Behemoth
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Book 2 in the Leviathan series
Pages: 485
Published: 2010
Age: 12+
The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers. Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory. Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.
Locus Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Book (2011); Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy (2010); Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Book for Older Readers (2011); Andre Norton Award Nominee for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy (2010)
About the Leviathan Series
Books in series order
- 1.Leviathan(2009)
- 2.Behemoth(2010)
- 3.Goliath(2011)
- +The Manual of Aeronautics: An Illustrated Guide to the Leviathan Series(2012)
Reading age: 12+ years
This series should be read in order.
In an alternate steampunk-styled Europe in 1914, 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.