The genesis of World War I is given a creative twist in this alternative history that pits the Germans and the Austro-Hungarians with their iron war machines, or Clankers, against Britain’s Darwinists and their fabricated animal weapons. Aleksander Ferdinand is the lone surviving member of the Austro-Hungarian royal family following his parents’ assassination, and with a few loyal supporters he’s on the run from his German-influenced countrymen who would like to remove him from the ruling picture. At the same time, Deryn Sharp is masquerading as a boy so she can achieve her dream of working in the British Air Service. She’s serving aboard the massive airbeast Leviathan, a hydrogen-breathing whale merged with “a hundred other species…tangled into its design, countless creatures fitting together like the gears of a stopwatch.” When the Leviathan crash-lands near Aleksander’s hideout, the two groups of political enemies become allies to mount an escape from the German forces. Aleksander and Deryn’s tale ends on a high note, but there are still secrets to be revealed and battles to be fought in a forthcoming volume. (Ages 10–14)

The first novel in a masterful trilogy about World War I with a steampunk twist by #1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld.

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.