This is the third book in the “Leviathan” trilogy, written by well-known YA author Scott Westerfeld. I have positively reviewed the first book (Leviathan) and the second book (Behemoth) in previous blog posts. Well-written and fast-paced, I was engaged in his steampunk world, and anxious to know how his main protagonist (Deryn) has fared.

Set shortly after Behemoth, the British Air Service’s airship Leviathan is given orders to pick up “special cargo” in Russia as the war between the Darwinists (Britain, France, Russia) and the Clankers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Serbia) rages on. It is rumoured to be a formidable weapon that could irrevocably change the balance of power throughout the world.

Once the package is acquired, the orders are now to sail across the Pacific ocean and the United States (who are not yet involved in this war) to deliver it to New York. The Hearst media empire and Mexico’s Pancho Villa figure into the story in both a believable and cynical way.

Up to her usual heroics, Deryn finally gets seriously hurt after performing a daring feat of flying. Knowing it is the last book in the series, we feel real peril on her behalf. After all she has gone through in order to be in the British Air Service, is this now the end of her career? Will she cause the disgrace of her family and the entire British Admiralty when her secret is discovered?

Alek is pursuing his own single-minded agenda to end the war. He feels the personal responsibility deeply and does not consider either the counsel of his advisor Count Volger or the concerns of his men. He is also quite oblivious to Deryn’s affection for him.

In addition to the usual cast of characters, we are reintroduced to several of the characters from earlier in the series, each playing a pivotal role at points throughout the book.

In the first book, Dr. Barlow – granddaughter of Charles Darwin – is carefully nursing a set of eggs. In the second book, the eggs hatch and one of the animals “imprints” onto Alek. In this book, the animal, a perspicacious loris, is a prominent character never far from Alek’s side. It regularly repeats a word it has recently heard, chatters with the other loris, but has no effective contribution to the plot. These utterances, while occasionally interesting, rarely provide usable clues to what is going on or about to happen. As they are used it is more of a distraction to the reader.

This is the weakest of the three books, throwing improbable obstacles in the way of our two heroes. The resolution of the potential romance between Deryn and Alek is handled unevenly and given a hurried-feeling and a contrived resolution. Whereas the first two books were strongly character-driven, this has them act not in ways they normally would, but in ways they had to for the story.

I heartily recommend the series for any YA readers, steampunk fans, and lovers of intelligent, adventurous female heroes. ( )

I loved the scene where Alec found out that Deryn was a girl.

Tropes: secret royal, girl disguised as boy, friends to more

Content: battle, kissing, d*mn a couple of times

4 Stars ( )

I don't use the word "heteronormative" lightly, but.....

(Ugh.)

Apart from the increasingly annoying Certified 100% Heterosexual Relationship that Westerfeld made central to the story, this was pretty good. It really didn't need the romance driving it; "romance" mostly just tosses a hat over gaping ridiculous plot developments like Alek literally throwing away his royalty (very punny; I'm still wincing), and Alek having an actual consistent political position (if that's too much to expect from a teenager, then how does Dylan have such freedom of action in her relatively low-on-the-totem-pole military rank?). Story itself was a little disjointed and strung-together, but it worked, and overall I really like Westerfeld's warping of history. I am still confused about Dylan's rank; the first two books make it seem like she was more of a cabin boy, but she always had a lot more latitude than I expected, even accounting for the "bell captain" effect (where the people who carry out the orders have a kind of power that the people giving the orders do not).

I liked the characterization of Tesla, although maybe it helps that I find his adoring present-day fan club annoying.

The social barriers Dylan ran up against, even with Dr. Barlow, were really painful to read. Maybe I took it too personally. I kept having flashes to [b:Monstrous Regiment|386371|Monstrous Regiment (Discworld, #31)|Terry Pratchett|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347894977s/386371.jpg|25787074]; I would have loved to see how Dylan was going to keep living her dream, or how other women were dealing with things-as-they-were. Which begs the question, is Dylan going to keep living as a man? Some hints are certainly dropped in that direction. Isn't that going to create some sticky social issues if she and Alek pursue their romantic relationship?

If so, Westerfeld isn't going to be the one to tell us about it. I've liked his work for a long time, his books are generally thoughtful and don't talk down to his young readers, but right now I am incredibly disappointed in him. Either he knew what he was doing with his queer subtext and was too cowardly to make it text/caved to the editors, or it was all just a joke to him. ( )

A very pleasant read. All three books. ( )

Being the daft person that I am, it took me until halfway through the second book of the series to realize that this was a Steampunk take on World War 1. Well written series, beautiful illustrations, and a fitting and great ending. ( )