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Jun. 21st, 2012 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI always struggle with how to write up second and third books in series I've been reading, especially when any individual details might be spoilery for the first books. Like, what do you say? Goliath is still about an awesome cross-dressing girl and an Austrian prince on a steampunk airship during AU World War I! Black Heart is still about a teenager consistently in over his head with his very complicated identity-shifting memory-stealing curse working family and his star-crossed Mafia love interest! Goliath could probably use more exploration of complicated questions of identity and Black Heart could definitely use more cross-dressing, but they're both fun YA trilogies with impressive worldbuilding and reasonably satisfying endings, Becca Stamp of Approval, The End.
I mean, I do have spoilery thoughts -- especially about Black Heart, since it's the conclusion of a much more ambitious and complex story; I mean, the Leviathan trilogy is basically a fun romp, and as long as it continued to be a fun romp that was going to be pretty satisfying no matter what. Black Heart was actually not as satisfying to me because in my contrarian way, I was not actually as invested in Cassel's relationship with Lila as in his relationships with the rest of the cast, so the ending of running away from everything to go on a Wacky Ill-Advised Romantic Road Trip was like 'well okay I mean I guess . . .' Totally IC, totally in keeping with the rest of the series! But eh. Danica and Sam were my favorites and I felt they both kind of got the short end of the stick in the book; neither of them really got to be active players in any way this time around, they were both very much acted upon. And I wanted more exploration of memory and identity in both Barron and Cassel than I got.
That being said, still a good book, still a great series; I suspect probably way more satisfying read all together than in pieces the way I did, because then you don't have to compare the books against each other and can take in the story as a whole.
Anyway, the comments here are a spoiler-happy zone, talk to me about your thoughts! That is the main reason I do these posts anyway. :D
I mean, I do have spoilery thoughts -- especially about Black Heart, since it's the conclusion of a much more ambitious and complex story; I mean, the Leviathan trilogy is basically a fun romp, and as long as it continued to be a fun romp that was going to be pretty satisfying no matter what. Black Heart was actually not as satisfying to me because in my contrarian way, I was not actually as invested in Cassel's relationship with Lila as in his relationships with the rest of the cast, so the ending of running away from everything to go on a Wacky Ill-Advised Romantic Road Trip was like 'well okay I mean I guess . . .' Totally IC, totally in keeping with the rest of the series! But eh. Danica and Sam were my favorites and I felt they both kind of got the short end of the stick in the book; neither of them really got to be active players in any way this time around, they were both very much acted upon. And I wanted more exploration of memory and identity in both Barron and Cassel than I got.
That being said, still a good book, still a great series; I suspect probably way more satisfying read all together than in pieces the way I did, because then you don't have to compare the books against each other and can take in the story as a whole.
Anyway, the comments here are a spoiler-happy zone, talk to me about your thoughts! That is the main reason I do these posts anyway. :D
