Audiobook Review: Leviathan written by Scott Westerfield performed by Alan Cumming

While I prefer listening to audiobooks read by the author, I broke my own rule when I decided to listen to Scott Westerfeld’s “Leviathan.” Leviathan is an alternative, steampunk history about the beginnings of World War I.  (I love alternate history novels.  I spent 6 years of my life learning to be a historian.  While historians, arguably, change and bend history to their will, one thing they aren’t allowed to do is change the facts to any great extent.  I imagine that could be a big reason why I enjoy alternate history fiction.)  This story revolves around the exploits of an Scottish Darwinist and an Austrian Clanker.  Alan Cumming, a Scottish actor who has played roles requiring a German accent, was a perfect choice for the reading of this story.

In Leviathan, Westerfield is able to not only explain the complex reasons why Europe erupted into war in the Summer of 1914, but he also manages to take futuristic elements and weave them seamlessly into the already complex story.  Sure, he changed some of the historic dates and personas and such for the sake of the story, but Leviathan is an alternate history, so that is entirely welcome.  It is fun, especially for a reformed historian, to imagine the First World War being fought between fabricated beasts and hugely complex, mechanical walking machines.  The Darwinists Allies and the Clanker Central Powers become uneasy allies and the plot twists and turns its way through that fateful summer.

Had I been reading this book in the traditional manner, I am positive I would have been unable to put it down.  As a audiobook, I found myself driving slower just to be able to listen to more of it at once.  (Not only is it a good read, it also saves gas!)  There is only one problem with Leviathan, and that’s the fact that it’s the first of a trilogy.  I’m ready to listen to the next!