Leviathan 01

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Average customer rating 4.6 (14 comments)

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This book is a delight. The worldbuilding is some of the most creative I've ever read, the characters are lovable and distinct, and the plot is fast-paced without sacrificing character development.

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I absolutely loved this book. The characters are fully formed, popping off the page, or CD in my case, and continue to evolve throughout the book. The world is full of life, history, and culture. The setting of the very beginning of WWI gives the reader a starting point, but this tale doesn’t simply sit there �" no, it grabs the reader in mechanical pincers and genetically modified tentacles and drags one into an intricate plot and riotously good story. The steampunk elements easily intertwine with the alternate history that takes place. The element that I wasn’t expecting, yet worked so incredibly well, was the British Darwinists’ genetically modified beasties. Some were small (like flechette bats and straffing hawks) while some were huge (like the hydrogen breather Leviathan). The story alternates between two points of view: Alek of Austro-Hungary and Deryn of the British Air Service. Both teens are quickly being pushed towards adulthood in this blossoming war. Deryn’s sense of humor is quick, rough, and lightens the mood of what could have been a pretty morbid alternate history. Alek, having lead a pampered semi-royal life until his most recent adventures, still manages to retain a strong sense of honor, which often leaves his protectors groaning. Count Vulgar, what side do you stand on? Scott Westerfeld has written this character so well that I can’t yet tell if the Count is simply out for his best interests, or if he is truly committed to Alek 100% and his pride is wounded when Alek no longer looks to him for every decision. Dr. Barlough with her Tasmanian Devil is another fascinating character taking no nonsense from anyone as she carries forth a diplomatic military (even scientific?) mission. Personally, I found the beasties more fascinating than the mechanisms, but that is probably the biologist in me throwing a party over this book. Did anyone else ever play that computer game Impossible Creatures? Yeah, it’s somewhat crazy cool like that. I haven’t come across tigers with lobster claws or anything, yet, but if there was a burning need for such a beastie, I am sure Westerfeld could build it in. Narration: Alan Cumming was fantastic. He gave this perfect, sometimes sarcastic, tone to Deryn, especially when she is cussing (Bum rag! Barking spiders!). He also did accents, and not just British. Alek and his fellow Austrians were all done in a Germanic accent (I personally can’t tell a German accent from an Austrian). Occasionally, he was called upon to make a weird mechanical or bestial noise, which he pulled off easily.

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Since I'm into steam punk and anything dealing with bio-mechanical weaponry, I decided to read this book. I like how it involves British Darwinists who employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the best in the British fleet. But, the story also involves two main characters in the midst of the war. One character is named Aleksandar Ferdinand, a prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His life was ruined when his people turned against him. He has no title and no empire. His only means of survival is to captain a ship called the Stormwalker and it's loyal crew. The other character is Deryn Sharp,a commoner, who disguises herself as a boy in the British Air Service. Complicated. She's always worrying that someone will find out her secret which will happen, but anyway. The two meet and an adventure ensues and they end up on the Leviathan. It's a great book.

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My new favourite young adult book of all time, and without a doubt one of the best illustrator and writer combinations! I've been a huge fan of Keith Thompson's art for years so when I heard he had illustrated this book I had to buy it. The story itself, when it was first described to me, sounded interesting but nothing overly special - how wrong my first impression was! I love steampunk-themed things but sometimes I feel steampunk media gets a little too stuck on that aspect of the story and forgets about the humanity and the plot. Leviathan, however, COMPLETELY rekindled my faith and my excitement in steampunk media. When I took a chance and sat down to read this book I was hooked for life after just the first page, and couldn't put it down til the last. Leviathan has the thrill and danger of war, one of the most natural depictions of friendship and comradery I've seen in a decade, and perfectly captures the magic and epic feeling of a steampunk world without ever once distracting the reader from the true story. Impressive indeed, and a very fun and fulfilling read.

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When World War II meets Star Wars, Leviathan is born. It is an exciting alternative reality tale perfect fot the adventure seeking young adult or young at heart.

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Leviathan is the first book in the Leviathan series, the world that he creates is a steampunk dream, and nightmare, with just enough real history to allow the reader to follow along. The main characters seem to be well rounded, but not super human, who make mistakes, and bad decisions, but triumph, in small ways mostly, over these mistakes. All in all a delightful light read.

