A review by theseventhl
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

5.0

Behemoth might be even better than Leviathan; it is exciting and clever and thrilling and has loads more Clanker and Darwinist creations to marvel over as Mr Westerfield describes them in great detail. As the first book laid out the intricate world inside the ship Leviathan, the second book lays out the intense political atmosphere that exists outside the ship as it takes place mostly in Istanbul, a country rife with struggle and the focus of such superpowers as England and Germany. I was worried about Westerfield's treatment of a foreign culture, but he treats Istanbul with the respect it deserves and does not make the characters that inhabit it merely cookie cutter types to fit into country stereotypes. There's a young woman introduced in this book who is a stellar mechanist and very much woman's lib and she becomes an interesting and surprising character without falling into any of the pitfalls of stereotypically strong women from foreign countries. Overall, Behemoth is a clear step-up in the quality of the series - but only the third book due sometime next year will tell whether the series as a whole is a success.