It must be nice to be Scott Westerfeld of "Uglies" and "Pretties" fame. Publishers give you the budget for a lush book. Honestly, for steampunk this book is posh. The cover is embossed with metallic highlights, and the map inside is brilliant -- so delicious, dark and menacing.
But enough about the prettiness, Leviathan is about two youngsters in a world where Westerfeld has run amok with the past. The setting is the eve of World War I. All very familiar up to a point. But in Westerfeld's alternative, science has sprung ahead of where we are even now. There are huge 'beasties' on both sides of the political and cultural abyss. The Austrian-Hungary-German alliance has gone all techno and mechanical. They have huge dirigibles and monstrous walking machines, armed to the teeth of course. Britain and her allies stand opposed to them. Not only in not loving the machines, but by taking Darwinian genetics to new heights. Their war machines are biological creatures. Huge war-ecosystems.
The characters also stand in opposition. One is the young male heir to the throne of ... ?what? (Okay, it gets complicated here. Aleksandar just might, or might-not, be the heir to the huge Hapsburg Empire). But, in any case, after his parents are assassinated he escapes (or does he?) from the forces that would murder him as well in order to "simplify" politics. And his character is juxtaposed by Westerfeld with Deryn, a midshipman on the huge British battle beast, the Leviathan. Besides coming from a more humble background, Deryn is a girl. Granted a girl with a pervasive knowledge of aeronautics, but a girl none-the-less. Their differences couldn't be more striking.
And yet there are similarites. For one, both have lost a parent. For another they find themselves trying to hide who they are. For you see, while Alek is trying not to publicize that he is a prince, Deryn is trying to hide the fact that she's a girl. The early 19th Century is, afterall, a male dominated society, and it's a no females allowed corp.
I liked this book quite a bit. It's rather a romp as the chapters trade off between characters and from disaster to disaster. From an adult point-of-view, there's scant description of the machines and 'beasties', but this is actually an asset when you consider the audience that Leviathan is written for: MG or the younger side of YA. And any doubt about what things look like is eliminated by Keith Thompson's wonderful drawings. (It's been a long time since I've seen so many in a book. It's great and ought to really make Leviathan popular with adventure loving readers, especially those who love gadgets.)
Besides the art, one of the things that I really loved about this book was the language. Westerfeld talks about 'beasties' and uses words that aren't familiar to most Americans. Words like 'boffin' which is British slang for 'a scientist, especially one carrying out military research'. And 'clart' which he uses to describe Leviathan 'poo'. These terms just really serve to sell the feeling of another place and time.
Recommend this one to younger readers who like adventure (They may actually learn some history).
Talking Points:::
Adventure, adventure. Leviathan is steampunk for younger readers. There's lots of drawings and novel creatures and machines.
Having characters that are both male and female who can deal with tough situations is to Westerfeld's credit. I always loved capable kids like Alek and Deryn when I was younger.
I suspect Adults won't find the characters as satisfying as they've been truncated for a younger audience. Still it's worth a read if you like novel ideas and want a quick, fun romp.
Written at AR (Accelerated Reading) level 5.3.
Btw, I listened to half this book on CD. Alan Cumming does a brilliant job. If you like audiobooks definitely consider this his reading of "Leviathan".
Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs
Leviathan
- Accelerated Reading level : 5.3
- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 6, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1416971734
- See-a-Sample
3 comments :
I'm typically a fan of strange history rewrites and have a particular interest in the first world war. It's really interesting to think about how younger readers accept the apparent lack of information as good and that a book like this might appeal to a wide audience while imparting bits of real-world knowledge. Very cool.
Hi Anonymouse Child!
I didn't mention it but Westerfeld has a nice afterword where he discusses the 'real' history and how he's altered it. He talks a bit about Darwin, DNA, and how Tasmanian Devils were once extant.
He seems like a cool guy.
Fascinating and well done. Anything that can be done to hook kids on (1) reading and (2) history should be tried. I know several of the kids I know that will be interested in this work.
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