“Maybe this was how you stayed sane in wartime: a handful of noble deeds amid the chaos”– Alek
What if? It is one of the great questions asked about history. What if one of the plans to assassinate Hitler had been successful? What if Rome had not been sacked by the Goths? What if Darwin had not made his scientific theories about evolution? The answers to these questions will never be known, but many authors have taken this concept and put it into print. Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan is one of those books. Leviathan takes the era around World War One and changes the setting somewhat. The global powers are not divided based on old alliances, but based around their reliance on either steam-powered engines and war machines, which dubs those people the Clankers, or genetically fabricated beasts, which gives those nations the name the Darwinists, due to Darwin’s genetic discoveries. Westerfeld has created a fascinating alternate universe in which two differing paths of science have created world-wide allegiances. But, much like the state of affairs in Europe leading up to 1914, the European superpowers wanted to start a war and test their technological power.
However, Leviathan is not a novel about the grandly sweeping movement of a World War and the interactions of world powers, it is the story of a young prince forced from his home by his own nation, it is the story of a young girl hiding her gender from the British Air Service to escape into the airborne world, it is the intertwining of these two stories. Alek is the heir to the Hapsburg dynasty in Austria-Hungary after his parents are assassinated, but his country does not want him to take control, so he must run for his life. Deryn is a girl, dealing with the loss of her father and the attempt of her mother to “girlify” her, so she lies about her gender and joins the British Air Service. Once they come together, the two bond over common backgrounds, although one is a commoner and one is royalty, as they both have lost their fathers and they both have a secret to keep, Alek hiding his royalty and Deryn hiding her gender. They also end up working together against a common enemy, as the old saying goes “an enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
Courage is a strong theme throughout the book, as both protagonists must overcome their fears and obstacles to support their countrymen. Deryn is constantly trying to keep her fellow crewmen alive and fight for her country. Alek risks his own life and safety to save the downed crew of a massive British Air Service beast. Both must test their boundaries as they push to keep their men safe and prove their worth to their elders. This is a common theme for war novels, as it is often the courage of singular men and women that helps contribute to the victories of nations. Leviathan is no different in its presentation of war and its impact on those involved, but Westerfeld puts the reader in the shoes of two teens experiencing this steampunk war first hand. This allows students to be more engaged in a war novel by seeing from someone in their age group.
I would recommend this book for grades 7 and up, as the plot moves fairly quickly and the vocabulary is not overly challenging; however, I would also recommend it to students who have covered World War One and could make comparisons to that which they have learned about it previously. The story is engaging, and the theme of courage is one that is always interesting for students who want to life vicariously through the adventures of others in novels. For Lit Circles, I would pair it with Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, or Lisa McMann’s The Unwanteds,as they all deal with the need for courage in the face of danger or war erupting around them. I enjoyed Leviathan, especially the steam punk alternate universe, but it was not quite as engaging for me as Westerfeld’s Uglies was. I am hoping that the second book in the series, Behemoth, will ramp up the excitement.
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