Book Sixty-Four: Leviathan

Book Sixty-Four: Leviathan
Finished: December 27
Pages: 464

The first in a new series by the author of the Uglies series, I received this young adult novel from a friend for Christmas. It was a very entertaining read during the lull of Christmas activities in Oklahoma (where there is nothing else to do late at night, trust me) and on the ride home.
A few things stand out for this book in a sea of young adult literature. First, it's an alternative historical fiction, which isn't that big of a surprise until you realize that the history is the First World War. Second, the science fiction-y, steam punk nature of the novel is not something that I have run across in young adult lit lately.
The set up is fairly simple. Draw the lines previous to WWI in the same places, but add in a few extras: England and their allies are Darwinist countries, where Charles Darwin unlocked the keys to DNA and was able to create all kinds of creatures that fodm the technology of the day, whales turned into zeppelins, etc.; while Germany and their allies are called Clankers: mechanical technology with walking robots, steam powered airplanes and the like. The two protagonists of the story are as diverse (if predictable) as you could imagine; a girl, Deryn, disguised as a boy in the service of the British Air Service, a boy, Alek, the imaginary son of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Eventually, some might say inevitably, our characters meet and our stories become intertwined, causing hijinks and all sorts of adventures.
One thing that was not predictable, and that I certainly appreciated, was the lack of romance between our two heroes. In all other books I've read, it would seem impossible to resist throwing romance into the mix, and I appreciate Westerfeld for resisting.
I'm definitely going to read the rest of the series as they come out; I definitely want to see where this ends up.

Good Reading,
Caitlin