Informal Citation: Leviathan was published by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, in 2009. For more information, see here.

Date finished reading: September 19

Reading level: 12+

Tone: Upbeat, whimsical, high adventure.

Target audience: Young adult readers interested in history, science (especially biology), steampunk, and scifi/fantasy.

Plot Summary:  This story takes place in a fictional Europe just before the outbreak of the First World War. In this world, however, the world has divided into two technologically-driven factions: The Clankers and the Darwinists. Clanker societies are characterized by large mechanically-powered industrial technology, while Darwinist societies use genetically modified animals to do most of their industrial work.

The plot follows two characters. One, Deryn Sharp, is a girl who pretends to be a boy in order to join the British (Darwinist) air force. The other, Prince Aleksander, is the son of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the (Clanker) Austro-Hungarian Empire. When the Archduke is assassinated, however, both characters find themselves marooned together on the same ship while a war erupts that pits their countries against each other.

Genre: Otherworld Novel (Steampunk). In other words, the world of Leviathan takes Victorian-style steam engine aesthetics and paints that over the top of much more powerful technology. Stories within this genre typically involve a great deal of action and themes that involve rejection or skepticism about authority, capitalism, and/or traditional norms. See also cyberpunk and punk rock.

Pedagogical Application: Not Quite Historical Fiction

Leviathan is not a story I would choose to teach in middle school; however, if one of my students chose to read this novel as a personal choice, I would not be disappointed, either. This is because while the characters, story and themes in Leviathan are relatively generic, they take place in a richly textured world deep in its commitment both to history and to science. Even as an adult specifically interested in fin de siècle history, I came away knowing more about the period than I did when I started the  novel.

This presents in a particularly notable way how speculative fiction can provide for students who prefer high-action fiction a window into reading to learn. Students who might, for example, find character-driven historical fiction to be dry will find in Leviathan a very read-able account of the politics that led to the outbreak of the first world War. They may also, while reading about massive blimps and biological airships, pick up scientific ideas about buoyancy and ballast.

If paired with a book of history about this period, this novel might provide some students with exactly the motivation they need to learn about this period of history.