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A review by cornmaven
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
5.0
This type of fantasy is more up my alley - steampunk - a blend of futuristic stuff, historical fiction, and Victorian/early 20th century settings. It's easier on my psyche to read a story where a lot is familiar. So many pure fantasy novels have to spend endless pages setting up 'the world' in which it lives, and that bores me to tears, plus all the weird names makes me crazy.
Leviatan centers around WWI, uses a lot of the factual names, but then sprinkles in new terms. I appreciated the way that Westerfeld introduces a new concept, item, etc. and doesn't explain it right away - that's done a little later within a conversation.
This version of steampunk actually combines the typical use of steam power to make fantastical machines along with futuristic genetic engineering. The story was well-paced and exciting. I think boys especially would like it. Westerfeld includes several slang terms that would be new to American boys, and they might actually pick them up and use them in lieu of getting caught with the usual suspects. I don't know enough Britishism to know if they are actual terms in the language, or stuff Westerfeld just made up. Either way, they are clever.
A good read. And the history/story will continue in a second book. Westerfeld includes notes at the end to discuss what is actually factual and what is not.
Leviatan centers around WWI, uses a lot of the factual names, but then sprinkles in new terms. I appreciated the way that Westerfeld introduces a new concept, item, etc. and doesn't explain it right away - that's done a little later within a conversation.
This version of steampunk actually combines the typical use of steam power to make fantastical machines along with futuristic genetic engineering. The story was well-paced and exciting. I think boys especially would like it. Westerfeld includes several slang terms that would be new to American boys, and they might actually pick them up and use them in lieu of getting caught with the usual suspects. I don't know enough Britishism to know if they are actual terms in the language, or stuff Westerfeld just made up. Either way, they are clever.
A good read. And the history/story will continue in a second book. Westerfeld includes notes at the end to discuss what is actually factual and what is not.