Two Great YA Trilogies Continue: Goliath and Crossed released

Over the last couple of years, I've found myself reading a lot of young adult fiction ... and you know what, it's pretty darn good stuff. This is odd, because since the 6th grade I've really been reading mostly adult fiction. As a kid, I focused on things like Asimov, Niven, Clarke, Bova, Heinlein (not the kid's stuff), and so on, and it was only later that I went back to read some of the classic young adult literature.

This fall there'll be the release of two new books which continue established series that I've quite enjoyed. Here they are!

Steampunk World War

The third book of Scott Westerfeld's fascinating steampunk/biopunk alternate World War I young adult trilogy (that's a mouthful) is now out. I discussed the first and second books, Leviathan and Behemoth, back at the beginning of the year, so I'm definitely looking forward to how things come to a resolution in Goliath.

 

Can't Dictate Love

I'm also looking forward to Crossed, the second book in Ally Condie's Matched trilogy (which began, understandably enough, with Matched). This book is set in a dystopian future where marriages are arranged by the state, focusing on Cassia, who falls in love with someone that she's not "supposed" to. (As revealed in the first book, things are a bit more complex than that, but you get the idea.) The book ended with her separated from her love and in this sequel we get to see what happens. The first book was very low on action, but I think there's a good chance that this book will have more action, because the first book left off with Cassia leaving the safety of the city. What was great about the first book is that it could have been a very simplistic romance triangle and it quickly became clear that the author wasn't going that simple route, but was instead going to delve into some real worldbuilding and social analysis. I can't wait to see what happens!

Crossed will be released on Nov. 1.