Leviathan Book Summary

In the story Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld we are introduced to five new characters. This story is told by narrator in third person point of view. The main conflict of the story is that Prince Aleksander of Hohenberg’s parents are killed starts a war across Europe so a crew that is still loyal to him flees form Austria-Hungary in a stormwalker. At the same time a girl named Deryn is trying to disguise herself as a boy to get into the British Air Force. This story has multiple settings because of the multiple storylines that eventually intersect. The settings are Britain where Deryn is, Austria-Hungary were Alek is, in Switzerland were the Darwinists and Alek’s crew meet. The main characters in the story are Alek, who is an intelligent boy that is fluent in English, French, Latin, and German, who spends most the book running away. Wildcount Volger, plans, everything ahead of time; he was even prepared for the death of Aleck's father. Otto Klopp Alek’s “master of mechaniks” who knows everything about machines and is also sometimes referred as Alek’s tutor. Deryn “Dylan” Sharp is a girl who loves flying and wishes nothing more than to be in this guy again with the freedom that came with it. But her mother and aunt wanted to be a proper lady. She goes to live with her brother and joined the British Air Force. Dr. Nora Darwin Barlow is a rare female boffin, which can be concluded by Deryn's initial reaction when she sees her. She is the granddaughter of Charles Darwin on the Darwinists are named after. Alek cannot inherit his father's throne because of the mom does not have royal blood. But he later learns that his father found a way around that.

The initial rising action of the story is when Alek leaves his house with the loyal crew and the stormwalker. Not too long after that Alek learns that his parents are dead. At the same time Deryn Hester free float in the Huxley and is eventually picked up by the Leviathan, a massive shift in the British Air Force. After being on the Leviathan for a while Deryn floats down in a Huxley to pick up Dr. Barlow. After that Alek and his crew pass