Leviathan

By Scott Westerfeld
Start Date: 14 November 2010
End Date: 15 November 2010

I finished Leviathan last night, and I really liked it. It reminds me a little bit of some other books (especially Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines books) in terms of the general premise, but the story was fast paced, engaging, and very, very well written. It takes place in an alternate Europe with parallels to the beginning of WWI. The fighting occurs between Darwinists, who use different strands of DNA in order to make semi-mythological creatures, and Clankers, who build huge war machines. It has the crossing stories of Deryn, a pilot of the British Air Service, and Aleksander, the would-be heir of the Austro-Hungarian empire. They each have a secret. Alek is trying to keep his identity hidden because both the Darwinists and the Clankers are trying to kill or capture him. Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in order to stay in the Air Service. It’s a great read that’s hard to put down. Recommended for middle- and high-school level readers.