Leviathan

By Scott Westerfeld

The year is 1914 and Europe, armed with futuristic machines and biotechnology, is on the precipice of war. Prince Aleksandar is fleeing for his life, having discovered that his parents have been assassinated and he is now a target for the Clanker Powers, a group determined to take over the globe with their mechanical machinery. When he meets Deryn Sharpe, an orphan girl who has disguised herself as a boy so she can to join the British Air Service, they form an uneasy, but necessary, alliance. But the pair will soon discover that their emerging friendship will dramatically change their lives - and the entire course of the Great World War...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: May 27, 2010
• ISBN: 9780857070005

Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld is the author of the Leviathan series, the first book of which was the winner of the 2010 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Fiction. His other novels include the New York Times bestseller Afterworlds, the worldwide bestselling Uglies series, The Last Days, Peeps, So Yesterday, and the Midnighters trilogy. Visit him at ScottWesterfeld.com or follow him on Twitter at @ScottWesterfeld.

Reviews for Leviathan

[kimjd_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A gripping "alternate history" read, and an excellent choice for fans of Ken Oppel's Airborn series.

[nmele_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Westerfield has recast World War One as a conflict between two opposing cultures, one developing machines and the other mastering genetic engineering in this novel labeled "Young Adult". I'm sixty, and was entertained by his alternate history and suspenseful plotting.

[mephistia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this. Westerfeld is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I still don't like his habit of ending the first book in a series as a cliffhanger, instead of wrapping it up as a standalone that also works as part of a series, but hey. It's apparently the new trend in YA and I alone am not going to be able to stop it.

I think it's a horrible trend, though, and I hate it.

Anyway, other than that minor detail, the book was great. It had enough closure that I didn't want to just throw the blasted thing against the wall in frustration and scream a lot (like some other cliffhanger-ending YA's I've read recently). It was also beautifully illustrated and had some incredible concepts and ideas -- I was really in awe of his imagination and how he was able to come up with such an amazing story out of such a teensy and seemingly insignificant historical fact.

[stefaniegeeks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent alternate history story with careful narrator who voices characters well. Looked at gorgeous illustrations after which were missed with audio version.  

[lindap69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

more science fiction than fact but tying the action to the events of WWI make it more frighteningly real at times - lots of action for guys and military buffs; clever use of a female main character for the girls.

[akmargie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So it didn't get the full 5 stars because it reminded me of Oppel's Airborn series which I love. That said Westerfeld is a genius in creating new worlds and this is another fantastic one. More alternative history than fantasy al la Uglies but very well done and the illustrations work, usually they just annoy me. Maybe when the next in the series comes out I'll be amazed enough to go all the way to 5

[lauren4castan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed it, will happily read the next two.

[montsamu · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(refers to audiobook)

From time to time I do enjoy a "young adult" listen (particularly the excellent City of Ember series, as well as His Dark Materials) but generally I don't expect too much in terms of story, setting, and character. Here is another fine exception to that expectation. "Leviathan" was amazingly brought to life here by Alan Cumming, as we follow the stories of Alek (a prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, on the run for his life) and Deryn (daughter to a ballooner, she enlists in the British Air Services as a boy in disguise) at the outbreak of The Great War as set in a wonderfully detailed and re-imagined alternate history, where "Clankers" (steam-powered mechs) power the German forces, and crossbred animals (tiger-wolf hybrids to pull carriages, amazing engineered jellyfish and whale airships) are the basis of the "Darwinist" forces of England.

All in all a thoroughly satisfying listen which I enjoyed immensely.

[sullywriter_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully imaginative story of World War I in an alternative reality.

[bksgoddess · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Steampunk, alternate history, whatever! This was very enjoyable! Set in an alternate universe where the Germans have mastered all sorts of machines, but Britain has gone a different way and mastered the art/science of biological engineering. This is listed as YA but is suitable for a younger audience as well.

