Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)

by Scott Westerfeld

Two opposing forces are on the brink of war. The Clankers - who put their faith in machinery - and the Darwinists - who have begun evolving living creatures into tools. Prince Aleksandar, the would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, comes from a family of Clankers, and travels the country in a walker, a heavily-fortified tank on legs. Meanwhile Deryn Sharp, a girl disguised as a boy, works for the British Empire, crewing the ultimate flying machine: an airship made of living animals. Now, as Alek flees from his own people, and Deryn crash-lands in enemy territory, their lives are about to collide...

• ISBN10: 1847386741
• ISBN13: 9781847386748
• Publish Date: 27 May 2010 (first published 1 September 2009)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 May 2015
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[leahrosereads]

Wowzers! OK first off, there’s quite a bit of info dumping in this book, and normally I hate that, but I was so fascinated by this alternate history, that I didn’t mind it at all.

In fact, I was happy with all the information that Westerfeld was tossing my way.

LEVIATHAN is an alternate history surrounding following World War I starting in 1914. It follows two protagonists, Prince Aleksander (heir(ish) to the Austrian-Hungarian throne) and Deryn Sharp, a commoner who joins the British Air Service...in disguise...as a boy, because girls couldn’t join the service at the time.


The War is just starting with the Germans having struck first, and both sides are preparing for battle. However, this world has a bunch of new crazy technologies that are insane, incredible, and just things that I really kind of want in real life. Now.

One side (Germans, Austrian-Hungarian, etc.) have Clankers. It’s high-tech machinery that is large, loud, and really freaking powerful.

The other side (the British) have fabricated creatures. In this world, Darwin has discovered and opened up new technologies using DNA, animals, and engineering to create some really spectacular creations. The Darwinists continue to advance this technology, and from the Leviathan (a fabricated creature that uses whales and creates a new ecosystem - also what Deryn is on throughout the book) to the Huxleys (fabrications using jellyfish and used as kind of air-rides for scouts), they all just sound amazing.


Deryn and Alek’s journeys are very different, and being on different sides of this upcoming War, that’s completely understandable.

When they finally meet though, that’s when I feel like the book really gets going (and it is near the end of the book).

LEVIATHAN definitely reads as the first book in a series. There’s a lot of build-up for the plot, characters, and settings, but, there’s enough going on during this book, that I didn’t mind all of the world building.


I would definitely recommend giving this book a try, and I can’t wait to continue the series. I really want to know where Deryn and Alek’s friendship goes, what Dr. Barlow’s mission is, and what other beasties and clanker creations there are in future books.

I know that this isn’t a great review, but I really didn’t want to give too much away. However, I do think it’s worth looking into.

[Angie]

Leviathan is one of those books that I was intrigued by, but hesitant to read. I normally can't get into books that deal with war in the real world, but I was hoping that the Steampunk twist would keep my interest. And like I predicted, I enjoyed it, but because of the awesome contraptions that were introduced, and less so about the plot. Alek's the son of an Austrian duke, who was just murdered by the Germans to start a war. Now he's on the run, since he's a very important politic piece. Meanwhile, Deryn is disguising herself as a boy so she can work on airships, and the one she winds up on is shot down by the Germans, allowing her to cross paths with the hidden prince.

What I really loved about Leviathan was the "beasties." Charles Darwin did a lot more in this alternate history than form theories on evolution. He discovered the very life threads of animals and how to manipulate them. There's all kinds of interesting creatures running around. My favorite being the messenger lizards! They're pretty much mash-ups of parrots and the Geiko gecko! So awesome! And there's the Leviathan itself, which is an airship, but also an entire ecosystem. It's a whale filled with bees, bats, birds, and whatever and runs off of their...fuel. It's all very awesome. There's also the mechanical beats, but I was less impressed with those. I just kept thinking of Transformers whenever they were mentioned.

There are illustrations in Leviathan which I thought were a nice touch. Some of the machines and animals are hard to picture, but you don't have to imagine them, since they're right there! Although I did start thinking that maybe the descriptions were a bit lacking because the pictures were included. Or maybe I just have a crappy imagination. Some of the drawings didn't really add much to me, mainly the ones that just show the characters doing stuff. I much preferred the ones that showed the various animals and machines.

In the end, I did enjoy Leviathan quite a bit. I was much more interested in the world building than anything, since it made the science geek in me squee with the delight. As for the plot, I didn't care too much for the politics and war aspects, which made it hard for me to get into Alek's chapters. But I was totally into Deryns, because gender bending! The one thing that will make me continue this series is those eggs Dr. Barlow is hauling around. What in the world is in them!? Dragons!? Please be dragons!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Mercy]

A ver, no es la mejor historia del mundo pero me entretuvo muchísimo. Y estuve muuuuy emocionada. Aunque espero mucho que mejore en los siguientes porque es demasiado simple y eso lo hace un poco meeeh.
Diré algo más sensato pero otro día que ahora mismo voy corriendo a leer la segunda parte. Porque eso sí, me dejó muy intrigada :D

[Rinn]

Also reviewed on my blog, Rinn Reads.

