Leviathan

Leviathan

Westerfield, S. (2009). Leviathan. New York: Simon Pulse.

Leviathan, a steampunk novel set during the World War I era, is about a boy named Alek, whose birthright is loosely based on the children of the real-life Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, who were both, in the novel and in reality, assassinated.  When word of their death reaches Alek’s home, he is whisked away to what his caretakers, Klopp and Volger, assume is relative safety but actually turns out to be one perilous encounter after another.  Alongside Alek’s story is Deryn’s. Deryn is a girl who disguises herself as a boy named Dylan in order to serve in the British Air Service and proceeds to encounter danger of her own at every turn.  In a plot that pits Darwinism against the machine, Alek and Deryn befriend one another and meet many fantastic characters, both human and not, including Nora Darwin Barlow.  Because the author includes an interesting “Afterword” that explains some of the thoughts behind the story, Leviathan, can be used at many levels for many purposes.  The reader who indulges in fantasy would certainly be pleased as would those interested in Darwin, war machines, World War I, the Ottoman Empire, and even the artist, as the pencil illustrations are simply amazing.  Advanced readers from upper elementary grades (5-6) on up to high school could easily enjoy the action-packed Leviathan since its emotional involvement is sparse.  The Leviathan series includes Behemoth and Goliath.