[mlleehreen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I cracked the cover of LEVIATHAN with relish. And, speaking of covers, this one is just gorgeous - so are the endpapers, with a sepia-toned map of Europe crammed with steampunky designs. Normally I wouldn't comment on the way a book looks - I read most things on my Kindle, and I'm fine with that - but this one is a real feast for the eyes. It's richly illustrated, too, with drawings inserted into the text every few pages, so it's easy to picture the Clankers' war machines, the Darwinists' fabricated beasts, as well as individual characters.

I'm a big fan of Westerfield's UGLIES series, so I started LEVIATHAN with very high hopes. I found it much harder to immerse myself in LEVIATHAN than UGLIES. Maybe because UGLIES was simpler, so it was easy to get wrapped up in the story and watch the ideas unfold naturally. LEVIATHAN is pretty complicated. It's an alternate history of World War I, and World War I is not the easiest to understand. This book plunges us immediately into a tangled conflict, featuring alliances and backstabbing among Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Germany, Britain, France, Russia...and a handful of other countries, too.

The political alliances reflect a technological divide; in Darwinist Britain, technology is all about manipulating DNA to create custom-made hybrid species - even hybrid ecosystems - to further human advancement. Like the titular LEVIATHAN, a living airship built from a whale's DNA but incorporating message-delivering lizards, hydrogen-sniffing dogs, metal-eating bats, and a host of other creatures. The Clanker countries, like Austria-Hungary, have followed a more traditional path - their technology is mechanical, an industry of metal parts, gears and engines.

If that weren't enough, we follow the early stages of the war from two perspectives: a common British soldier and a dispossessed Austrian prince. There are probably two chapters about Alek, the Austrian prince who must run for his life after his parents are assassinated, for every one about Deryn, a girl disguised as a boy so that she can pursue her dream of joining the Royal Air Service. I don't mind the split perspective usually, but there was already so much to assimilate that constantly jumping between different locations, storylines, and sets of characters was a little exhausting.

In short, LEVIATHAN gets off to a slow start. I'd venture to say that most of this book is just exposition. Alek is adjusting to his new life as a wanted man, more important than he ever thought he'd be, and Deryn is learning the ropes as an airman. While they're getting the hang of things, the reader is learning the lay of the land. Alek and Deryn don't even meet until the book is 2/3 over, and by the end of the book they're only just starting to feel comfortable with one another. Their alliance is tentative, wary, in its early stages.

Having finished it, I'm invested in the story and the bizarre, steampunky world of the Darwinists and Clankers. I think this is the kind of book that demands a certain amount of faith from its readers, good for an author who's had a chance to establish himself and prove his mettle. If it weren't for UGLIES, I don't know if I'd follow along. But Westerfield has proven himself to be a supremely capable, brilliantly imaginative writer and I think that he's up to the challenge of a bigger, more ambitious project like LEVIATHAN.

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Normally, I steer clear of audiobooks, considering them just a step above not reading at all. For the most part, I think of them as cheating; listening to a book just isn't the same as reading one. I put aside my admittedly unfair assumptions for the Leviathan audiobook when I heard that Alan Cumming narrated it. Alan Cumming is one of the most delightful actors in my opinion and I could just not resist. I listened to the book on my drive up to my alma mater for a friend's wedding.

First, I cannot stress enough the love I have for Alan Cumming. He is an entirely spectacular narrator, as I expected he would be. He does the voices (with accents!) for the characters. As in the second X-Men movie, he does a great German accent and he is, of course, British, so he can do that too. His female voices are a bit lacking, but there are only two in the whole book and one is pretending to be a boy. Besides, no one's perfect. And his attempts at sounding female are pretty hilarious. His pacing is great and he conveys emotions perfectly.

Now, for the story itself, I can say that I enjoyed Leviathan far more than I did the other Westerfeld books I have read (the Uglies trilogy). His language either annoyed me less in audiobook format or was kept under wraps by the historical setting. The book was incredibly fun. Westerfeld did really interesting things in his reimagining of the war, changing some background seriously, but still causing everything to happen much the way it did. The Darwinist versus Clanker version of World War I makes me laugh and is, in its framework, easy to believe. Those alliance make more sense than the real version. I also found the idea that Darwin's discoveries led to so much scientific development totally awesome.

I flipped through the book itself and am sad to have missed out on the neat artwork. Still worth it for Alan Cumming though. Check this book out! It's totally worth either a read or a listen. The sequel, Behemoth, just came out.

[sriemann_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

So far my small excursion into the steampunk genre through young adult books has been a rollicking romp, with the Larklight series and now this wonderful book. Although a bit of the major plot is predictable (and some of the reason for that is that it follows the course of the Great War in Europe), the author imagined thought-provoking details about the Darwinists creations and their effects on life and culture in England as well as the Clankers creations in middle Europe. Highly recommend.

[purlewe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was, in the words of Deryn, Barking Brilliant!!!

I really did enjoy this. I found that the 2 stories meshed beautifully. I will admit that I like Deryn's story better tho... I am always a sucker for a girl dressed as a boy to do a derring do.

Steampunk, alternative history set during the beginnings of WWI. Clunkers are people who rely on machinery. Darwinists are people who rely on DNA built animals. The story is actually written about 15 yr olds, but is skews younger. I didn't mind. The tale itself was too fascinating.

Want to give it more stars, but waiting for the other parts of the trilogy.

[raschneid_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Adventure, fantabulous worldbuilding, gorgeous illustrations, and a dash of the horrors of warfare - there was pretty much nothing I did not like about this book. It really succeeded where action and pacing were concerned. And it would make a great Miyazaki film.

Westerfeld is a very good writer but his use of very short paragraphs bothered me near the beginning of the book. I stopped noticing after a while, though, so it might just be me.

[julie_loves_to_read · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book came well recommended, and unlike some of the other "Steampunk" I've tried, this volume lived up to the recommendations. While shelved under "YA," and while they might miss the incipient romance at the heart of the story, Leviathan would be appropriate for middle-grade readers as well. At heart, this is a coming of age story. I do like a good coming of age story.

[jennyelizabeth-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a great book for young teenagers. Taking two intriguing cultures, a fugitive, and a tomboy soldier with a very big secret and mashing them together brilliantly. Leviathan is interesting enough to keep the pages turning, but also thoughtful enough to pause and reflect on the story, the culture, and how Mr. Westerfeld has adapted the cultures, climate, science and politics of WWI in this Steampunk novel.

He also very annoyingly ends on a cliffhanger necessitating an emergency amazon binge buy...

The characters are loveable and fun and his play on language and slang creative and intriguing. Barking Spiders! I can't wait till the next book, Behemoth arrives...

[suzemo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was a lot of fun. A Steampunk alternate history of the opening of the Great War, focusing on an Austrian noble and an English mid-shipman, it was perfectly detailed and had just the right amount of action for me. Fast, without being all-actiony, and giving lots of details, but the fun kind that didn't bog down the story.

As I was carried along by the tale, I noticed some historical inaccuracies, but to be honest, I didn't mind (alternate history, after all), but when I noticed some scientific inaccuracies it bugged me a little bit (I can live with 1914 having knowledge and the ability to work with DNA, even though DNA wasn't discovered til the 50s, but I couldn't live with Darwin being the discoverer of DNA), but I let it go and just went along with the ride.

What I particularly appreciated, was that Westerfeld described/sorted out the truth/fiction of the historical accuracies (what he used that was real, what was incorrect), in his afterword at the end of the book, and for whatever reason, it placated me so that I can live with whatever he wants to throw out at the reader. I guess knowing the author is aware of what he's changing somehow make the changes OK.

I really look forward to the next in the series.

[ninjoblio · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I liked this book plenty, I guess the only thing that bugged me is that I didn't really CARE about the main characters. Everything else was pretty cool though.
I'll be reading the sequels whenever they come out, so there's that. If I could give half stars, this would be 3.5.

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Woo steampunk! Leviathan is a much more traditional boy's adventure style story than I expected from Westerfeld, but of course it's well-done. The core idea - the Axis developed steampunk-style technology whereas the Allies perfected genetic engineering - is brilliant and colorful, and while I'm not sure it was possible for my eyes to roll harder when the girl-disguised-as-a-boy realized she was attracted to the male protagonist, I'll have to wait for the sequel to find out just how badly that trope will annoy me.

