Buy Leviathan

When is a girl's adventure story really a boy's adventure story?

That was the main thing that troubled me about this story. When I checked it out from the library I thought it was a young adult book, but it's catalogued there as a juvenile read. Aren't there books about real girls having adventures, even in fantasy fiction?

This book is categorized by the author as steampunk. While it isn't steam-oriented, I understand why Westerfeld thinks of it that way due to his afterword. Here is my question:  Why not go one step farther as you are developing your alternative history, and make a world where girls aren't second class citizens?

In this book, the heroine's father has died, forcing her from a life with mechanical and flight pursuits to one of a restricted female in 1914 Scotland. At age 15, she runs away with the help of her brother and tries to enroll in the British Air Service. Due to an accident, she ends up on an airship on diplomatic mission at the start of WWI. You get all the way to the end of the book before any hint of her own femininity plays a role once she joins the crew of the Leviathan. Her character could have easily been a boy, in other words.

Interestingly, and perhaps due only to the family inheritance issues that are repeated throughout the book, a powerful secondary character is a female scientist. It would be a spoiler to say who she really is, but can't women get ahead even in a steampunk world without famous fathers?

Remember to check the blog for information about my House Party contest! The next guest will arrive on November 29th.

 

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