Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Terms You Will Need To Know if You Read This Book:

Boffin: Someone important

Clanker: Someone who uses machinery instead of fabricated beasties - e.g., Austria-Hungary, Germany...

Darwinist: Someone who uses fabricated beasties in battle instead of machinery - e.g., Britain, Russia (I think)

Life-threads: DNA

Monkey-Luddite: someone who thinks fabricated beasties are Godless / heathen.  (That would be us.)

---

When Prince Aleksander is pulled from his bed in the middle of the night in regard to his studies, my first thought was of Prince Caspian.  But Alek isn't learning astronomy - he's having a piloting lesson.  As the powerful Cyclops Stormwalker machine brings him further and further from his castle, suspicions rise in Alek's mind and what he first thought to be an innocent lesson turns into something very different.

Meanwhile, in England, only a few countries away from Austria-Hungary, Deryn Sharp's nerves are catching up with her.  Not because she's about to be sent thousands of feet up into the air on a spooky, fabricated jellyfish - no, she's worried about being marked for what she really is - a girl.  Deryn's dying to fly again, and the only way she can think of to do it is join the Air Service.  But when the "head for heights" test goes wrong, Deryn is stranded in the middle of the sky.  Little does she know that a huge, fabricated airship is about to break through the clouds.

Leviathan.  A creature inflated with hydrogen and populated with other creatures who help keep it in the air.  (An ecosystem in the sky.)  Fléchette bats, hydrogen sniffers, and glow-worms share quarters with the men who fly the airship.  No, friends, this is no aeroplane.  This is a living creature, who eats, breathes, and sees.

---

Scott Westerfeld is a genius.  When I found out he was the author of the Pretties / Uglies series, I was skeptical - which is unfair, cause I've never read it! - but Leviathan took my breath away.  It's technically a steampunk novel, and it takes place at the brink of World War I, year 1914, to be exact.  Mr.  Westerfeld knows exactly how to mix fact with fiction - he doesn't have too much of either one, and WOW! The result is...great.  :D *Ellyn realizes how gushy she must sound and blushes here*

I couldn't wait to do a review on this book, because as good as it is, there are several...contraversial?... points to address.  Number one.  Swearing.  Deryn enjoys "swearing like a boy", and even though none of our bad words are used, swearing Deryn's way is made pretty appealing.  When I finished, I really wanted to say "Blisters!" and "Barking spiders!" - but I couldn't, of course.  "Barkin' insertwordhere" is used quite a bit, as is the more questionable "bumrag."  However, I was able to add "squick" to my vocab.  (Not a swear word.)

Next, we need to talk about the Darwinist issue.  This is a world where Charles Darwin is exalted and esteemed - at least, on the British side.  Scientists are working on  fabricating new "beasties" from the "life-threads" of others.  Such is the Leviathan.  Personally, I don't mind this.  It kind of helps me regard evolution in the real world as what it really is - a fiction story, not yet to the scientific theory stage.  But is it a sin to "make" totally new animals? I found a verse in Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 19, that says, "Do not mate different kinds of animals."  And yet, under that verse is how you should not wear clothing of two pieces of material or plant your field with two kinds of seed.  So, is this the old law?

Even if it is, I still don't think that mating two kinds of animals in the real world would be right - it would mess up the natural ecosystems and creations that God made and put so much thought into.  What's your opinion? I'd love to hear it


---

The plot is five-star, the worldbuilding is five-star, and Deryn and Alek are both characters I can identify with.  I especially loved how they met, as I was afraid it would be awfully cheesy, but it was anything but.  Dr.  Barlow, the lady boffin, is great, and I've resolved that if we get a dog, I'm naming it "Tazza" after her tasmanian thylacine.

I got this book on audio, and I"d recommend that for you too, so you can get a feel for the way everyone talks.  (Just don't listen to it before bed - that's what I did once, and I was so excited afterward that I lay wide-awake in bed til' who knows when.)  But, after you get the audio, get the book, so you don't miss out on the fab full-page black and white illustrations by Keith Thompson.

My dad liked it so much he said, "I would not only buy this book, I'd buy it in hardcover," which is unusual for him.  I said, "I would not only check this out of the library a million times, I'd buy it in paperback," which is unusual for me.  :)  The sequel, Behemoth, is great too, though I like Leviathan better.  Gee, I need to review a bad book soon so you'll know not all I review gets such a high rating! I'll be on that in a squick... ;)

P.S.  One of my giveaway winners was unable to claim her copy, so I drew another and the winner is Amanda from Farmgirl Writes!!! Amanda, I will notify you on your blog so you can email me your address.  :)