I wouldn't discourage anyone from giving this book a shot. It is possible however that Westerfeld will explore these avenues in later books in the series.

The rest is pretty much taken from real history - we are not offered anything new in terms of government structure, social order, belief system, etc. Just reading about how the zeppelins are constructed or how to operate an airship made out of a combination of creatures bored me to death.Īnd lastly, for a book that is supposed to offer an 'alternative history,' the 'alternativeness' is very thin and doesn't go beyond war machinery.

I know, this is the core of the book - a war between Clankers and Darwinists - but I hoped this concept would be presented in a more interesting manner. Secondly, the book is extremely heavy on descriptions of various machinery and fabricated animals and battles between them. I can enjoy some books written for this age group, such as first 2 Harry Potter books or 'His Dark Materials,' but the world of 'Leviathan' just didn't hold my attention. By the way their thought process, their behavior and motivations are portrayed, you'd think they are 11-12 years old, they are even drawn by the illustrator as pre-teens. For a book about 15-16 year olds, Daryn and Alek are written awfully young. To me it read more like a children's book, middle school maximum. I simply didn't care for it personally, for several reasons.įirst, this book seems to be mistakenly classified as young adult fiction. My low rating doesn't mean however that I would recommend NOT to read this book. And if I am being honest, I added second star for fabulous cover art and excellent illustrations (1 or 2 per chapter!). It is so sad that after such a long wait I can't give this book more than 2 stars. Like many of my friends, I've been looking forward to getting my hands on 'Leviathan' for a while.

Leviathan trilogy