The Leviathan Trilogy: WWI Reimagined (Part 1)

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Sup! It's Nate here, and today I'll be talking about the Leviathan trilogy!

The powers of Europe are on the verge of the First World War. But this time, they are armed with incredible technologies like massive land walkers, giant electricity cannons, and even genetically engineered creatures designed to play the roles of machines. Two teenagers, Prince Aleksandar of Hohenberg and Deryn Sharp, live in countries that are on opposite sides of the conflict. But they don't know that they will soon be dragged into the war and play a crucial role in its outcome.

The Leviathan trilogy, which I read this summer, tells this story. It was written by Scott Westerfeld, and the books were published from 2009 to 2011. The trilogy is historical fiction/steampunk style, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a few good books to read.

Summary (No spoilers):

The European powers are all gearing up for WWI. The Central Powers (Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary) are Clankers, who use their mechanical skill to build their military. They have advanced technologies that definitely weren't around in the real WWI, like the aforementioned land walkers. The Allied Powers (Great Britain, France, Russia, and some others) are Darwinists-they follow the work of Charles Darwin to literally fabricate the DNA of creatures (called "beasties"), and train them for general and combat purposes. Personally, I think that the Darwinists use the cooler of the two technologies, but y'all can give your opinions in the comments.

There's this teenage Austro-Hungarian prince named Aleksandar (Alek), and he finds out at the very start of the story that his parents (Franz Ferdinand and Sophie) were murdered, and that he must run for his life, because the Germans think he has a potential claim to the throne. He and some people from the palace escape and begin their journey as outcasts. The story also follows Deryn Sharp, a British girl who wants to work on a fabricated Darwinist airship but can't because only boys are allowed to be airmen. So she dresses up as a boy for the tests to become an airman, but things don't go as planned and she ends up directly on the biggest airship in the British fleet, the Leviathan (which is made from the DNA of a whale and many other creatures), where she starts work as a midshipman (still undercover as a boy).

I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge just how cool the Leviathan is. The airship itself is a whale, but it includes many other beasties that enable it to function. For example, there are small hairs on the outside of the wale's skin called cilia, and they ripple to help move the airship. There are also glowworms that produce light and hydrogen to keep the ship inflated, and even bats that swallow darts and spit them out at enemies. It's very interesting how all the different creatures work together, even though the Leviathan is only fictional.

Thanks for reading! More on this series will come soon.

Comments

  1. NickAugust 29, 2019 at 12:04 PM

    Very well written and intriguing. I like the descriptions of the creatures and the Axis vehicles. The concept for the book is very interesting and complex. I'll look for your next post about this series and check it out myself when I can.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vraj P.August 30, 2019 at 1:50 PM

    The story sounds interesting. I think it is cool how the author uses real historical moments, but also adds fictional characters, and makes the story seem enjoyable. I hope to read this series.

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  3. Arya ThirodiraSeptember 6, 2019 at 1:44 PM

    This story sounds very intriguing. I like how the author combines science and myth to makes this story more enjoyable. From what I've heard in the review, the book seems to have some little conflicts, and then a giant overarching one. This book seems like the perfect book to read if you're interested in action-packed adventure and suspense.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jashan TSeptember 12, 2019 at 9:11 PM

    I think I might read this trilogy because it sounds very unique and interesting. The writing technique of the author seems like the story is believable despite being fictional. The mix of historical fiction and fiction is appealing to me, and I like how this story takes a unique take on a real-life event. This is a good review.

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  5. AndrewSeptember 16, 2019 at 6:44 PM

    I really like this alternate take on such a famous historical event. In your summary, the links between the book's version and our world's version, like the death of Franz Ferdinand and the conflict between the Central and Allied Powers, are interesting and make me want to find out how the introduction of otherworldly technology changes the course of the war. This trilogy sounds like a fun read. I'll look forward to more on it.

    ReplyDelete

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