I have finished reading “Leviathan” by Scott Westerfeld and was very impressed by the amazing world that he has built, juxtaposing the genetically-engineered “creations” of a “Darwinist” British Empire with the mechanical creations (i.e. “clanks”) of “Clanker” Germany and Austria-Hungary. As a lover of history I also loved the alternate history retelling of the origins of World War 1. The reading age was younger than I had expected, though—I would class this as “Junior” fiction rather than “YA”—and that did affect my enjoyment of the story. My other reservation was that the foolish decisions made by one of the two main characters, Alex, did start to irritate me after a while, but I am not sure that younger readers (for whom the story is written, after all) would notice that so much. I suspect those who love Temeraire/His Majesty’s Dragon and the Immortal Engines stories of Philip Reeves will potentially enjoy Leviathan, while noting my comment about reading age. I do think anyone who loves steampunk and alternate history should check Leviathan out regardless though, just for the sheer ambition of the world building alone.

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I have also just finished reading Daniel Abraham’s A Shadow in Summer, the first in “The Long Price” quartet. You may recall that this was recommeded on HarperVoyager USA recently when I guest posted on it being Hugo Award nomination time again and also mentioned Tor.com’s quest to identify a readers’ choice for the Best SciFi-Fantasy Novel for the Decade. I have been keen to check out a few of the recommended books that I hadn’t read previously and A Shadow in Summer was first off the blocks.

So did I like it? Yes, I did. As a poet, how could I resist a premise where poets are a fundamental part of the magic of the world? I also found the core premise of the magic intriguing (I am not going to say more because I don’t want to spoil the ‘freshness’ when you come to read it for yourself) and the world itself, which is fundamentally “Japanese/oriental” in conception very well drawn. The characterisation was also excellent and I think anyone who enjoys character-driven fiction, as well as those who love world building,  will get something out of this book. The action lies in politics, personalities and intrigue, rather than grand campaigns, so this probably won’t appeal so much to those who like straightforward stories with plenty of sword and sorcery action. In terms of quibbles, I am still not sure I fully “got” the ending (i.e. I got what happened, but not necessarily the raison d’etre behind what one character in particular did), so I am probably going to go back and read that part again. But I already have the next book in the quartet, A Betrayal in Winter, to read and am definitely looking forward to doing so.