Leviathan
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4.5 • 228 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The first novel in a masterful trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld that School Library Journal hailed is "sure to become a classic."
It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.
Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure….One that will change both their lives forever.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Launching a planned four-book series, Westerfeld (the Uglies series) explores an alternate 1914 divided between Darwinists, who advocate advanced biotechnology, and Clankers, masters of retrofuturistic mechanical engineering. Austria-Hungary's Prince Aleksandar is whisked away into the night by trusted advisers; he soon learns that his parents, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophie, have been murdered and that he has been targeted by prowar Germans. Half a continent away, Deryn Sharp successfully passes as a young man to join the British Air Service; her bravery during a catastrophic first flight aboard a genetically enhanced jellyfish ("The creatures' fishy guts could survive almost any fall, but their human passengers were rarely so lucky") earns Deryn a post on the living airship Leviathan. The fortunes of war lead Aleksandar and Deryn to the Swiss Alps, where they must cooperate or face destruction at the hands of the Germans. The protagonists' stories are equally gripping and keep the story moving, and Thompson's detail-rich panels bring Westerfeld's unusual creations to life. The author's fully realized world has an inventive lexicon to match readers will be eager for the sequels. Ages 12 up.
Customer Reviews
barking spiders, this book is the STUFF
this book is nothing close to my usual taste but this is my favorite book that i’ve ever read. i am HOOKED. all the characters grow throughout the story in such great ways, and deryn’s character is one of the most interesting and complex i’ve ever seen. the fact that scott westerfeld could come up with all of this and weave it all together into such an intricate series can’t quite register in my mind. i know it’s been something like 10 years, but this book is destined to become a classic. mr. westerfeld, you are a genius.
Great steam/ bio punk book
I have read this book and the entire trilogy three times. I'm now 19 and still love this book I can't help but love the plot for I am a nerd and when you mix war with aspects of mystery and deception you can't help it. And a side note to anyone who wants to read this get the whole thing for the very end spot on👌🏼.
This is amazing!
Leviathan is an amazing book. I did not buy this on iBooks but I did read it out of an actual hard back book and I loved it I finished behemoth and I'm about to read Goliath and I love each and every moment in this book. My teacher asked us to write a summery of the book and it's full of so many small details I didn't know how to summarize in 1-3 sentences but apparently absolutely amazing is not sufficient enough for her. Honestly the pictures are great the story is great it could compare to Harry potter and Percy Jackson lets just say and I'm not surprised it's not equally as famous.