It's so rare for a middle book in a trilogy to be as good as the first, but this one was! It's so exciting. I fear I'll be up with Goliath all night. 
 I think the reason I enjoyed this book so much (almost more than the first one, even though I would admit the writing isn't quite as good) is probably the fact that they were having a revolution. I`m a sucker for revolutions. Three cheers for The People! 
 That and the setting of the Ottoman Empire filled me with pleasure. Istanbul is one city that I've been hankering to visit for a few years now. It's such a mixture of different ethnicity's and the coffee really does sound amazing. 
 Also, Alek finally did something. He was at least a little bit useful in the revolution (even if it was only funding it and driving a walker.) Even though it makes sense, I've been a bit annoyed by Deryn's obvious talent and Alek's bumbliness. It's logical and believable; really, it's the only thing that Westerfeld could have done that would make sense, but it still saddens me. He's my favorite character; I'd like him to do something besides slipping up and letting his secrets slide! I guess he did do a few things in Leviathan. He kind of saved it a bunch of times over. Now that I think about it, he did more in the first book then the second. 
 So... now that I'm rethinking this book, maybe it doesn't deserve five stars after all. Leviathan was better. 
 Now, I'm off to go finish Goliath. I'm halfway done and simply must know how it finishes! Tesla! What a sneaky-beak!