Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

I picked up this book after hearing some good things about it on The D6 Generation podcast.  They really didn't give much detail on the story, so I really didn't know much about it, other than it was young adult fiction and good.

The story is an alternate history set at the beginning of the First World War.  In the world of Leviathan, the great powers of Europe are divided into two large factions: the Clankers and the Darwinists.  The Clankers rely on machinery and mechanical means far beyond what our world had at the turn of the 20th century.  The Darwinists rely on genetically engineered animals to provide transportation, do work and provide power.

The story follows young Deryn Sharp who is a girl disguising herself as a boy in order to join the Royal Aircorp and fulfill her dream of flying.  The other protagonist is Aleksander, the son of the recently assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand.  The German military is seeking Alek to remove the only living heir to the Austria Hungarian Empire.  The two characters meet up on the living airship, Leviathan.

While this book is classified young adult, it is in the same class as the Harry Potter series.  The world Westerfeld creates is deep and is as much a part of the story as the plight of the main characters.  All of the machines and genetically altered beasties was fascinating to me.

The story is a nice romp.  It moves along quickly with enough action to keep it interesting, but also enough character development to make it a good story.

A really nice feature of this book is the wealth of black and white drawings included in it.  The drawings add a sense of the era the story takes place in.  The pictures are also quite amazing in their own right.  A nice touch.  More books should have pictures.  Sorry, for the primary teacher moment.

This book is intended for young adults, so there are not any really adult themes and it doesn't go too deep.  Frankly, it is a nice read for a cold winter day when you just want to have fun reading a book and not feel emotionally drained at the end.  I am looking forward to reading the sequel Behemoth.