Leviathan (The Leviathan Trilogy)

The first novel in a masterful trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld that School Library Journal hailed is "sure to become a classic."It is the cusp of World War I. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ genetically fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet. Aleksandar Ferdinand, a Clanker, and Deryn Sharp, a Darwinist, are on opposite sides of the war. But their paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure....One that will change both their lives forever.

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl 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 the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

The Barnes & Noble Review

Westerfeld paints his picture on a realpolitik canvas absent from Priest's domestic frame. The year is 1914, and war is imminent, upon the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. But aside from that, all is different in this alternate continuum. The Germans and their allies, known as "Clankers," have perfected super-mechanized craft of war. The British, or "Darwinists," rely on bioengineering: aerial whales, souped-up tiger draft beasts, and so forth. Garnering our attention among the Clankers is Prince Alek, only child of Franz and commoner Sophie, on the run from the Austrian Emperor. Among the Brits, Deryn, a young girl masquerading as a male midshipman in the imperial airforce. Their personalities are fierce and real, their inevitable meeting staged nicely and with zest.

- Caricate il cannone! - urlò Maestro Klopp all'uomo di sotto.
Alek si ritrovò seduto al posto di guida mentre la macchina ricominciava a muoversi.
Si contorse per allacciare la cintura di sicurezza, ma proprio in quel momento un terribile pensiero si impadroní della sua mente, paralizzandogli le dita.
Se stanno cercando di uccidermi, vuol dire che è tutto vero.
Il conte Volger si chinò al suo fianco, urlando per sovrastare il rombo dei motori e delle cannonate. - Quest'affronto dovrebbe rincuorarvi, Alek. È la prova che siete ancora una minaccia per il trono. Siamo sull¿orlo della Prima guerra mondiale.
Mentre il giovane Alek, principe dell'Impero austro-ungarico, è in fuga sul suo Camminatore, di là dalla Manica una ragazza, Deryn Sharp, si traveste da maschio per diventare pilota nell'aviazione britannica.
Ma il suo segreto rischia continuamente di essere scoperto.
I due ragazzi appartengono ai due opposti schieramenti: lui ai Cigolanti, lei ai Darwinisti.
Ma il destino vuole che le loro strade si incrocino nel modo piú inatteso portandoli entrambi a bordo del Leviathan, un gigantesco animale volante, metà balena metà dirigibile, che forse li strapperà al frastuono della guerra.

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as thir weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and teh most masterful beast in the British fleet. Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl 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 the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way...taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever. -- From dust jacket **Choose Your Weapon: Beastie or Clanker** Alek is a prince without a throne. On the run from his own people, he has only a fighting machine and a small band of men. Deryn is a girl disguised as a guy in the British Air Service. She must fight for her cause--and protect her secret--at all costs. Alek and Deryn are thrown together aboard the mighty airship *Levithan*. Though fighting side by side, their worlds are far apart. British fabricated beasts versus German steam-powered war machines. They are enemies with everything to lose, yet somehow destined to be together. This description comes from the 2010 Simon Pulse edition. In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn, who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically engineered beasts