Leviathan By Scott Westerfeld

Hi, my name is Deven, and this is my seventh article that I am posting on the illiterete blog site. Similar to Elysium Girls (I wrote a blog article about this book which can be found here), my dad and I were cleaning the book shelves when I stumbled upon the Leviathan. Having an interest in the unique cover, I decided to read it. After reading it, I not only loved it but refused to put the book down.

Plot

Leviathan is about World War I with an interesting twist. World War I was started because the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Austria believed Serbia was responsible for the murder. The two countries waged war, which forced their allies to become involved as well. World War I in this book was essentially a war between Darwinists, people who use fabricated beasts, and Clankers, people who reject fabricated beasts and create machines. In the Leviathan’s version of World War I, countries either used fabricated beasts or iron machines to battle instead of common weapons. Although these countries are polarized, other countries were open to intermixing machinery and fabrication. 

This book starts shortly after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated and Alex, the son of the Archduke, runs away from home along with his loyal advisor, top mechanic, and crew. Alex is forced to live as a commoner and hide away in a mansion in Switzerland, a neutral territory. As a result of the heir running away, Alex's uncle becomes Archduke and is determined to start war with Serbia.

The second main character is a girl named Deryn who is trying to enlist in the air force. With her cousin's help, who is already enlisted, she completes the exams, learns how to "act like a boy", and assumes a new identity: Dylan Sharp. Once recruited she is assigned to help on the Leviathan Airship which is a fabricated beast that is comprised of multiple ecosystems but is mainly based on a whale that uses hydrogen to float. 

One of the missions she is tasked with is escorting a doctor to the Ottoman Empire for official diplomatic purposes. On this journey, the ship is shot down in the mountains in Switzerland by German pilots. Alex seeing the event happen, feels he should help the airship back into the air and goes to provide aid. When he is at the crash site, he sees Dylan lying unconscious, wakes her up, and gets caught by the Leviathan crew. Through this unexpected encounter enemies become friends, secrets are revealed, and Clankers and Darwinists come to a mutual agreement.

What I Liked

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the interesting twist this book put on a well-known war. All the different creatures and machines left me in constant awe. I also enjoyed the two character's viewpoint because each chapter would switch between Deryn and Alex. Not only were the main characters interesting but the side characters were also very well developed. Some side characters were as vital to the story as the main characters which allowed you to better understand them. 

At the end of the book the author also included an interesting section where he goes into what was factual and what was fictional from the story. For example, in this section, he explained that the Archduke never had a son and that Alex was a fictional character. However, he mentions that certain inventions that were shown in the book were almost created. In his book, he also features pictures which allow you to better understand the detailed scene that is unfolding. 

What I Didn't Like

Honestly, there was nothing that I didn't like about the book. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction, machines, and interesting creatures.