Leviathan (edition 2010)

Alternate history, takes an event you remember from grade school history and gives it an entirely new perspective. Not to mention the Darwinist/Clanker schism, which you probably hadn't heard of? Definitely sets up the series-- need to read the next one. ( )

Fun. Not quite a complete story...but a satisfying chunk of a story, and a nice setup for the rest of the adventure. I like Deryn/Dylan, and Alek too though in a very different way. Two different (very different) storylines, with very different protagonists who share only an approximate age - well, and orphan status - converging in an unexpected way. Two - or three, or four - different cultures, too - the Darwinists, the Clankers, the Neo-Luddites (I think I got that wrong, though Luddites is in the name I'm pretty sure)...whatever the Ottomans have... yeah. Very different outlooks on things. I must say that after reading the Temeraire series, all I can think of is what sort of dragons the Ottomans would want...but I suspect it will be something entirely different. Why change? Everything else has been unexpected... Fun. Want the next one now please...(off to the library!). ( )

This book had a every good premise, but one thinks that Turtledove's Darkness series covered much of the thought process, yet Westerfield makes this a Historical Novel with the real politics of the time, in an otherworldly universe.

What is good is the detail of the two sides of the coin, Clankers or Darwinists. Not so good is the heroes who do so much are teenagers. Young twenties would have given more gravitas to the characters. War for a teenager, death, destruction, seems to be not given as much heed as it would have been should these characters of the page been alive.

The politics is spot on, and the world building well done. I wish though that it had not been thrown at me so many times in the Amazon searched to add to my library. If I had known that it was written for Young Adults, I probably would not have had it on a purchase list for five years and finally gotten it.

Now, I will continue reading the series to see how the craftsmanship works out, but if you are over thirty, you may want to stay away. ( )

I was totally up in the air about whether I liked this book until the last 100 pages or so. I didn't dislike it, but I was feeling sort of "meh" about it. Then, bam, the end just really picked up & caught my attention. If I wasn't reading this for a bookclub discussion, then I probably would have put it down, but it was a fairly quick read so I plowed ahead & I'm glad I did. It was good to finally see Alek & Deryn's stories come together. I will definitely be picking up book 2 at some point. ( )

I did not think I would like this book. But, it is a great story. Filled with action machine vs animal. Illustrations are perfect for the book. I have now learned about a new genre(at least new to me) as well. Steam punk. ( )