Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is a war fantasy by the American author, Scott Westerfeld. He’s quite famous for having written science fiction novel. This book is quite related to Science even though it’s a war fiction. It was first published in 2009, and became one of best sellers in the US. Leviathan continues its adventures in the book, Behemoth, and is a historical fiction about World War 1, adding some science developments to it.
The plot is simple. In 1914, the war seems to come up. Alek is the prince of Austrian Hungary and he hears that his father’s killed by Germans who want war. So he leaves for his life with his faithful servants. In Britain, a girl named Deryn, who wants to be a boy goes to military, hiding her gender. She changes her name to Dylan and rides in a big airship, Leviathan. Then, days later, the war explodes and the whole of Europe goes into war mode.

The story is told in third person. Settings keep change between Alek and Deryn for every 2 chapters till chapter 23. This is a quite well paced story written in thought provoking way. You have to think about why; he/she acted in such weird way. For example, Deryn bets her life to save a high ranked military solider. Why?

To me, Leviathan is a very exciting novel. It’s mixed between past and the future. The warships and the beasts are all like science fiction like, but the story itself are based on events from World War 1. Characters do have emotions. It’s got a message of how war can affect others, even prince. Author and I both highly recommend for 10’s because, this book looks to me that it’s suitable for some kids and teenagers.