[44A]⇒ Download Leviathan The Leviathan Trilogy Scott Westerfeld Keith Thompson Books

Leviathan The Leviathan Trilogy Scott Westerfeld Keith Thompson Books

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Leviathan The Leviathan Trilogy Scott Westerfeld Keith Thompson Books

This book is an alterverse (-partially fictionalized) adventure set in 1914 that follows two protagonists in alternating third-person. Alek is the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a Clanker, and is forced to flee Austria after his parents' assassination. Deryn is a young woman who hides her real identity in order to join the Darwinist air corp. Alek and his people, the Clankers, set out in "Walker" a bi-pedal war machine. Deryn takes to the air in a biological airship called the _Leviathan_. When the two parties' paths collide, they are forced to work together to get out of their respective predicament, despite their opposing political and technological views.

For the most part, I listened to the audio book, even though I happen to have picked up both the audio and Kindle editions during two different promotions. I really enjoyed this book a lot. Despite the war-time and technological advancement politics, the book kept a nice pace. I did get really tired of Deryn's favorite insult, "bumrag," very quickly. Most of the other "cursing" consists of phrases like, "barking spiders!" which I found whimsical and refreshing. I liked this book well enough that I will probably listen to or read book two (once I pick it some time after I've cleared up more of my Audible-Kindle slush pile).

The book contains illustrations that were very nice. I flipped through the Kindle edition at some point and looked at all of them. Early on in listening to this book on the Amazon Echo, the Echo activated itself when Cumming would read the phrase, "Alek said." I found it amusing,,but others may not. I didn't notice do so a lot as the book progressed, though. Alan Cumming was a really fine narrator for this story and really enjoyed his performance very much. There were a couple of times I had to adjust the audio level because he would drop his voice a bit, but that's my only quibble.

Overall, I recommend this book--and audio book--quite highly. This could open up some great familial or classroom discussions about history and the opposing technology (machines or engineered creatures). The authors' afterword (which is in both the the Audible edition and Kindle edition) is really interesting and covers the historical events vs. his fictional ones a bit and could lead to further exploration.


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Leviathan The Leviathan Trilogy Scott Westerfeld Keith Thompson Books Reviews

This is probably the most creative steampunk book I have ever read. Whereas it is typical to place this genre in the Victorian England of the Industrial Revolution with amazing mechanical advances, the genius of this book is to add Darwinian genetic engineering. The book tells the stories of the first week after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand that started the first World War with half of Europe consisting of Clank (mechanical steampunk) countries and the other half Darwinists (genetic engineering steampunk).

The book follows a young girl who sneaks into the Royal Navy as a boy and ends up serving on a living airship engineered from whale “heredity strings” and the son of the slain Archduke. The action is steady, the characters three-dimensional, the dialog (and terminology) interesting, and the plot plausible. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Westerfeld’s world, and I am very much looking forward to starting the second book in the series tomorrow. If you are at all interested in Steampunk, I highly recommend this book. You won’t be disappointed.
This novel is a unique spin on YA historical fiction! The story is set during WWI with some incredible machines and creatures. First, we have the Darwinist Powers. They have been able to create unique animals in light of using machines. The Clanker Powers rely heavily on machines for everyday use. In typical historical fashion, both powers don't like each other. The endpapers in this book are so awesome. The papers are illustrated with a map that outlines that powers and gives the reader a glimpse at what beasts and machines do the humans bidding.

In short, this was a wonderful read. The novel follows two teens from both Powers who struggle to keep their identities a secret while the world goes to war. While there was lots of action and plot, the end of the book was totally left open for a sequel. Fortunately, the trilogy is all published and I even made sure my local library had the next two books! The writing is really cheeky. The dialogue matched each character beautifully. Alek, our Austrian prince, is such a strong character. He suffers great loss and doesn't get time to deal with his grief. Deryn, our British main character, is just as strong. Her strength and determination is different from Alek. She is determined to be the best air serviceman, she can be.

If you enjoy crazy technology, hydrogen sniffing dogs with two snouts, and a great story about finding yourself, Leviathan is a wonderful choice. Oh! that reminds me! Interspersed throughout this whole novel are wonderful illustrations done by Keith Thompson. The illustrations are so detailed and bring the novel to life!
This book is an alterverse (-partially fictionalized) adventure set in 1914 that follows two protagonists in alternating third-person. Alek is the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, a Clanker, and is forced to flee Austria after his parents' assassination. Deryn is a young woman who hides her real identity in order to join the Darwinist air corp. Alek and his people, the Clankers, set out in "Walker" a bi-pedal war machine. Deryn takes to the air in a biological airship called the _Leviathan_. When the two parties' paths collide, they are forced to work together to get out of their respective predicament, despite their opposing political and technological views.

For the most part, I listened to the audio book, even though I happen to have picked up both the audio and editions during two different promotions. I really enjoyed this book a lot. Despite the war-time and technological advancement politics, the book kept a nice pace. I did get really tired of Deryn's favorite insult, "bumrag," very quickly. Most of the other "cursing" consists of phrases like, "barking spiders!" which I found whimsical and refreshing. I liked this book well enough that I will probably listen to or read book two (once I pick it some time after I've cleared up more of my Audible- slush pile).

The book contains illustrations that were very nice. I flipped through the edition at some point and looked at all of them. Early on in listening to this book on the Echo, the Echo activated itself when Cumming would read the phrase, "Alek said." I found it amusing,,but others may not. I didn't notice do so a lot as the book progressed, though. Alan Cumming was a really fine narrator for this story and really enjoyed his performance very much. There were a couple of times I had to adjust the audio level because he would drop his voice a bit, but that's my only quibble.

Overall, I recommend this book--and audio book--quite highly. This could open up some great familial or classroom discussions about history and the opposing technology (machines or engineered creatures). The authors' afterword (which is in both the the Audible edition and edition) is really interesting and covers the historical events vs. his fictional ones a bit and could lead to further exploration.