I mentioned a few weeks back that I’d be trying out some new authors that I haven’t read anything by yet. This week: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.
In this novel, the world is on the verge of war between the Darwinists and the Clankers. In this alternate reality, world war one is fought between the
Darwinists (those who use genetic engineering to create weapons of war) and the Clankers (those who rely on machines). There is no good and evil in this story, just two sides with different ideologies fighting for dominance.
The story follows two characters: Prince Alek (Clanker), the son of the archduke, who is on the run in a war machine accompanied by a crew of loyal men after his father is assassinated and his people turned on him; and Deryn (Darwinist), a girl disguised as a boy to serve in the British Air Force.
I found this to be quite an interesting story that focuses just as much in the politics of war as much as it does on the physical part. I found myself liking the character Alek more due to his higher level of importance and intelligence. Also, I found Deryn to be overly energetic and quite rash.
All in all, this is a great novel that is intelligent and action-packed (though I’m not a fan of the ending). I believe that it requires a reader of 14 years old and above to fully understand it. I would give this book a 4/5.
I was a huge fan of Westerfeld when I was younger and was starting to move on when he was developing Leviathan. I read the first chapter on his blog (http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/) and had always wanted to finish it but never got around to it. Sounds interesting though.