 Title: Leviathan Editor: Scott Westerfeld Format: TC Available Formats: Kindle, Barnes and Noble eBook, Sony eBook, Audio Download, Audio CD Page Count: 434 Genre: Science Fiction/Young Adult/Steampunk Publisher: Simon Pulse Pub. Date: October 6, 2009 ISBN-13: 9781416971733 Series: #1 in the Leviathan series Rating: 6 of 10 |
Summary:
It's the eve of World War I. The Clankers and Darwinists are rallying to fight each other. What? Miss that part of history? Re-imagine history so that technology and science branch in radically different ways. England and allies develop the 'Darwinist' theories of combining animals for the use of the state; Austria-Hungary develops large metal machines for war. Otherwise, things proceed (more or less) as they did in actual history. On either side there's a teenager. Alek, whose parents were killed and who must keep his identity secret; and Deryn, who pretends to be a boy so that she can serve in the British Air Service. These two's fates will combine, despite being on opposite sides in the on-coming war...
TL;DR Version:
An interesting re-imagination of World War I with a bit of a Steampunk feel and a bit of fantasy. Although reading Leviathan can feel a little 'young' (perhaps would sit more comfortably in the kid's section than young adult), but an interesting enough and well-imagined frolic.
Review:
The makings of World War I are an incredibly interesting portion of history. I could barely contain my delight when I learned that Scott Westerfeld's new young adult novel would combine these historical conditions with imaginative ideas of his own. How wonderful it was to imagine a world in which the divide is between Clankers and Darwinists. Clankers follow ideas Steampunk or battle robot while the Darwinists create and combine creatures with distinct uses.
The novel didn't disappoint me, but it didn't quite enthrall me like I thought it would, either. That isn't to say I that I didn't warm to the novel. I will be reading the second installment, I'm just not rabid to get my hands on the book.
The protagonists were a bit younger than I expected, almost making the novel aimed towards a younger audience than I was used to. After adjusting to the age of the protagonists, I found that although I immediately liked the British Deryn and disliked Alek, it switched about half way through the book. Worse, the even more interesting characters are the mentors of each protagonist! Still, the characters are interestingly drawn. Deryn, who's pretending to be a boy, has an exaggerated swagger that I found incredibly amusing; Alek's slow learning of his own country and people was heartwarming. Their mentors, Count Volger and Dr. Barlow, are just utterly fascinating and I cannot wait to see both figure more greatly into the story. Volger's rough, but shrewd. His British counterpart, Barlow, is equally shrewd. The two figures will be sure to either butt heads or respect the other. I can't wait to find out which it shall be.
The novel is incredibly imaginative and fun. It's a bit of an adventure story. A bit of a pilfered historical novel. A bit of a coming of age story for two adolescents.
Really, I enjoyed most of Leviathan. The problems I had were only that the prose and characters were a written a bit young. And, more seriously, Leviathan indeed the first of a series. Most questions remain unanswered as the novel closes. The ending, to me, seemed a little abrupt. When I was about 30 pages from the end, I said to myself, "Oh no, he can't possible wrap all this up before the final page." And that's true. The book needed more of a fulfilling arc to finish before dangling the questions back in front of my face to entice me to the second book.
Cover/Title/First Line Critique:
Gorgeous cover! The gears are shiny, mechanical and beautiful with the red background. Absolutely perfect. The entire book is artistically rendered. Even the shape of the book has an elegant length and thin width that makes it fun to pick up. Additionally, the illustrations are gorgeous and very storybook-esque. Unfortunately, I can't help but think of Thomas Hobbes when reading the title...
Rating: 6 of 10 [Learn more about the rating system?]
I wasn't ravenous to finish Leviathan, but I did enjoy the book. All around it's a solid bit of writing and I'll be curious to see where Westerfeld goes with the idea.
This book was provided for the purpose of receiving a review courtesy of Amazon Vine.
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12 responses:
I have been looking forward to reading this ever since I heard it existed. I've read a few pages in my favorite bookstore, and the writing does feel a little young- but I really want to read about Deryn. She interests me greatly. Thank you for your wonderful review!
Thanks for the review. :D I really like the book cover. I din't think that I will be reading the book anytime soon... but def in the future.
It does read younger--more MG than YA. The book is very creative and innovative in alternate world-building and successfully integrating the fantastical of steampunk and organic machinery with early 20th century mind sets. I thought that was the strength of the novel because everything else seems to revolve heavily around that: Deryn and Alek's relationship, the war, the mysterious Dr. Barlow.
I was satisfied at the end, but agree that it seemed perhaps a bit more was in order. Because I knew it was the first in a series (and not just a trilogy), I think I forgave any shortcomings in the resolution as victim to future plot threads not yet revealed in full.
Westerfeld played his cards close to his chest, but I enjoyed this one a lot. It didn't seem the type of book for big, mind-shattering revelations or resolutions, but rather, for the exploration of new ideas, politics, morality, and relationships. It looks like this series is going to be teased out for the duration.
I agree. The cover of the book is Gorgeous. Between that and the trailer, I really want to read this book. However, I am not a big fan of Westerfeild. I read his Uglies series. I couldn't even finish Specials. I will at least put reading this on hold until it comes out in paperback, or borrow it from the library, when I am low on books to read. Thank you for your honest review! :)
@TheLiteraryOmnivore: Deryn is immediately the more interesting, but I found Alek really grew on me! Hope you enjoy it when you pick it up. :)
@Ivy: Thank you!
@Erika: I am curious to see what happens--and this is my first experience with Westerfeld. But I think you're right, this series will be adventure, but nothing not in the 'revelations' vein. It'll be slow character and relationship development, I think.
@Lily: Like I was telling Erika, this is my first experience with Westerfeld, but I was thinking of checking out his Uglies series. Why didn't you like it?
The first book was predictable. The second book was kind of interesting. The third book...well, it was really hard to identify with the main character. She was completely different in this book. A total 180. It's hard to describe without giving too much away. I just had to stop reading it, which is pretty rare for me. I would happily give you my copies, but I already sold them back for store credit. :/ I'll be interested in what you think, if you do pick them up.
@Lily: I'm not quite sure how close to the top of my to-buy list they'll be, but I am curious. I'll let you know if I pick them up! :)
I gave The Uglies Series as a birthday gift to my cousin last month. She started it but could not finish them. :-( She is usually good with finishing books even if she does not like them.
@Ivy: Oh no! Have you read them? What did she say she didn't like about them?
I really dislike it when the novel is reading along at a good pace and then "bam!" it ends. Leaves you with a dissatisfied feeling. I'm still not sure if I want to read this one. I think I'll sit on the fence about this one for awhile. Great review, thanks!
@Donna: Exactly! All I want is a satisfying arc! :(
I've seen this book making the rounds and it sounds like something that would hold my interest.
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