Leviathan

While I was reading this summer, I found the gem of the Leviathan series. The first book is Leviathan and one of my favorite books I think I've ever read.

Leviathan takes place during WWI but instead of the historical sides in the war, they are divided into Clankers and Darwinists. Clankers rely on machines as transportation and weapons, their technology extremely advanced. Darwinists have been able to create fabricated animals, a mix of animal and science, serving the human needs. The story follows the life of a 15 year old girl Deryn, who secretly enters the British Air Service as a boy. Great Britain is a Darwinist country so after an interesting first day in the Air Service, Deryn is placed on the famous air animal, shaped as a giant whale, the Leviathan.

The book also follows the son of the Archduke and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary named Alek. When his parents are murdered, starting the war, he knows he is wanted dead. He and his trusty mechaniks instructor and fencing master leave the country at once on their giant Clanker machine, a Stormwalker.

Leviathan is a book packed with action and conflict with an interesting taste of parallel reality science. It is one of my favorites and hope you guys get the chance to read it!

Written by Scott Westerfield, the Leviathan trilogy also includes Behemoth (book 2) and Goliath (book 3).  Preview Leviathan at Google books:  http://tinyurl.com/px2hrt8.

~Review by Katie C., SJH student