I picked this book up from the library back in August, and it sat unread on my shelf for almost two months - I had to renew it about four times, and actually almost returned it unread because of the pile of books I had to read and review for October and November. I am so, so glad that I made time for it, because it was an absolutely fantastic and completely fun read.

Set in an alternate past, during World War I, the tactics and machinery used are rather different from what we know. There are the Clankers, the German Central Powers, who prefer man-made weapons, and use steam driven machines and ammunition for their fights. The Darwinists, on the other hand (the British Entente Powers), have played around with biology, and bred special animals to help in their battles. For example, at one point Deryn rides up into the sky hanging from a Huxley, a sort of jellyfish creature filled with hydrogen. And the eponymous Leviathan - well it's an airship made of a giant whale and many other creatures. The whole concept of the Clankers and Darwinists was absolutely brilliant, such an original idea and completely enchanting.

Deryn was a wonderful character, going completely against everything expected of a young girl in the early twentieth century. She is intelligent and quick-witted, foul-mouthed at times and very, very brave. She made me laugh many a time, with her quirky curse words. Aleksander is somewhat more serious and mopey, but not at all in an annoying way. In fact it was nice to have the roles that way, the opposite of what often seems to be the norm in YA books.

Another fantastic thing was the use of real historical figures, or references to them. There is even a little appendix separating the real events from the fictional, and talking about the people in the book who actually existed. Not to mention the artwork, illustrated by Keith Thompson, it was a lovely addition to the story and the style was perfect. You can view some samples of it on Scott's website, if you scroll to the bottom of the page.

I was completely surprised by this book. It is a fast-paced adventure, full of unique ideas, and I can't emphasise how fun a read it was! I found it very different from Westerfeld's Uglies series, which I read in my mid teens, and I enjoyed Leviathan a lot more - so if you've read Uglies and are unsure about reading this, I urge you to try it anyway! With a clever play on real events, interspersed with completely fictional ones, this book is a definite must read - and a brilliant introduction to steampunk for anyone who has not yet encountered the genre.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

Leviathan started out slowly, taking time to build a world where Germany and her allies have invented machines that walk like animals and England and her allies rely on enormous fabricated species to do the work of machines. For the first 100 pages, I admit I was somewhat bored. However, after the scene is set, Westerfeld takes readers on a fairly exciting adventure complete with battles between the different Clanker and Darwinist technologies and a plethora of political and personal secrets. The story is populated with a great cast of characters, including Alek and his loyal followers, Deryn, a lady scientist!, and the Leviathan itself. The interactions between them are fascinating and sure to become more complex in the sequel. Though there was only the faintest whiff of a romance in Leviathan, that is obviously coming, too. Overall, Leviathan will be a good read for fans of history or science fiction and will be equally appealing to readers of either gender.

Also included are a number of fantastic illustrations of goose bump-inducing scenes by Keith Thompson and a note on the actual history of WWI for comparison with the story.

[nannah]

This book was like finding a new best friend. Something just CLICKED.

First off, Westerfeld's writing is beautiful. It's functional, it's evoking, and it's gorgeous without being bogged down by an excess amount of detail. It's just glorious.

I loved the interaction between the two main characters (when it finally happened) and I love that Deryn hiding her gender ended up being a more original plot device than the concept usually ends up becoming. Speaking of that business, Deryn's character was not bogged down by the conflict of hiding her gender. I honestly believe Deryn is the first female hiding herself as a boy that I didn't find annoying at any point in the story.

The science and the research that went into this novel is fascinating, and completely solid. Everything seems real. I forget that I'm reading a book and I'm right in with the action and the story.

Brilliant story. I wish it would have had more of an ending, though, despite that I know that it's just the first book. I wished there was more of a conclusion with the characters and the plot.

Of course, I'm sure he planned it this way to keep readers itching for the sequel. One I can hopefully get my hands on very soon . . .

[inlibrisveritas]

I'm not usually into the sci-fi steampunk variety of books even though I find it interesting but the alternate history part of this was actually pretty cool and I might buy the second one pretty soon.

[rakesandrogues]

As the first in the series, there was definitely a lot of development done in order to get the story moving along. Overall, I thought that the writing was too slow and I had a hard time getting into it. I'm rusty on my history, and I thought that it would have helped me a lot to understand what was going on.

However, I do believe that Leviathan has a lot of potential. I was fascinated by the "beasties" in the story and how they worked against the clankers' machines. The descriptions were vivid, and I was able to get a good sense of these futuristic objects, though the beautiful illustrations did a lot of help to paint the picture.

Though I am disappointed with the first book, I will continue to read the series and see where it leads to.