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.
