Leviathan

“Leviathan” is my first venture venturing into what I would call full blown steampunk territory, with my only other experience being The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Claire. While both of these books have similarities, I think that this book has far better world building and has better written action sequences, but it does lack character department.

By that, I mean that these characters are well done, but there isn't much detail about them. Most of the back story that is given is simply used to get the plot moving, which is fine, but there are other adventure books that make more of an attempt to get you to like these characters. That said, I still liked Deryn and Alek. Both of them had their own trials to face, with Alek worrying about the Germans capturing him, and Deryn facing the challenge of secretly being a woman aboard a men-only ship. The dialogue is written well enough between them so that I can tell the different reactions in the same situation. I also liked how their meeting in the story was not as contrived as it could have been. One other interesting symbolism that I noticed was something that happened toward the end of the novel: This was how the engines from the walker was used to help the Leviathan up into the air. It could symbolize how Alek was getting used to this new life away from his home, and how he and Deryn could find a way to work together. It could also be a moment of foreshadowing Alex and Deryn becoming a couple.

The expanse of the world building was also admirable. While it is true that this could have been a story where there was a difference in the social class and society as a whole, the differences here were enough that it kept me entertained and interested in what was going on while still being grounded in actual history.

I also liked the illustrations in the book. They tended to give the stories a depth of perception that I felt they would have lacked otherwise.

So what are the reasons as to why I gave it four stars? Well, most of it comes down to the writing. It just isn't as good as other books that are like this. And I'm not talking about books like The Infernal Devices, which is intended for a much older audiences, I mean for this age group as a whole. One example would be the way character reactions are written. Early on in the book, Alek kills a solider, yet his reaction that of stoic acceptance, as though he felt guilty about it, but then realizes that he had to do it, and moves on a paragraph later. And keep in mind that his first time killing a man is never explored again. One would think this is a big thing for someone who has to experienced war, but it is just glossed over here. Yes, he is given time to grieve for his parents, but why doesn't he also grieve for all of the things he has had to do in the past to save other's lives at the cost of his own innocence?

The world building isn't exactly smooth either, especially from Deryn's side of the story. I was especially confused about the animals they have modified to be weapons, and what they exactly were. Were they machines that were meant to look like animals? Weapons that were some weird combination of beast and machine? The way they are described can make it difficult for me to make the distinction, until about half way through the book. Then I managed to get the full picture of what the weapons Britain were fighting with looked like, but some readers might find it disfavoring to be left on their own.

I also think that the pacing is off in this book. For the first half of the book, very little happens that I personally cared about, with a lot of description of what is happening to the politics of Alek's family in one story, and the details of the Leviathan in Deryn's story. Then, after this for almost half the book, there are long intense action scenes that went on a few pages too long for my taste.

Another small problem is the illustrations of the characters themselves. Personally, I think they look like they are ten years old, instead of fifteen or sixteen. It isn't a major gripe, just a bit jarring to see them portrayed that way.

I think that this book is an example of having to eat your veggies before you can digg into the meat of the story. It feels like this book is set up for the main act in the second novel, and then the climax in the third. I am planning on reading that second book, and when I do, I sincerely hope it will be better. In any case, I am ready to go back aboard the Leviathan for another adventure and I hope you are ready too. I give this book a 4 out of 5.