I've never read a steampunk novel, and since I'm trying to read outside my usual genres, I knew it was time. What is a steampunk? Steampunks (usually) take place in the past, like WWI era, when the west was wild, Victorian, or the medieval times, but has big crazy machines and technology in it. As this definition puts it "What the past would look like if the future had come sooner." It's like sci-fi mixed with historical fiction.
For the last five years, I've heard how steampunk is going to be "the next big genre." But I don't think it's made it yet. When I asked for steampunk reading suggestions, no one could give me any they read personally, though Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan was mentioned several times because people knew his Uglies series. So I chose to read it because it's the only novel title I heard. Plus, Scott has to be a decent writer with the popularity of Uglies, right? (That series is still on my to-read list).
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.
This book trailer explains the story excellently:
For the last five years, I've heard how steampunk is going to be "the next big genre." But I don't think it's made it yet. When I asked for steampunk reading suggestions, no one could give me any they read personally, though Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan was mentioned several times because people knew his Uglies series. So I chose to read it because it's the only novel title I heard. Plus, Scott has to be a decent writer with the popularity of Uglies, right? (That series is still on my to-read list).
Fiction for Readers
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.
This book trailer explains the story excellently:
