Leviathan

by Scott Westerfield

Leviathan is a historical science fiction novel, an alternate world with fantastic war machines. There are two different groups in the novel; the Clankers, who use very large steam driven machines, and Darwinists, who use livings creatures to power machines. One of the main characters, Alek, is the son of the assassinated Archduke Ferdinand, and Alek has escaped for his own safety.  Deryn is a young girl pretending to be a boy so that she can be eligible to join the British Air Service. They each have their secrets to protect while fighting a war.

I found the story and the world of Leviathan interesting. The secrecy with which Alek and Deryn worked to prevent their secrets from being revealed helped create tension throughout the novel.  I liked that the novel stemmed from actual historical events, although the machines and detailed descriptions of them was not very appealing to me. My favorite thing about the book was the illustrations by Keith Thompson. They brought the machines to life and made the book so much more interesting.