Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Simon Pulse, 2009. ISBN 9781416971733.
(Ages 10+) Recommended. Excitement,
extreme adventure and thrills start on page one and don't let up until
the last
page in this latest blockbuster in the steampunk genre. Riding machines
that
are fuelled by living creatures, with talking lizards taking messages
between
crews, the Darwinists (the Allies) are about to be embroiled in a war
with the
Axis powers (the Clankers) who still use only mechanically driven
machines. It
is World War One, taken to a whole new level.
The
Archduke and his wife have been shot; their son is fleeing for his life
on the
magnificent Stormwalker, and is holed up in a castle, especially
prepared for
him, in Switzerland. Landing badly nearby, a whale airship, powered by
bats,
called the Leviathan, the most magnificent beast in the British fleet,
is
stranded and dying. After Alek skis down to aid the wounded man, the
captain
and particularly Dr Barlow, turn for help from him and his small crew
at the
castle. Each has a hidden agenda, and if Alek can help the airship at
least
clear the ground then the hope of continuing its mission to
Constantinople will
be realised.
Alek,
the son of the Arch Duke, and Deryn, an imposter aboard the airship,
trying to
make it as a crew member, and hiding her sexuality, become friends, and
so the
adventure begins.
Readers
will be enthralled at the beasts themselves, whether they be the
mechanical
giants of the Axis powers, or the part animal beasties of the Allies,
the
descriptions are fascinating, made more so by the scatter of drawings
through
the text and the engrossing drawing of the map of Europe on the end
papers. The
publication of this sublime novel, of which there is at least a sequel,
is
handsome. Hardback, a sumptuous cover with tactile lettering and raised
pictures, the end papers are illuminating as are the descriptions added
by
Westerfeld at the back of the book. Everything about this book screams
a
pleasurable experience, and the reader will not be let down.
Fran Knight