REVIEW: LEVIATHAN BY SCOTT WESTERFELD AND STEAMPUNK GIVEAWAY!

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Firstly, I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Michelle at Simon and Schuster Canada for sending this out to me!!!!

And now on to my thoughts on this book.  I can sum it up in two words:

HOLY.


CRAP.

I literally just finished it yesterday and I cannot WAIT to tell you all about it!  Now I have to somehow put my words into some sort of coherant meaning. 

This is my very first Steampunk EVER, and suffice it to say it will NOT be my last.  I am so in love with this genre I cannot even see straight. 

Westerfeld has recreated World War  I in this little gem, and in it we follow two main characters - Deryn and Alek.  Deryn is a 15 year old girl who wants desperately to join the air service and train as an airman, and with the help of her brother she disguises herself as a lad and does just that.  Turns out she is naturally good at pretty much everything that comes her way, which makes her a solid asset to the military.  Alek is the son of the Duke and his common-wife who were murdered at the beginning of the story.  He is hoisted from his room by two of his father's men and quickly realizes that he is on the run for his life. 

The world that Westerfeld has created is fascinating!  Basically there are two camps and two trains of thoughts.  There are the Clankers and the Darwinists. The Clankers are the sort that use these incredible machines to fight the war, and the Darwinists use fabricated animals.  Seen through the eyes of Deryn, the beasties are to be respected and even loved, but seen through the eyes of a Clanker they are repulsive.  And Westerfeld gives us an authentic look from both view points. 

The story is loosely based on actual facts from World War I.  The "shot heard round the world" when Arch Duke Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne and his wife were murdered, started the war and in Leviathan the beginning is exactly the same scenario.  He explains the similiarities and differences in the last section of the book.  For history buffs and the layman it is very interesting!

The Steampunk genre is awesome as it intertwines futuristic creatures and machines with old world ideologies and time frame.  The clothing is extremely cool, with the goggles and the boots and leather and bowler hats, along with the inventions of the time. 

The artwork is GEORGOUS, by Keith Thompson, and it accompanies the book nicely with illustrations sprinkled throughout.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to ANYONE of ANY age.  It is a relatively fast read, and you will be immersed into the Steampunk world in all its glory.  What an amazing movie it would make!  And the BEST part is that this is the FIRST in the TRILOGY, I just found out.  WOOT! 

RATING: 5/5

Now for the GIVEAWAY portion of this post!!  Because I got this book for free for the purposes of review, I want to show my support for this author and select one lucky winner for which I will order the book from Book Depository and ship it directly to them! 

Here are the rules to enter:  PLEASE PROVIDE SEPERATE COMMENTS FOR EACH ENTRY OR THEY WILL ONLY BE COUNTED AS ONE!

• post a comment, you do not have to put your email address if you do not want to, you then must just check back here on the contest end date when I will announce the winner and we will sort out the details then.  (1 entry)
• Follow my blog and get an extra 2 entries.
• Post about the contest in your sidebar or tweet about it and get another 2 entries.

Total of 5 chances to win! 

The contest will close on January 15th at midnight Alberta time.  January 16th I will announce the winner and will follow up with email if it is provided.

This contest is open to EVERYONE!  (Thank you to LADYBUG for the tip for ordering books from The Book Depository for free shipping!)
Good luck to the winners, and I can't wait to hear what the winner will think about the book!!

PS since this giveaway will definately bring me over the 200 follower mark, I will be doing the huge giveaway once we hit 300!  :0)

REVIEW: THREE DAY ROAD by JOSEPH BOYDEN

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

This book is the current selection for our family book club, which consists of my Mom, my two sisters and my neice.  We are scheduled to meet on October 18th, but due to having too many books on the go, and several to read and review, I needed to read ahead and finish it.

Three Day Road is a very heavy read.  It is about two Cree Soldiers in the Canadian military during World War I, the descent into madness by one, and the power of love from an Auntie who saves the other. 

This is Boyden's debut novel and is a compelling read that successfully weaves the past, present and the storylines of Xavier with Elijah during the war, and with Xavier and Niska, his Aunt, in the "present."  I found I needed to be in the right frame of mind to read it, and I definately did not read it at night before sleeping!  The scenes of war are brutal in their realism, and Elijah's behaviour will likely turn your stomach.  But what is fascinating is how the author so masterfully and seamlessly tells the story from varying perspectives and time frames.

The story opens with Niska at the train station waiting for her nephew Elijah as she has been told that her other nephew, Xavier, has died in the war.  But the gaunt and injured soldier that departs the train is not Elijah, but a morphine addicted and severely damaged Xavier who Niska then takes to her canoe for the long slow river ride back home.  And on that journey we learn of all of the horrifac things Xavier has seen, done and lived through.  The flashbacks to war where Elijah, although a dispicable man, becomes a hero, and Xavier his silent witness to his friend's plummet to hell.  During the slow river ride Xavier  is unable to eat due to his addiction, but Niska "feeds" him with many stories from her childhood and his.  She nourishes him with stories of his culture, his people, and his family.

This book, though well written, was a tough read for me.  It was upsetting on many levels, but I can say I'm  glad I read it.  During the last few weeks my family and I have been having some email discussions of our feelings about it at various points of the read, and at the very least we will be able to have some very good discussions at our Book Club Dinner in a couple of weeks. 

I am now going to start reading a book about a very very cute adorable fluffy kitten named DEWEY.

Have a great day!