Title: Levithan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Series: #1 - Leviathan
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 24th, 2004
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: September 24th, 2004
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0
Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
My Review:
Levithan was my introduction into the world of Scott Westerfeld, and I have heard a lot of praise of this book. First off I will say that this, I want to thank everyone who wrote the great reviews on Goodreads for this book, I didn't have anyone at the time (when I picked up this book) that had reviewed this book so I could get some perspective on what to expect
Scott Westerfeld is on my favorite author list after this book. Leviathan kept my attention throughout the entirety of the book and I didn't want to put it down at all. This may not have reached my highest ranking, but that's mainly cause while I thought the book was great and that everything seemed nearly perfect, I was hoping for more of a romance between Deryn and Aleksander, maybe there will be in the other two books. As well, the ending seemed sort of incomplete; by that I mean, the book makes me want to read the next, because there doesn't seem to be any good closure. For this series, I am going to say that this book lacking the closure I seek is more of a good thing than a bad thing, because it presses you into wanting to read the next book and continue the story.
The characters were so diverse that I enjoyed both Aleksander and Deryn. At first I thought Deryn was a boy, which is fantastic because Deryn is a girl who's disguised as a boy to go into the military service. Now with Deryn and how she gets aboard the Leviathan, I found it rather cheeky and unique, but it's a corky and makes the story keep going. Aleksander's story is much more aggressive, and his is the one I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat wanting more of the suspense and action.
How Scott creates a creature like the Leviathan and makes the entire ship / living creature work, is beyond my knowledge but makes seek and want to read the other two books. I have both books on my shelf, and I will get around to them jumping between the various series I have going at the moment. Than the mechanics of the walkers and the land behemoths that come from the machinists, seem so complex that my mind makes the rest of the connections and holds on to their world and rough shapes.
Than there is the pictures from the illustrator that occassionally pop up throughout the book, and they add to aid in the imagination and help create an understandable world. The images in my point of view enhance the world and the building experiences; I have to say that the world Westerfeld was building was complex and the images make the story hold better in your mind. As well they add to the descriptions that Westerfeld is doing and help build the Walker that Alek, drove/rode through all of Austria.
Leviathan has been added to my favorite books of all time, and even if it didn't earn the 5.0 Rating that I would normally give books to my favorite, there wasn't that much that held it back from that rating, and I have nothing but praise for this series and can't wait to finish the series!
Scott Westerfeld is on my favorite author list after this book. Leviathan kept my attention throughout the entirety of the book and I didn't want to put it down at all. This may not have reached my highest ranking, but that's mainly cause while I thought the book was great and that everything seemed nearly perfect, I was hoping for more of a romance between Deryn and Aleksander, maybe there will be in the other two books. As well, the ending seemed sort of incomplete; by that I mean, the book makes me want to read the next, because there doesn't seem to be any good closure. For this series, I am going to say that this book lacking the closure I seek is more of a good thing than a bad thing, because it presses you into wanting to read the next book and continue the story.
The characters were so diverse that I enjoyed both Aleksander and Deryn. At first I thought Deryn was a boy, which is fantastic because Deryn is a girl who's disguised as a boy to go into the military service. Now with Deryn and how she gets aboard the Leviathan, I found it rather cheeky and unique, but it's a corky and makes the story keep going. Aleksander's story is much more aggressive, and his is the one I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat wanting more of the suspense and action.
How Scott creates a creature like the Leviathan and makes the entire ship / living creature work, is beyond my knowledge but makes seek and want to read the other two books. I have both books on my shelf, and I will get around to them jumping between the various series I have going at the moment. Than the mechanics of the walkers and the land behemoths that come from the machinists, seem so complex that my mind makes the rest of the connections and holds on to their world and rough shapes.
Than there is the pictures from the illustrator that occassionally pop up throughout the book, and they add to aid in the imagination and help create an understandable world. The images in my point of view enhance the world and the building experiences; I have to say that the world Westerfeld was building was complex and the images make the story hold better in your mind. As well they add to the descriptions that Westerfeld is doing and help build the Walker that Alek, drove/rode through all of Austria.
Leviathan has been added to my favorite books of all time, and even if it didn't earn the 5.0 Rating that I would normally give books to my favorite, there wasn't that much that held it back from that rating, and I have nothing but praise for this series and can't wait to finish the series!
