Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

LEVIATHAN

by Scott Westerfeld

Young Adult

Simon Pulse
www.ScottWesterfeld.com

5 autographed copies will be given away on Friday, August 13, 2010!!!

New York Times Bestselling Author!




About the Book:

From the New York Times Bestselling author Scott Westerfeld comes book one in an astonishing alternate history series titled LEVIATHAN. Westerfeld has more than 2 MILLION books in print, including Extras, which was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Already deemed a “steampunk masterpiece” by the blogosphere, this book will transport you back to the unruly period we know as World War I, specifically the year 1914. In this epic tale, the battle is instead brewing between the Clankers (a group of people that install faith in machinery to advance mankind) and the Darwinists (people of the belief that the evolution of living creatures into helpful tools will benefit society).

Found in the middle of this war of philosophies is Prince Aleksandar, a young boy deemed for greatness and the heir to the Austo-Hungarian throne, recently betrayed by those closest to him. And Deryn Sharp, a female commoner who wants nothing more than to fly in the British Air Service, but has to disguise herself as a boy to do so. Constantly hiding her secret proves to be a very difficult task.

The meeting of Alek and Deryn is most unexpected… and will change their lives forever.

Check out our exclusive interview with the Author!

1) What scene in the book are you most proud of and why?

The most interesting scenes to write were those in which the two main characters meet for the first time. Leviathan is sort of a Romeo and Juliet story, in that Alek and Deryn come from completely different worlds, which are literally at war. Until they meet, we've only seen these worlds from their own comfortable perspectives. But when Alek finds himself in Deryn's world, he sees everything that she's familiar with as being horrible and profane. It was really fun to show the same places and things from a new viewpoint, and having this clash of perspectives on the page made the conflict between the two characters (and the two sides of the war) much more real.

2) Who’s your favorite character in the book and why? Who was the most fun to write?

Deryn is a great character to write, because she's funny and brave, and has a similar Scottish accent to an old girlfriend of mine. I've also always wanted to write a girl pretending to be a boy, because it's exciting to have a secret, and to always worry about being caught. Also it's fun to see boy culture from an girl's perspective, especially in a book like this, which has lots of explosions and battles and technology. That is, things that only boys are supposed to like.

3) What kind of research did you have to do to bring this story to life on the page?

Leviathan is set in 1914, which turned out to be a lot trickier than writing a book set in the present day, or in the future, like Uglies. It's easy to find out the basics of what people wore and ate and how they got around in 1914, but the little details keep popping up. Take a simple question like: Were there zippers on clothing in 1914?

Well, zippers were invented in 1891, more or less. But where were they used back then? On pants, dresses, jackets? Were they considered hi-tech? Were they only for men at first? Or maybe only for rich people? Did they work badly?

If you're not careful, something simple like getting dressed can turn into an all-day session of research. My main strategy was to read a lot of contemporary diaries and novels. And even better were catalogs, which showed the objects of the everyday life.

4) When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

My family is pretty big, and when we all get together it's very loud and chaotic. But somehow we all manage to come together at some point and listen to the older family members tell stories from their lives. Some of my grand uncles and aunts are amazing storytellers, and it's great to see four generations all spellbound by the human voice. Even the football gets turned off, and this is Texas.

I think the notion that a story could be so important sunk into my head from a young age, so it always made sense to me that writing was an important thing to do.

5) Series like these always fascinate me because I want to know where the author is going and if he/she even knows where they’re going. So do you? Do you have it all plotted out in your head until the end or are you winging it as you go?

I know the end point of the individual books and the series, and how all the big plots are going to wrap up. And of course I know the beginning. But I prefer to keep the middle of the books a secret, even from myself. The characters will always change in ways I don't expect, and if I have too much of a plan for them, that tends to keep them from making their own choices. Most of the unexpected twists in my books weren't my ideas at all, but the characters'. So I try never to chain them down.

About the Author:

Scott Westerfeld is the author of the New York Times Bestselling Uglies series. His other novels include The Last Days (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and the sequel to Peeps), So Yesterday (another ALA Best Book for Young Adults) and the Midnighters trilogy. Scott alternates summers between New York City and Sydney, Australia. Visit the author online at: www.ScottWesterfeld.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/ScottWesterfeld.

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