward repeating words, alerting useful noises, giving our main characters insights and clues; and having it in the background softened a lot of the darkness of the impending war.
Meanwhile, character and story-wise, the plot was interesting to an extent, but I found that it felt like there was entirely too much going on. And a lot of the actions of our characters didn't really make a whole lot of sense. I would almost agree with Count Volgar that Alek's actions were a bit foolish, as he so readily reveals his identity as the runaway prince from Austria-Hungary to everyone. And all because he's got this notion that he was the one who needed to end the war somehow. I'm not entirely sure that Alek remembers he's just a kid, and a prince who's being hunted.
And while I had mentioned that there was a lot of new character developments, I'm not entirely sure that those developments really lasted. Alek and Deryn learn more about each other, and their friendship seems to get that much tighter. The introduction of Lilit to create a bit of romantic tension was interesting, but I'm not sure quite necessary for the romantic tension.
This story, after all, still reads a bit juvenile in voice, and I have a hard time picturing any kind of romance developing at all. As far as I'm concerned, Deryn and Alek are just best friends even as there is constant mention of how Deryn has developed feelings for Alek.
In spite of all of my complaints and quibbles of this particular installment of Leviathan, however, I found myself immensely enjoying the forward progress starting from the last half of the book. As I'd mentioned in my review of Leviathan, I found the narration that follows Deryn the most interesting. In contrast, I found Alek's parts of the story a bit lacking, and I'm not sure what it is about Alek I don't really like--maybe too much of his "Woe is me, but I'm the chosen one" attitude?
When Deryn and Alek reunite towards the middle half of the book, things felt like they were finally going somewhere. But while there was a lot of action, the whole course of the series plot still felt a bit stagnant. Thus is the fate of being the second book in a trilogy, I suppose.
Meanwhile, even as I write this review, I'm almost done with the last book and probably ready to write its review. This pretty much tells anyone, myself mainly, how much I'm enjoying this trilogy even in spite of all my complaints. Blinders... they're always good for something, right? =D
