Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld
It is 1914 and the eve of World War I, and the teenage Austro-Hungarian Prince Aleksandar learns that his parents, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Countess Sophie have been assassinated by pro-war Germans. As Alex is whisked away to safety by his father's trusted advisors, the map of Europe quickly divides against one another. The murder of Alex's parents is the assassination that set events in motion for Scott Westerfeld's fantastic alternative history of the beginning of World War I.
On one side is the Austro-Hungarian "Clankers," whose armed forces have harnessed and perfected mechanical and steam powered technology. They have built a fleet of powerful steam powered war machines like the Stormwalker, a machine that walks on two legs. On the other side are the English "Darwinists," whose military technology was inspired by the great work of Charles Darwin. The Darwinists have harnessed nature and through bioengineering have spliced the genes of animals together to create fantastic humpback whale floating airships and other "beasties" that act as their weaponry. Pit these two empires and technologies against each other and the ensuing story is a feast for the imagination.
While Alex is running for his life, on the other side of the continent, the feisty Deryn Sharp disguises herself as a boy to earn herself a post aboard the Leviathan, the mighty whale airship that is the pride of the British air force. When Alex and Deryn's paths cross, the two must choose between their new friendship or their loyalty to the countries they serve.
The first book in a planned four-book series, Leviathan is a wonderful story that blends history, adventure, and fantasy into a finely crafted tale. Readers will be fascinated by the descriptions of the bizarre machines and creatures, and will pore over the sketches and diagrams included in the text to learn more. Westerfeld has created a world that is rich in detail, and the international intrigue and political manoeuvrings will keep teen readers guessing. Find Leviathan in the teen section at the Prince George Public Library.
reviewed by Amy Dawley
teen librarian
at the Prince George Public Library
Suttree
by Cormac McCarthy
The first paragraph of Suttree informs the reader of much of what lies ahead in Cormac McCarthy's first novel: "Dear friend, now in the dusty clockless hours of the town when the streets lie black and steaming in the wake of the watertrucks, and now when the drunk and the homeless have washed in the lee of walls in alleys or abandoned lots and cots go forth high shouldered and lean in the grim perimeters about, now in these sootblacked brick or cobbled corridors where lightwire shadows make a gothic harp of cellar doors, no soul shall walk save you."
Suttree was published in 1979, long before McCarthy's 1992 National Book Award for All the Pretty Horse, his Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road, or the Coen Brothers' best-picture winning adaptation of No Country For Old Men. This novel is exactly what it advertises - a descent though the alleys and abandoned lots of Knoxville, Tennessee, where the drunk and the homeless scramble for existence in the South after the Second World War.
Cornelius Suttree seems one of the lucky ones. He lives in a rickety houseboat on the Tennessee River, described in wretched detail in the opening pages, where he trolls for fish to sell to the mongers. Segregation is alive and well but when one is as down and out as someone like Suttree, race is irrelevant. He sells his fish, drinks, fights and befriends everyone, black or white, who exist on the perimeter with him. He lives there by choice, having abandoned his more affluent family for a life of isolation and uncertainty about where his next meal is coming from and whether he can even survive another cold winter on the streets.
This is a rich, detailed character study of a man with a gentle heart who is also capable of the worst depravities, a soul willing to offer kindness to others but who expects none for himself. Rather than relying on a plot, Suttree's structure is a reflection of the man - vivid but sparse, focused but directionless, complicated but singular, calm and careful but dogged by pain, tragedy and violence at every turn.
Suttree rewards the patient reader willing to plow through the dense passages of description with vibrant scenes, unique characters and an uncompromising vision of a humanity rank with savagery and decay. A New York Times story once referred to McCarthy's writing as venomous. It's the perfect word for Suttree. This is a novel that sinks its teeth hard into the reader; it gets in the blood ... and there's no antidote.
Look for this novel by Cormac McCarthy at the Prince George Public Library in the fiction area of the adult general collection.
reviewed by Neil Godbout
trustee for the board
of the Prince George Public Library
A Hatred for Tulips
by Richard Lourie
Joop is an elderly Dutch man who has kept a secret for 60 years. When Joop's younger brother returns to Holland for a visit and begins to ask Joop about his childhood spent under Nazi occupation, Joop reveals his secret: he betrayed Anne Frank's family to the authorities while they were hiding from Nazi persecution. The effect of this haunting book will linger with the reader. Readers can find it in the fiction area of the adult general collection at the Prince George Public Library.
reviewed by Patricia Gibson
inter-library loans librarian
at the Prince George Public Library
