History Literature / Leviathan

The series follows two characters - the Archduke's son, Prince Aleksandar, who is whisked off on the night of his parents' assassination to a secret hideaway in the Alps before his enemies can assassinate him. The second character is a girl, Deryn Sharp, who [[SweetPollyOliver poses as a boy]] in order to join the British Air Service and eventually finds herself aboard the ''Leviathan'', a massive [[FlyingSeafoodSpecial Flying Whale]] [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld Airship]] that is bound for the Ottoman Empire with one Dr. Nora Barlow, a Boffin[[note]]a scientist, in this case somebody who makes Fabricated Animals[[/note]] and her very secretive cargo. As a war between the fabricated Animal using "Darwinists" ([[SocialDarwinist not like that]]) and [[HumongousMecha Walker-using]] "Clankers" looms, Alek soon finds himself aboard the ''Leviathan'' as his enemies close in.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* TheyDo: [[spoiler: Alek and Deryn. And the shippers rejoiced.]]

Not to be confused with ''Leviathan'', the third novel in the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy, nor [[LeviathanThomasHobbes the magnum opus]] of [[HobbesWasRight Thomas Hobbes]], nor Boris Akunin's detective novel ''Literature/MurderOnTheLeviathan''. If you are looking for the novel about a British aircraft carrier, this is ''Literature/HMSLeviathan''.

Not to be confused with ''Leviathan'', the third novel in the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy, nor the magnum opus of [[HobbesWasRight Thomas Hobbes]], nor Boris Akunin's detective novel ''Literature/MurderOnTheLeviathan''. If you are looking for the novel about a British aircraft carrier, this is ''Literature/HMSLeviathan''.

* BodyHorror: Great googly moogly! The story itself isn't quite so much in this category, the descriptions are not by any means disgusting. However, [[{{Squick}} the books have pictures]]. Special mention goes to Deryn's compress after she busts up her knee. It is some kind of fabricated beast that extends its tentacles into her knee to fix torn ligaments, and if she tries to put weight on her leg it sounds and feels like she has a swarm of angry wasps in her knee. It's one of the few places where the description in the text is worse than the pictures.

* AprilFoolsDay: On April 1st, [[http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/2011/04/goliath-reveal-2/ Scott Westerfeld "revealed" a piece of art from ''Goliath'']] featuring [[LesYay Lilit and Deryn]] getting married, with Alek crashing through the wall on a giant mech. The art was part of a gag with the book's illustrator.

** [[HoYay Alek]] and [[LesYay Lilit]] vouch for this as well.

** [[HoYay Alek]] [[SweetOnPollyOliver and]] [[LesYay Lilit]] vouch for this as well.

* GiantRobotHandsSaveLives: It's actually how Alek meets the [[LaResistance Committee for]] [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Union and Progress]] - Zaven saves him from a long fall from a rooftop gutter. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because Zaven caught him before he'd fallen too far.

* LoveYouAndEverybody
--> '''Alek''': What I'm really trying to say, Dylan, is that I think I'm in love... with the ship.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The flechette bats seem absurd (what's a dart going to do against a warship?), but they're actually based on real WWI-era aerial flechettes. These were simple steel darts dropped from aircraft (either dumped out of the aircraft with a bucket or released from special belly-mounted steel containers) that were scattered over enemy trenches and infantry formations to wreak havoc. When dropped from sufficient height, they hit with enough force to pierce a steel helmet and the skull beneath it, or even [[AgonyOfTheFeet nail soldiers' feet to the ground]]. There was even discussion of using larger flechettes to [[ArmorPiercingAttack penetrate the roof armor of tanks]]. KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter, indeed.

* FollowTheLeader: In-universe, ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline'' inspire a number of movies that sound rather similar. [[AluminumChristmasTrees The same thing occurred in real life.]]

Not to be confused with ''Leviathan'', the third novel in the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy, nor the magnum opus of [[HobbesWasRight Thomas Hobbes]]. If you are looking for the novel about a British aircraft carrier, this is ''Literature/HMSLeviathan''.