Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld

This book is very different from any I've read in a long time, primarily because it has pictures in it. Not on every page, only these really cool drawings that make the book seem even more interesting.

The plot itself was also very different, in fact, when my friend told me about it I thought she was kidding. See, this is one of those books that goes back in time and turns it all scifi-ish. Leviathan takes place during WWI, and is so historically incorrect that it is easier to think of it as taking place in some other world with countries named Britain and Austria that happened to be exactly in the same places as the Britain and Austria in our world. The main characters are Alek and Deryn and don't meet until the middle of the novel. This is very disconcerting because the chapters switch off and sometimes it takes a paragraph or two to realize who is talking. Alek is the son of the archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie whose assassinations were the direct cause of the war. Alek goes on the run so that the people who killed his parents won't be able to kill him too. Deryn meanwhile is a girl masquerading as a boy in the British air force navy whatever you call it.

But what really makes this book interesting are the weapons each side uses. The Allies: Britain, France, and Russia are Darwinists while Germany and Austria are Clankers. Darwinists create fabricated beasts (I think that was a little redundant) that are mixes of different animals created to serve man a specific purpose. Clankers have these awesomely complicated machines. So really the war is Darwinist vs. Clanker.

This is a very historical post. I think I will stop now.

4.7 stars. I am definitely reading the sequel.