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This book was so much fun to read. I couldn't put it down! Really cool interaction between nature and technology

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A fun alternate history - first of a trilogy. Supposedly for young adults, it is really interesting enough for all ages. Imagine a Europe of 1914 where there are two camps - rather like our world - except they have more than ideology and loyalties dividing them. The Darwinists have built on Darwin's and Huxley's discoveries to create life forms to replace machines in many applications. The Leviathan of the title is a whale based airship (a colony of hundreds of life forms, really) about 200 meters long. The Clankers have built on steam and internal combustion to extend the machine far beyond where it was in our world, fighting in armored walking machines. The main characters are Dylan (Deryn) Sharp - a girl passing as a male to get into the air service and a midshipman on Leviathan by a fluke - and Alex - the unacknowledged heir to the Hapsburg throne after his father, Archduke Ferdinand was assasinated. How they meet and the many adventures in this and the other two books are great fun and have inspired a lot of fan fiction! Light, fun reading for anyone over 12.

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The beginning of an epic, wonderful adventure which follows Alek and Deryn, two youngsters from completely different backgrounds, as they seek out their destinies and find out that they are inextricably linked. It is such a lovely series and this book, the first in the trilogy, completely hooks the reader until it is impossible not to read with such voracity that one will no doubt be finished with the series before too long. I will look back fondly on this series often and, I think, with many other fans, will hope vehemently for many adventures to come (in the form of sequels.)

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Leviathan is the first book in Scott Westerfeld's amazing steampunk trilogy that begins with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Westerfeld's alternate history version of the event pits the Clankers (those who wage war with huge, armored, steam-powered weapons) against the Darwinists (who create living, breathing, fabricated "beasties" for the same purpose). Darwinist creatures critical to the existence of the Leviathan include strafing hawks, hydrogen sniffers (six-legged dog-like creatures that sniff for hydrogen leaks on the Leviathan), and flechette bats (who eat dried fruit and steel flechettes before attacking the enemy with their "droppings"). The story follows the adventures of the two young protagonists: Deryn Sharpe, a 15-year-old Scottish girl who has enlisted as Midship"man" Dylan Sharpe aboard the HMS Leviathan (literally, a whale of an airship), and His Serene Highness Prince Alek of Austria(his father was Archduke Ferdinand) who is running for his life from the Germans and hiding his identity from everyone. Dylan (Deryn) is incredibly brave (her father was an airman who died tragically in front of Deryn in a ballooning accident). She is also very quick-witted and is responsible for saving the Leviathan on several occasions. Prince Alek is quite earnest in his desire to do whatever he can to end the war. He is also a bit pompous at times, but very aware that his protected childhood has left him at a disadvantage in the real world. The relationship that develops between Deryn and Alek provides the heart for a very well-told tale. This book was absolutely outstanding. I listened to the whole series on CD--it is narrated quite delightfully by Alan Cummings, who does an admirable job with the many different accents (British, Scottish, Turkish, German, and American) involved.

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I liked this book. It is set at the very beginning of World War I, only the world is very different from how history remembers it. Huge, monstrous machines are used for transportation and war, and genetic engineering (called fabrication) has advanced beyond any level of probability. Whole ecosystems travel through the air. Scott Westerfeld has created a world that fascinates and delights the reader, or, at least, this reader. This book was well written, though the new vocabulary takes a little bit of getting used to. What sort of curse is "barking spiders?" However, the quirky words and phrases added a bit of fun to the dialogue. I loved the Derynisms. Alek and Deryn are fun in their different ways, but this is a book where the world is more important than the characters. Alek is a little bit arrogant, but not painfully so, and he has a very clear sense of what is right and wrong. Deryn is highly entertaining. In her attempt to retain her disguise, she sometimes acts more like a boy than some boys do. Both characters are impulsive and have no sense of false modesty.

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This fun book takes us on an alternate history steampunk adventure set in 1914 Europe with Alek, the boy heir to an empire, and Deryn, a smart girl-masquerading-as-a-boy in the the royal air patrol. It's an easy read. This isn't "The Young Lions" of our age, but it's good for those looking to fill the Harry Potter void or anyone interested in a rich new world just a little different from our own. It's a world where Darwinists are at odds with Clankers and impetuous young adults learn the weight of responsibility.

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Rollicking good times - this was my first steampunk novel, and I loved it. Excellent read for kids and adults. Appreciated the attention to detail, including setting, character, language and technology. Great for a switch post-Potter.

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This was my favorite young adult book of 2010. The alternate history story was very interesting and well written, the illustrations were fantastic, and I cannot wait for the third in the series. I was completely sucked in by the storyline and read it every chance I got and as soon as I finished this one, I had to go get Behemoth.