Title: Leviathan
Author:
Scott Westerfeld
Ships
Launched: 811
Pages: 484
Publisher:
Simon Pulse
Year
Published: 2009
Genre:
Steampunk/Historical Fiction
Synopsis: It
is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The
Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines
loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated
animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the
most masterful beast in the British fleet.
Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His
title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of
men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl
disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But
her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With the Great War brewing, Alek's
and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard
the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that
will change both their lives forever.
I really enjoyed this book. I have read a few
books by Westerfeld before, and I enjoyed them very much as well (Uglies, Pretties, etc.) So naturally, I
expected much of the same style from this book.
Westerfeld surprised me. It almost seemed like
the different people wrote Leviathan and
Uglies. His voice switched perfectly
into the best type of narration for this book. The world of Leviathan was fascinating. It was
like a parallel universe to WWI, but with fabricated animals against machines.
It was really fast-paced, almost too fast-paced
at times. There was endless non-stop action. Sometimes it was a little
overdone, but it was not nearly as bad as mindless action movies, where it
seems like a lot of action with a smidgeon of plot thrown in. In Leviathan, the action supported the plot
without overwhelming it. At times, the story got a little confusing because the
world that Westerfeld created was so complex that it was difficult to understand
what was going on.
I thought that the plot was intriguing.
Having just studied WWI, I found it interesting to link up what was
going in the book to the real events of the war. Even with all of the action,
the plot was still strong. Leviathan
was never boring.
The characters in this book were excellent. Deryn’s
masquerade as a boy was so convincing that sometimes, when a “she” popped up in
the writing, I was surprised to recall that she was, in fact, a girl. Alek’s
growth from a scared, orphaned boy into a confident young adult was interesting
to watch. But again, with all of the action, it did not feel like you really
got to know the characters. I liked
the switching viewpoints between these two characters, however. It gives the
reader a different perspective on everything that is taking place.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was mesmerizing and never boring, and the characters were interesting and original.
The action sometimes threatened to bring everything down, but the plot remained
strong in the end.
+20
– WWI Plot – I enjoyed the references between this mostly fictional book and
the real war that took place very much.
+15
– No clichéd romance (yet): Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cute love stories, but I’m
glad that this book didn’t do that. It’s just too overdone, and the romance would
not have fit in with all of this action. We'll just have to see what the sequel has in store!
+15
– The Illustrations: The illustrations in this book were beautifully done, and they gave you a
clearer image of the intriguing world that Westerfeld created. They really
added another level to the story.
