Leviathan is a dieselpunk alternate history, set in Europe on the day the Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarejevo. On the one side we have the Central powers: Germany, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire; collectively known as 'Clankers' because of their mighty walkers, airships and other machines. On the other side we have the Triple Entente: Great Britain, France and Russia; called 'Darwinists' in this world, a name they've earned by manipulating the 'life-threads' (read DNA) of animals to create giant creatures of war, living counterparts to the Clankers' dreaded war machines.
Caught in the middle of this brewing war are two unlikely friends: Aleksander, the son of the Archduke and secret heir to the Hapsburg throne and Deryn, a girl posing as a boy in the Royal Air Navy.
For the sake of avoiding any spoilers I'll stop the plot re-hash now. Just take my word for it, the pace is fast, the action masterfully executed, the dialogue witty and fluid, and the characters as real as they come. But the thing that I really loved about this book was exploring the striking contrasts and similarities between Westerfeld's book and true history.
I'll admit that there was one point on which I disagreed with the professional reviewers. Most of them made some kind of comment or another about the ingenious language Westerfeld had invented to go along with his Clanker and Darwinist creations. Well . . . other than Clanker, Darwinist and actually naming some of the man-made Darwinist creatures, I think Westerfeld only added in maybe a half dozen new words. Fun, but hardly noteworthy.
All in all, I would recommend Leviathan to anyone looking for a good read, regardless of what type of fiction they're interested in. I'm already halfway through the sequel Behemoth and hungry for the final installment, Goliath.
Go Clankers!
(ok, ok . . . I've always had a soft spot for the big machines . . .)
