Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

1. Leviathan by Scott Westerfield Presentation by Rachel Johnson

2. What is it? This novel is about two teenagers of different backgrounds who are thrust together during a fantastic portrayal of World War I. Attribute: The setting is in Europe during World War I. Title: Leviathan What is your book’s genre? Write it here: Historical Science Fiction Attribute: The characters are fictional, with real characters mixed in to provide historical realism. Attribute: There is historical context combined with fantastic elements. The world of Leviathan combines history with Steampunk literature. Example: Behemoth by Scott Westerfield Example: Incarceronby Catherine Fisher Example: The Dark Deeps by Arthur Slade

3. Attribute- A realistic setting during World War I. “’Assassians struck twice in the morning,’ Volger said. ‘Serb schoolboys hardly older than you, first with bombs and then with pistols. Both times they failed. Then last night a feast was given in your father’s honor, and he was toasted for his bravery. But poison took your parents in the night.’” (pg. 44) “Deryn’s blood began to race, the rush of coming battle erasing everything else. The ship was still defenseless, unless the Clankers could get their engines going….Alek nodded. ‘You say she’s here in Switzerland? Have the Germans gone mad?’” (pg. 390) “’They knew we were headed to Switzerland, thanks to me.’ Volger shrugged. ‘Where else would we go?’ Alek supposed he was right. With the war spreading every day, Switzerland was the only country staying neutral…” (pg. 164)

4. Attribute- Fictional characters from a different time period mixed with real people. “…But what was in her head wouldn’t matter unless she could fool the Air Service boffin into believing her name was Dylan, not Deryn. She’d sewn Jaspert’s old clothes to alter her shape, and she was plenty tall- taller than most boys her age. But height and shape weren’t everything…” (pg.22) “Deryn smiled, though her head was aching. They boy was about her age, with reddish-brown hair and sharp, handsome features. His leather coat had once been posh, but it was threadbare now. A twitchiness animated the boy’s dark green eyes, as if he were ready to bound away…” (pg. 238) “’Let me make this easy then. The best master of mechaniks in all of Austria was part of your father’s household? And you’ve been on the run…since around June twenty-eightth?’ Alek froze. Dr. Barlow had named the night Volger and Klopp had come to him…the night his parents had died.” (pg. 372)

5. Attribute- Fantastic elements combined with science and history. “As the door closed behind her, Alek turned to look at the softly glowing cargo box, wondering what was in the eggs that was so important. What sort of fabricted creature could replace a mighty warship/ How could a beast no bigger than a top hat keep an empire out of this war? ‘What’s inside you?’ Alek said softly….but the eggs just sat there, not answering at all.” (pg. 434) “’I’m glad to see so few of our young men succumbing to common superstition.’ Deryn snorted. A few people….thought that crossbreeding natural creatures was more blasphemy than science, even if fabs had been the backbone of the British Empire for the last fifty years.” (pg. 31) “Tazza slunk closer to the ground, always a little twitchy inside the whale. The walkway underfoot was aluminum, but the walls of the gastric channel were alive, warm and pulsing with digestion, aglow with worms. The hydrogen bladders overhead were taut and translucent, the whole ship swelling in the thin air of high altitude. (pg. 190)

6. Is Leviathan a good example of a historical/science fiction book? I believe Leviathan captures all of the elements of a historical, science fiction, and Steampunk book. The characters are believable and set in a real time period, World War I. However, the events of the war have been fictionally altered (making the Russians and Europeans Clankers and Darwinists, respectively) and revealing a whole new type of warfare- where machines fight against genetically fabricated ‘beasties.’ The realistic war combines with a totally bizarre idea to make a very realistic and historical science fiction novel.