Great fun, if a little more perfectly a young adult novel than some of his other works.

[librarybrandy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Aleksander, son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Chotek, is pulled from his bed in the middle of the night to practice night maneuvers with the walker. It's not long before he learns the truth from his teachers: his parents have been assassinated, and they need to get out of Austria quickly. Alek has very little time to learn how to pilot the giant machine in the dark. He also has to avoid detection, and when that fails, escape any and all attacks without getting himself or any of his men captured. He may be the rightful heir, but nobody can know--at least right now, on the brink of war--that he still survives.

Meanwhile, Deryn is desperate to pass the tests to become a midshipman in the Air Service. The only problem she might have is that they don't allow girls, so she enrolls in the testing as Dylan--and when a runaway hydrogen-breather takes her on an impromptu tour over London, she proves her mettle enough to be admitted. As long as her superiors don't find out she's a she.

Eventually these two meet up, both in rather dire straights. Deryn's British, Darwinist officers are all for keeping the strange Austrian Clanker under lock and key, but he may hold the keys to their salvation--just as they can help his escape. Deryn, Alek, and their respective crews have choices to make: do what's best for their countries in this new war, or what's best for their new, though unlikely, allies.

Westerfeld's latest series treds new ground for him, breaking into the Steampunk genre with this alternate history of the World War I. Unfortunately, Westerfeld is less confident here than in his other settings; the world setting fails to come alive the same way as his other books. Deryn and Alex and just about the only characters (there are others, but even the most major of these are background) and even their development is a little thin at times.

I've no doubts that this book will circulate, particularly among middle-school boys, but this Westerfeld fan was disappointed. It reads younger than his other books (maybe 5th-8th grade?), and the pictures throughout don't help. On the bright side, if I could get posters of the endpapers, I'd frame them and hang them everywhere. Too bad the interior illustration doesn't hold up to the promise made by the jacket art and endpapers.

[theheathers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like other books by Westerfeld, the action keeps a good pace and he gives just enough technical details to keep it believable but not too much to bog down the story. The protagonist is a girl hiding as a boy in the steampunk British navy at the beginning of an alternative World War I. This series could serve as an introductory to steampunk for young readers.

[les121 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Leviathan is a fast-paced, action-packed novel that had me on the edge of my seat! But it’s the fantastic worldbuilding that really makes this story shine. Imagine a steampunk, swashbuckling adventure with genetically engineered animals set during the First World War. I mean, how creative is that? I’m also a sucker for girls-disguised-as-boys books, and the heroine, Deryn, is a totally awesome ass-kicker. My one beef with this book is the ending. It’s not exactly a cliffhanger, but it will make you pull your hair out and shout, “That’s it?!” It practically ends in the middle of the story! Still, I thoroughly enjoyed Leviathan, and I’m eager to pick up the second book in the trilogy.

[readerspeak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Barking spiders! I can see why this is a popular book with students - a lot of action, secrets the characters are terrified to reveal, and a lot of weird creatures and war machines.

[terriko_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The introduction to a crazy alternate history where the Brits are Darwinists, their technology reliant on artificially evolved beasties, and the Germans are Clankers, reliant on a more steampunk type of technology. I found this book a little slower going than later volumes since it had so much world to explain, but it is most definitely worth it to start this series!

[jolerie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Archduke and his wife have just been murdered. Their son, Alek, a prince with title, but no power, a royal with no thrown to rule is on the run from a country that has betrayed him. Deryn, aka Dylan, a girl masquerading as a boy joins the ranks of solders sworn to protect the British empire from enemies, finds herself with no training, but a battle to fight nonetheless.The world is divided into Beasties and Clankers. It is a war of politics, of government secrets and conspiracies, of animals versus machines. Two unlikely friends, hesitant to trust the other with their secrets, but with the threat of war looming on the horizon, they will have no choice but to forge a tentative alliance. Steampunk can only be good if you can actually visualize the described foreign world, filled with inventions and creatures that are anything but familiar. Westerfeld has written a steampunk that is both accessible to those who are new to the genre and refreshing for seasoned readers alike. The drawings interspersed throughout the story are absolutely marvellous and they provide a visual commentary that helps those of us who struggle with the strange sights, sounds, and images. Highly recommended for anyone interested in trying out steampunk as well as those who have already fallen in love with the genre.

