Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan is the first book in his steampunk trilogy Leviathan.
Leviathan's story takes place in an alternate history of the summer of 1914. In our history, after the assassination of arch-duke Franz Ferdinand, war broke out in all of Europe. The Allied powers (Japan, Russia, Great Britian, France and Italy) fought the Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungry, and the Ottoman Empire). In the alternate history, the Allied powers and nicknamed "Darwinists" because they militarized Charles Darwin's research on evolution and created fabricated beasts. The Central powers are known as "Clankers" for their advanced machinery. The story is told by Alek and Deryn. Alek is the son of Archduke Ferdinand. After his father was assassinated, he is forced into hiding. He and a couple other men from his castle race on a dangerous path to the neutral Switzerland with both Germany and Austria-Hungry on their tail. Deryn Sharp is a fifteen year old girl who dreams of flying. She enlists in the military as a fifteen year old boy under the name of Dylan Sharp. This gives her the chance to fly on one of Great Britian's huge hydrogen breathers. Both exceptional characters, on opposite sides of the war, meet under unlikely circumstances.
Deryn and Alek are both fantastic characters. Alek grew up in a castle and the sudden change of life style and death of his parents leaves him broken. He manages to adapt to his new lifestyle by pushing all thoughts of his parents out of his mind. While he learns to act like a common boy and pilot a war machine, his sadness bubbles underneath the surface waiting for a moment to come out. Deryn is smart, observant, and an extremely capable airman. Despite this, if her two secrets get out, it could destroy everything she dreamed of. The first secret hides the fact that she is too young to be a military recruit. The second is that she is a girl living in a time period where girls were not accepted into the military. When she finds herself on the legendary hydrogen breather christened the Leviathan, she finds that she must work hard to put on the appearance of a boy. Leviathan is an amazing read. The story is riveting. Scott Westerfeld does an amazing job building the world of Leviathan and the fact that many events align with or history makes the plot even more interesting. The world also has lots of potential, and could be expanded in the next two books, as the story continues. Both characters have enthralling stories and it is fun to read from both perspectives. Each character has a set of secrets that could shatter their world if the secrets were revealed. The two perspectives give a more rounded view of the world of Leviathan.
I give this 440 page book 4.5 stars
Leviathan
The Leviathan Trilogy takes place in alternate version of 1914. At this time period World War I had just begun. Replacing the real-world's Allied Powers (Russia, Italy, France, and Great Britain) are the Darwinists. These people militarized Darwin's theory of evolution by creating powerful beasts known as Fabriacated Beasts and using them as war machines. Replacing the real world Central Powers (Germay, Austria-Hungry, and the Ottoman Empire) people know as Clanckers specialize is mechanical vehicles.