Review: Leviathan

[Kymberly Mosley]

 

 

     Set in an alternate history at the cusp of World War I, Leviathan is a tale of Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition, otherwise known as Clankers. The British Darwinists rely on genetically engineered animals as their weaponry, including the Leviathan, a whale airship and the British fleet’s most powerful air-beast. The orphaned prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Aleksander Ferdinand, is on the run from political enemies who seek to destroy him before he can ascend the throne. He flees his own country with a small group of loyal men, dodging the Austrian and German patrols hunting them. Meanwhile, a Scottish girl named Deryn Sharp has dreams of joining the British Air Force--a dream that cannot be fulfilled simply because she is female. However, she disguises herself as a boy and joins the Academy, becoming a brilliant (for lack of a better word) airman. The paths of Deryn (or Dylan, as she renames herself) and Aleksander cross in an unlikely encounter and they soon find themselves aboard the Leviathan on a wild adventure around a world at the brink of war.

 

For those of you who, like me, aren’t so familiar with the steampunk genre, here’s a great website that goes more into detail about it. My favorite quote: “It’s sort of Victorian-industrial, but with more whimsy and fewer orphans".

 This is my first steampunk novel, and I have to say that it was pretty cool. I’m not a huge history buff, but Westerfeld’s alternate history was a really interesting twist on social studies class, with pretty pictures too. The characters are young, but are taking control over their own futures. I would recommend this book for anyone who is a history, science fiction, and/or fantasy novel fan and who has the attention span to last through the 400+ pages. It might not be such a great read for elementary school readers, but it is definitely engaging for older readers (high school or even early college students) looking to get lost in alternative history. I’m all for twisting the classics.

 

P.S. If you still aren't totally convinced that this is the book for you, perhaps this neat little trailerwill do the trick.