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imldsquared's review
3.0
Enjoyed the ride until the book fell right off a glacier. Even if you know there is going to be a next book, the first one should have an ending.
jrosenstein's review
4.0
Leviathan really shows off what Scott Westerfeld does best, a fantastic scifi concept, a strong female protagonist, and suspenseful action. My only critique of this book is that as the first in the series, it gets off to a bit of a slow start. I'm really looking forward to seeing where Westerfeld goes with his steam punk re-writing of WWI. And his mechanical and genetically engineered creations are just fabulous.
therafster's review against another edition
1.0
Didn't know it would be young adult based but damn this book took forever for me to get through. If this were scaled to adult I know it would've been even more goated. Favorite part of the book was whenever Alek was on screen because the concept of someone travelling around in secret sounds way more fun than someone trying to be Mulan. Couldn't stand hearing the basic dialogue and how everyone sounded so damn young. Not for me, but maybe I would recommend it to someone that likes history and steam-punk and is also a teen.
rvoogt's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
bee_vee's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
tishtashohmygosh's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bantwalkers's review
5.0
It's hard not to be aware that Scott Westerfeld is awesome. He wrote the Uglies trilogy (or is it called the Pretties trilogy?), which is made of WIN! And he wrote Succession (an adult space opera), that is pretty flippin' cool. Midnighters? Peeps? Ok, I haven't read those last two, but it's more about not getting around to it, yet. He's just an awesome YA guy and and awesome SF guy (remember, SF is hipster for sci-fi (not to be mistake with SyFy (which is icky-sauce.)))
With Leviathan, Westerfeld, has done it again, seemingly upping the awesome. Like some sort of crazy mad scientist (I'm giving him a lot of credit, since he's technically not the first to do any of these things (but I digress)), he brings his skills of strong teen characters and adds a heaping helping of steam-punk and alternate history into another action-packed saga.
The story begins at the beginning of World War I, with the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (that's how WWI started), but from there Westerfeld's tale has some rollicking fun with history. He's replaced all the boring versions of countries that can be found in any ol' history book with Darwinists and Clankers. Clankers fight with huge armored machinery (think tanks that more robot than tank). And the Darwinists have used the ideas and theories of Darwin to create some amazing animal mutations (talking lizards and the flying whale airship of the title).
From their it's a little bit country (diplomacy and world politics) and a little bit rock 'n roll (elaborate air and land battles between Clankers and Darwinists.) It even comes with exquisite drawings from Keith Thompson that add to the richness of Leviathan's alternate world. Glad I started my year with it!
With Leviathan, Westerfeld, has done it again, seemingly upping the awesome. Like some sort of crazy mad scientist (I'm giving him a lot of credit, since he's technically not the first to do any of these things (but I digress)), he brings his skills of strong teen characters and adds a heaping helping of steam-punk and alternate history into another action-packed saga.
The story begins at the beginning of World War I, with the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (that's how WWI started), but from there Westerfeld's tale has some rollicking fun with history. He's replaced all the boring versions of countries that can be found in any ol' history book with Darwinists and Clankers. Clankers fight with huge armored machinery (think tanks that more robot than tank). And the Darwinists have used the ideas and theories of Darwin to create some amazing animal mutations (talking lizards and the flying whale airship of the title).
From their it's a little bit country (diplomacy and world politics) and a little bit rock 'n roll (elaborate air and land battles between Clankers and Darwinists.) It even comes with exquisite drawings from Keith Thompson that add to the richness of Leviathan's alternate world. Glad I started my year with it!