. Athena's Books: Today's YA Release...Leviathan
Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Today's YA Release...Leviathan




I love history, so of course I can not wait to get my hands on this! On Leviathan...a YA novel based on an "alternate history" of WWI. So, it's like Sci-fi & Fantasy genre meeting Historical Fiction...but in a Steampunk way. What? Steampunk? I'll tell you more about that later. But, I just have to say first that I really like Scott Westerfield, with my favorite book being Peeps. I know many teens have read the Uglies series, but my fav is still Peeps. Maybe now it will be Leviathan.

Have you guys ever heard of Steampunk? I barely found out about it sometime last year when I was trying to create an alternate universe for a novel idea I have. Hmmm...you're probably thinking "well, where are all these ideas...why aren't they in books yet?" Give me a break...I just got started as an "aspiring writer" about 1 year ago!

But, Steampunk is a genre of Sci-Fi and Fantasy as well as a subcultural movement promoting the aesthetic appeal of Victorian-era style and the steam powered technology of that time and merging it with modern technology. So, basically if you "google" it, you can find images of laptops and ipods that have been transformed by Steampunk to something reminiscent of of the 1800s, with many gears, polished wood, and brass. Of course, these are not steam-powered, but in Steampunk genre, most of the technology and machines used are powered as locomotives once were--by steam. Steampunk as a genre and subcultural movement has been around since the 1980's, but Steampunkers take their inspiration from writers of the 19th century such as Jules Verne, author of Around the World in 80 Days.

Yeah, so I have a Steampunk novel series in my head, besides all the other dozen ideas I have written in my brain.

But, for now...LET'S CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF LEVIATHAN BY SCOTT WESTERFIELD! The moment I found out about this book, it just screamed Steampunk to me.
Watch the trailer.











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