[agrudzien_5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In this alternate history of WWI, the battle lines are drawn between the "Darwinists" - those who have modified animals to be more useful using and often combining animals with technology - and the "Clankers" who have created all of war weapons from metal, machinery, and gasoline. As the would-be prince of Austria is on the run from the people who had his parents killed, he must unite his Clanker background with the Darwinist team from London in order to survive. Aboard the Leviathan, the Darwinist flying machine, is Deryn - a young girl posing as a boy in order to fight and fly during this time of peril. The two form a bond despite their differences in upbringing and their country's views on mechanics. I had a difficult time getting into this story, though I usually like Westerfeld's writing style this was just a little too "out there" for me. The most interesting part was what I learned about WWI after reading tidbits in the book I wanted to find out if that really happened or if that person really existed. This would be a great way to jump away from history books and into a new genre, or away from sci-fi and into history for a student who is stuck.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A revised history of WWI where the allied powers are Darwinists and used modified beasts as war machines and the axis powers are Clankers, using machinery. Alex is the son of the assassinated Archduke and is on the run to save his life. Deryn is a girl posing as a boy to gain a place in the English military. Their paths cross in the mountains of Switzerland where they find themselves working together to survive a German attack and keep Alex's identity secret. The story stops a bit abruptly leading to the next installment of the adventure.

[mkschoen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's the beginning of the 20th century, and war is brewing in Europe. But this is not the Europe you remember from history class - on one side are the Darwinist (including Britain, France and Russia) where society includes a wild world of fabricated animals, including parachutes made out of jellyfish, talking lizards employed as messengers, and giant flying machines akin to whales. On the Clanker side (Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire) steam-driven machines range from two-legged Stormwalkers and dirigibles far beyond the Hindenburg.Our story involves young prince Alek, the son of a Hapsburg prince and commoner mother, and Deryn, a Scottish girl, pretending to be a boy so she can join the British Air Force. Their stories begin separately, but eventually come together as Alek flees from the growing war and Deryn's ship sails right into it.I'm not generally a steampunk fan, but I enjoyed this. I wonder how well this would succeed with its intended audience though - I found it tough going and a bit confusing for the first few chapters while I tried to figure out the Clanker and Darwinist backgrounds. I also wondered whether readers who have little knowledge of World War I will be helped or hindered by the setting. On the one hand, they won't necessarily get all the references (though Westerfeld does a good job in the appendix of explaining which parts were real and which he created). But on the other hand, I kept getting distracted trying to remember all the alliances and history of that era (WWI got short shrift in my history classes, other than to set the stage for WWII).

[ahs7wolfy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Prince Aleksandar is on the run. His parents have been assassinated and that act is being used to start a war. Nobody wants a stray heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne running around loose so Alek, accompanied by a few trusty retainers, sets about making a run to Switzerland in their mechanical walker. Meanwhile, Deryn has disguised herself as a boy in order to qualify for the Air Service as all she wants to do in life is fly. When her test flight goes badly wrong she is rescued by the Leviathan, a living airship, and soon manages to pass the mid-shipmen's test to become a member of the crew. Sent on a special mission to Constantinople the Leviathan is attacked by Germans and is forced to crash land on a glacier in Switzerland right near where Alek and his cohorts are hiding. Dare Alek offer assistance to the stricken vessel and possibly have his identity and location revealed to his enemies and if he does help, how will the British react if they find out who he really is?This is a very good starter book in a YA Steampunk/Alternate History series. Excellent world-building provides a stage for all sorts of oddities to soon seem commonplace as the adventuring of the two young heroes commences. There are some very good illustrations along the way that really help to set the scene as well. There is also an afterword provided by the author which compares our real world to the alternate one featured in the book which I found to be a nice touch.