Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld YP FIC WESTERFE

The war between the technology obsessed Clankers and the bio-engineering enthusiasts the Darwinists continue in this action packed sequel to Leviathan Our heroes Prince Alex and Deryn are trapped between enemy lines in Clanker run Germany and have to use all their abilities to survive.

The Leviathan trilogy is a Steampunk look at the beginnings of WW I. Steampunk takes historical settings but adds cutting edge technologies that are powerd by the fuels and sciences of the time. So they have a giant whale warship for the bio-engineering Darwinists and the clankers used steam powered robots. It makes for very fun reading and lots of great action, but Westerfled goes above and beyond the call of duty by filling his books with interesting and well developed characters that readers can get behind. Definitely read Leviathan before picking this one up, but if you like sci fi or you like historical fiction but are looking for something kind of different then this series is for you.

Afterschool Charisma by Kumiko Suekane YP FIC SUEKANE

St Kleio Academy is not your average boarding school. Every student is a clone of a famous historical figure. Motzart, Joan of Ark, Elzaibeth I, Sigmund Freud, and even Hitler all go to class together and learn how to live up to their awesome potential. But there is a single non-clone student: shiro Kamiya, son of the principal and desperately trying to fit in with a school filled with madmen, geniuses, and genius madmen. But there is something behind the scenes that threatens the lives of all the clones and it may just be that their protectors are as bad as the unseen enemy.

This is a wonderfully weird little manga. When I read that Hitler was going to be a character I was really wary, because he’s not the ideal guy I want to read a manga about. But the way they introduce him is pretty perfect and he’s a well thought out character (after all as a teen Hitler wasn’t a genocidal monster yet). You won’t have to worry about knowing much history because the characters all get explained as they go along, but of you like history then it does add another layer of fun to the whole book. The story is just getting started but this seems like a great manga to watch.

Grandville by Bryan Talbot YP FIC TALBOT

Grandville is the story of an alternate timeline where Britain lost the Napoleonic War. 200 years have passed and Britain has finally won its independence, but is now a small nation of limited importance stuck in an Indo-China war and fighting internal anarchist terrorists. Oh, and everyone in this world is walking talking animals. Inspector-Detective LeBrock (a badger) of Scotland yard is on the case of a rash of mysterious suicides that lead to a conspiracy of international importance that go to the highest levels of power. He must solve the case and uncover a secret society of assassins before thousands are murdered in this animal steampunk, mystery-adventure!

This is one delightfully oddball graphic novel. It is a rousing mystery adventure with great action sequences made truly surreal by the fact that everyone is a giant animal person. It's like watching a cute and fuzzy Disney movie mixed with a hard-boiled detective novel. The art is really excellent. Talbot does great line work and his coloring is excellent. I got such a kick of seeming animal headed creatures stab and shoot each other! Beyond that somewhat silly reason the plot is fantastic. It takes a look at how nations respond to terrorism, racism, and class warfare...with fuzzy animals. If you like steampunk or Sherlock Holmes or fuzzy animals acting badly give Grandville a try.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks; Illustrated by Ibraim Roberson

Max Brooks has made a name for himself writing about zombies. If there could be an authority on these creatures, Brooks would most likely be it. The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks is an illustrated history of zombie attacks throughout history. There is an old adage that history will repeat itself if we don’t learn from previous mistakes. Brooks considers this in the presentation of his story.

The Survival Guide is full of graphic zombie attacks since the dawn of time. The retelling is presented as a collection of short stories beginning in 60,000 B.C. in Central Africa and traveling to various locations across the globe, such as Feudal Japan (A.D. 1611) to 1992 at Joshua Tree National Park in California.

The overall story is light on character development, since each story is 9-10 pages long. However, the illustrations provided by Roberson assist in making these short stories entertaining and a little horrifying. For a more character-driven zombie story Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead: here we remain (YP Fic Kirkman) is recommended.

Max Brooks is also the author of World War Z: an oral history of the zombie war (SF Brooks), which is also available at the Moore Memorial Public Library in the science fiction section.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is the first book of a new steampunk trilogy written by young adult, sci-fi writer, Scott Westerfeld. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction writing that encompasses a unique mix of past and future. The first steampunk novels were written by H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds) and Jules Verne (Journey to the Center of the Earth). Originally, steampunk was set in the Victoria era with futurist possibilities, like flying machines, computer-like contraptions, and weapons. The genre eventually evolved to include sub-genres known as clockpunk (16th Century) and dieselpunk (WWI era).

Westerfeld’s new series begins in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which was the event that sparked World War I. Instead of accurately retelling the events of WWI, Westerfeld creates an alternate history, where countries are divided by science and warfare. Countries, like Germany and Austria, known as Clankers, have highly developed war machines. Other countries, such as England, have trusted Darwinists scientists, who developed living war machines and new animals through cross breeding DNA. The Leviathan is part whale, part airship, and it is the pride of the Air Service.

At the beginning of the story we meet young Aleksander (Alek), son of the assassinated Archduke, who is forced to flee his homeland. He is being chased by the Germans and Austrians because he is a threat to the Austrian Empire. The story also introduces Deryn, a young girl who is passing as a teen boy in order to join the British Air Service. She is a talented airman, but women aren’t allowed to fly.

The two cross paths at the start of the war. Alek and his men, who escaped to Switzerland, encounter Deryn and the Leviathan crew when the airship crashes after a German air assault. This book starts an around the world journey and a clash of thinking on man, machine, and science.

Watch this:
Leviathan Book Trailer

Scott Westerfeld has written a number of novels and many of them are available at the library. You may be familiar with the previous series, Pretties, Uglies, Specials, and Extras. Vampire enthusiasts may be familiar with Peeps and The Last Days.

His Majesty’s Dragon (Book 1 – Temeraire Series) by Naomi Novik

Ms. Novik started this series back in 2006, and is still going strong with book five, coming out in July 2008. The book is set during the Napoleonic wars, and it is alternative history/fantasy, because in this universe the history is given a new twist – with dragons existing and even being used in warfare by England and other European nations. Will Laurence is a Captain in the British Navy, but his station changes when his ship captures a French ship carrying a dragon’s egg. Dragons are matched at birth with their “trainers” and the fledging dragon chooses Laurence. Now he’s forced to become a member of the British Aerial Corp, but he finds his new status more than acceptable once he realizes what it’s like to be a dragon trainer, an “aviator”. Although the flying is exciting, Laurence’s principal gain is finding out how creative and endearing dragons actually are, and soon he can’t imagine being without Temeraire, as he has named him. Novik does a wonderful job of sustaining our interest both in Temeraire’s development and in the plot, which is predictable only in its unpredictability. I am hooked on the series, having started on Book 3, and am now reading them in order. Novik is enamored of history, particularly this period, and has woven the details of dragon warfare to mesh skillfully with the actual mechanics of war at that time. I’d love to hear from others regarding your reaction to the series.