Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld
**** stars
What can I say about Leviathan? A book set in the World War I era, it brings about a whole new story to tell. The story starts off with Alek, the prince of the Austro-Hungarian empire, quickly leaving his home in the middle of the night without being told why. He somehow has to escape from his kingdom in his Clanker stormwalker, a giant 2 legged war machine. The story then shifts to Deryn, a 15 year old girl who loves the air, flying, and all the Darwinist fabricated creatures, who just has to sign up for the service for the upcoming war looming overhead from a political murder in Serbia. Eventually, the path of these 2 characters meet, and Alek has to make a hard choice that could endanger everything him and his travel companions have worked for, which I thought was the thing to do.
I've read some books that try to tell multiple stories at once which weren't so good, but Leviathan managed to pull it off well the whole way through. The splitness makes it easier to choose which side you are for, but still encounter some surprises for whatever side you choose. The writing style was just right I thought, being not too descriptive but filling in the important details to make the book come alive and get absorbed in it, along with the black and white hand-drawn looking illustrations. This was a fast read after I sat down and started, taking me maybe 6 hours with distractions.
17 comments:
Here's my review:
Engaging and unique 5 star YA adventure!, November 8, 2009
Apparently I've been remiss in my exploration of all reading genres and missed out on this one: steampunk. Westerfeld explains in his afterward of Leviathan that it is a blending of future and past. Indeed, this novel is set in 1914 at the beginning of what comes to be known as World War I -- but in this unique tale, it is the battle of the Clankers vs the Darwinists. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans (Clankers) use weapons that are iron machines equipped with canons and guns. The British (Darwinists) have engineered weapons that are living fabricated creatures made out of multiple different species of animals, reptiles, worms, and mammals.
The story begins as young Aleksander Ferdinand, son of the Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, is secreted out of his castle home by faithful family retainers in the middle of the night after the poisoning of his parents in Sarajevo. This band of nobles and Alek escape ahead of the warmongering Germans in their engine of war known as a Cyklop Stormwalker. In a parallel story, a girl named Deryn Sharp disguises herself as a boy in order to be accepted into the British Air Service as an airman. On her first day of training, she is stranded aloft in a Huxley airbeast but is rescued by the great whale airship, the largest in the British fleet, the Leviathan.
Prince Alek and his crew encounter some difficulty and engage in a battle or two before arriving at the designated safe house in the frozen Swiss Alps where they plan to wait out the war until Alek can safely be restored to his rightful place as heir to the Empire. Meanwhile, the Leviathan stops in London to pick up a very important passenger, Dr. Nora Barlow and her mysterious cargo, and are supposed to head to a rendezvous in the Ottoman Empire. The plot converges in the Swiss Alps when the Leviathan is injured and downed on the glacier by German pursuers. Alek and Deryn meet and urge their respective alliances to join forces to escape certain death and to elude those intent on killing them. What follows is high adventure on a newly redesigned Leviathan! Secrets still exist, however, and the final chapter ends in a way that makes the reader want to know more of the story.
There will be a second novel that will follow the Leviathan and its motley crew to the Ottoman Empire and the city of Constantinople.
I'm looking forward to the sequel. Enjoy the adventure, the fantastic science, and this tinkering with history. The illustrations, the map of the European Powers, and the cover invite closer inspection and add greatly to the story. Recommend!
i think that this sounds like a very interesting book and i plan on reading it.
This boook looks really good! and from what i read about it, it sounds like a book that i plan on reading! looking foward to it!
This book was realy erntartining. It balanced the old war with the new technology very well. I cant wait for the second one.
I've read other books by Westerfeld and I really enjoy his writing style. The cover of this book is amazing! Hopefully in the future I wll find time to read it. It'll probably be just as good as all his others!
THis book sounds like it will combine new world technology with an old war. I cant wait to read it
This sounds great! I really like steampunk, so I think I'll try this one out!
This is an awesome book! I can't wait for the next one in the series.
this might spark my interest. it has to do with the war and violence
This could be a very cool book to read in the future
Looks like an exciting read. Can't wait to read it.
I actually read this book and it was one of the best books i have ever read.
I really like this it was really good. kyle lay
i cant wait to read this book. kyle lay
it looks good i cant wait to read this book. kyle lay.
looks like a good book i cant wait to reas it. kyle lay
this book looks great. cant wait to read it
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