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Leviathan

Scott Westerfeld

448 pages

A soaring, gear-grinding alternate-history adventure where biological marvels clash with diesel-powered war machines.

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What it feels like

Reading this book feels like stepping into a meticulously crafted cabinet of curiosities that has suddenly taken flight. It is a brisk, wildly inventive adventure that balances the heavy, metallic clank of dieselpunk machinery with the strange, breathing wonder of biopunk ecosystems. The atmosphere is thick with the tension of a looming global conflict, yet the narrative remains spirited and deeply earnest, driven by the infectious enthusiasm of its young protagonists. The prose is highly visual, making you feel the grease on the gears and the wind rushing past the deck of a living airship. It is a perfect escape for anyone who delights in grand, sweeping alternate histories, hidden identities, and the thrill of watching sworn enemies forge an unbreakable bond amidst the chaos of war.

Mood
  • wondrous
  • tense
  • atmospheric
  • soaring
Tone
  • adventurous
  • earnest
  • inventive
  • spirited
Pace
brisk
Themes
bridging cultural divides · coming of age in wartime · the ethics of invention · hidden identities · forging unlikely alliances
The writing
Accessible and highly visual, painting vivid, tactile pictures of both greasy gears and breathing ecosystems.
The arc
Moves from isolated desperation and the burden of secrets to the thrilling warmth of earned trust and camaraderie.
Who it's for
Readers who crave imaginative, high-stakes alternate history filled with plucky heroes and wildly inventive world-building.
Content notes
  • wartime violence
  • animal peril
  • parental death

About the book

Choose Your Weapon: Beastie or Clanker

Alek is a prince without a throne. On the run from his own people, he has only a fighting machine and a small band of men.

Deryn is a girl disguised as a guy in the British Air Service. She must fight for her cause--and protect her secret--at all costs.

Alek and Deryn are thrown together aboard the mighty airship Levithan. Though fighting side by side, their worlds are far apart. British fabricated beasts versus German steam-powered war machines. They are enemies with everything to lose, yet somehow destined to be together.

This description comes from the 2010 Simon Pulse edition.

Description from Open Library.

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