A review by nova_grey
The Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld
4.0
The Leviathan Trilogy is a steampunk/alternate history adventure by Scott Westerfeld. The three books in it are Leviathan, Behemoth, and Goliath. They are about a boy named Aleksander (Alek), and a girl named Deryn. Alek is an Austrian prince, and he has to run away from the palace when both his parents are killed for unknown reasons. Since Alek’s mother is a commoner, he is not, in fact, the heir to the throne. Deryn Sharp is a Scottish girl who pretends to be a boy in order to join the British Air Service. Her boy name is Dylan. When she takes a test to check her “air sense,” and her Huxley* is blown away by the storm that has suddenly come up, she is picked up by the Leviathan, the biggest airship made by the Darwinists.** Alek and Deryn’s stories combine in an unlikely way, and then the fun really begins.
The time has come for me to explain the world of Leviathan. First of all, there are the “Clankers,”who are Germany and Austria-Hungary. They are named this because their use of steam-operated machines, as opposed to the “Darwinists,” who rely on fabricated “beasties.” This means that they have discovered how to tamper with DNA, creating animals that they use in the Air Service in battle, and inside the Leviathan. Also, I should probably mention that the Leviathan is an air-whale. Basically, a flying whale.
My mom would like to know all about the creatures in this trilogy, so here goes. One of my favourites is “message lizards,” who are exactly what they sound like: lizards that carry messages. What they do is: A. hear the message. B. go to the recipient, and C. Repeat the message. Another one of my favourite creatures is a “Huxley.” They act as hot air balloons, so they fly, and they do this by producing hydrogen and catching it in their . . . things. Remember, this is like a hot air balloon, so that’s what I mean by “things.” Here is a picture of Deryn in a Huxley. Some other creatures include Fléchette bats (bats that eat metal spikes and release them on enemies in “the usual manner.” (They poop them.)), Perspicacious Lorises (who repeat words), and others.
One of the things that I liked about this trilogy is the world that it created. I liked how it was set in World War One, but it still had things like:
Lightning Generators (Tesla Cannons)
Stormwalkers*** (a Clanker fighting machine that walks on two legs, hence the name.)
Giant air-whales!!!!!!
When I was reading these books, I didn’t want to stop, I just wanted to keep reading until I was finished. I read the second one, Behemoth, in two days!
Another thing that I liked about these books is that they say things like “barking spiders!” and they use the word “barking” like “are you barking mad?!” Also, a popular insult is to call someone a “bum-rag.” I just think its neat that Westerfeld came up with new words in the place of swears.
I think that my favourite character would have to be Dr. Nora Barlow. I haven’t told you about her yet, but she is cool. She is a scientist (which they call a “boffin”), and head keeper of the London Zoo. She lives (temporarily) on the Leviathan. She is the granddaughter of Charles Darwin, the namesake of the Darwinists. She is scarcely seen without her bowler hat. Although Barlow is kind of a bully, not likeable at all, and she is very sly (all very bad things), there is something about her that is very . . . cool. I guess maybe it’s because I really like female bad guys (SHE IS NOT A BAD GUY). I just think that there was something about her that I liked.
When I got these books from the library, they were classified as Young Adult. The only reason they are YA is was because there is some very subtle romance at the very end. I like how there wasn’t any annoying relationship between Alek and Deryn the whole time. Then again, Alek thinks that Deryn is a boy almost the whole time. When I told my dad this, he said: “that does tend to put a damper on relationships.”
All in all, I think that these books are totally amazing. You should read them. Soon. I now want steampunk goggles for my birthday. Also, I’d like to give a big shout-out to the Steampunk HQ in Oamaru, NZ, for arousing my interest in steampunk. And another shout-out to Tim Boyle for introducing this trilogy to me. So, I think that these books are REALLY good and that you should read them.
*I will explain this later.
**This too.
***Not to be confused with Stormtroopers.
The time has come for me to explain the world of Leviathan. First of all, there are the “Clankers,”who are Germany and Austria-Hungary. They are named this because their use of steam-operated machines, as opposed to the “Darwinists,” who rely on fabricated “beasties.” This means that they have discovered how to tamper with DNA, creating animals that they use in the Air Service in battle, and inside the Leviathan. Also, I should probably mention that the Leviathan is an air-whale. Basically, a flying whale.
My mom would like to know all about the creatures in this trilogy, so here goes. One of my favourites is “message lizards,” who are exactly what they sound like: lizards that carry messages. What they do is: A. hear the message. B. go to the recipient, and C. Repeat the message. Another one of my favourite creatures is a “Huxley.” They act as hot air balloons, so they fly, and they do this by producing hydrogen and catching it in their . . . things. Remember, this is like a hot air balloon, so that’s what I mean by “things.” Here is a picture of Deryn in a Huxley. Some other creatures include Fléchette bats (bats that eat metal spikes and release them on enemies in “the usual manner.” (They poop them.)), Perspicacious Lorises (who repeat words), and others.
One of the things that I liked about this trilogy is the world that it created. I liked how it was set in World War One, but it still had things like:
Lightning Generators (Tesla Cannons)
Stormwalkers*** (a Clanker fighting machine that walks on two legs, hence the name.)
Giant air-whales!!!!!!
When I was reading these books, I didn’t want to stop, I just wanted to keep reading until I was finished. I read the second one, Behemoth, in two days!
Another thing that I liked about these books is that they say things like “barking spiders!” and they use the word “barking” like “are you barking mad?!” Also, a popular insult is to call someone a “bum-rag.” I just think its neat that Westerfeld came up with new words in the place of swears.
I think that my favourite character would have to be Dr. Nora Barlow. I haven’t told you about her yet, but she is cool. She is a scientist (which they call a “boffin”), and head keeper of the London Zoo. She lives (temporarily) on the Leviathan. She is the granddaughter of Charles Darwin, the namesake of the Darwinists. She is scarcely seen without her bowler hat. Although Barlow is kind of a bully, not likeable at all, and she is very sly (all very bad things), there is something about her that is very . . . cool. I guess maybe it’s because I really like female bad guys (SHE IS NOT A BAD GUY). I just think that there was something about her that I liked.
When I got these books from the library, they were classified as Young Adult. The only reason they are YA is was because there is some very subtle romance at the very end. I like how there wasn’t any annoying relationship between Alek and Deryn the whole time. Then again, Alek thinks that Deryn is a boy almost the whole time. When I told my dad this, he said: “that does tend to put a damper on relationships.”
All in all, I think that these books are totally amazing. You should read them. Soon. I now want steampunk goggles for my birthday. Also, I’d like to give a big shout-out to the Steampunk HQ in Oamaru, NZ, for arousing my interest in steampunk. And another shout-out to Tim Boyle for introducing this trilogy to me. So, I think that these books are REALLY good and that you should read them.
*I will explain this later.
**This too.
***Not to be confused with Stormtroopers.