Reddit reviews Leviathan (The Leviathan Trilogy)

The HMS Leviathan is the titular craft from the series of books that that begins with Leviathan. It's a bio/dieselpunk alt history WWI series where the Central Powers (Clankers) have created diesel powered giant robots, and the Entente Powers (Darwinists) have responded by using genetic engineering to create living war machines. The Leviathan itself is a living zeppelin, and swims through the sky using internal bladders filled with self-generated hydrogen.

Edit because I'm a dumb-butt.

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. And more.

In my history class as an American Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders received nearly half the amount of time we spent on WWI. I literally learned more about World War I reading young adult steampunk novels than I did in history class.

I think there are a couple of approaches to steampunk with varying levels of real-world believability. On one side you've got the "What if technology advanced as rapidly as computers, but the internal combustion engine and transistors were never invented?" and on the other you have spirit-infused clockworks that are effectively magic taking the place of more standard fantasy fare like talking animals or outright spirits. And plenty of stuff in between. I'd say it's more of a visual aesthetic than a pseudo-philosophy within the books like grimdark or cozy mystery or anything.

So far, the vaguely steampunk books I've read are rather limited. And often for kids. Some examples:

• His Dark Materials, where Lyra's world is arguably steampunk (of the type without widely-used transistors)
  
• Leviathan trilogy - an alternate WWI where the British have genetic engineering and the Austro-Hungarian empire has mechas
  
• Boneshaker - zombies and zeppelins in frontier Portland but urgh
  
• A weak argument for A Series of Unfortunate Events, which has a Victorian aesthetic and plenty of improbable inventions everywhere
  
• Currently in the middle of Etiquette & Espionage, which is taking an Artemis Fowl-like approach towards gleeful evil geniuses and definitely on the magical side of things since werewolves and vampires are present and inventions seem to work so readily.

Teen Superheros:

Please Don't Tell My Parents I'm a Supervillain by Richard Roberts (Three children of superheros develop powers and accidently become supervillains. Good writing, very clever worldbuilding and characterization. Interesting love triangle You've probably seen it advertised as "What if Harry Potter were steampunk?" but underneath the obvious cashgrab advertising is a great book)

Sidekicks by Jack Ferraiolo (Two sidekicks-One of a superhero, another of a supervillian, learn that they go to the same school, and develop a romance. Excellent Writing, especially for a children's book. Cute romance, and realistic characterization of the main characters at the age they're at without being either condescending or simplistic, interesting twist on superhero/supervillian dynamics. Be careful, since the title's genericness means its possible to get the wrong book)

The Vindico by Wesley King. (5 children are kidnapped by a team of supervillains in an attempt to train apprentices. Generally sold as "The Breakfast Club meets X-Men", which it somewhat lives up to. Good plot, nice twist both on traditional super villain roles and "school for supers" idea)

Realistic Fiction:

The Theif Lord by Cornelia Funke. (Two Orphans run away to Venice and join a group of runaways taken care of by "The Thief Lord", a child master thief. Clever Plot, and the writing really takes you in)

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (Written by 16 year old who really lived in similar conditions. Plot revolves around "Ponyboy", a member of a Greaser gang in the 60s, and his life after a gang fight goes wrong. You really care about people who would otherwise serve as hoodlums in another novel)

Sci-fi:

A Confusion of Princes by Garth Nix. (A Prince, one of a few million of the rulers of a galactic empire, becomes tangled in a web of plots and conspiracies. Good sci-fi with excellent world building. Watching the main character learn how dangerous his life has become and slowly adapt to it)

Red Rising by Pierce Brown (After the death of his wife, a member of the lowest Red caste is disguised and made into a member of the ruling Gold caste in order to infiltrate the ruling society. "Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow" was the quote that got me into this. Lives up to it. Reads like a more violent Hunger Games, and goes places the HG didn't. Excellent read, and the main character's intelligence make him more than just an angry revenger. Some slightly guessable "plot twists", but does a good job exploring the theme of unfairness and winning against a stacked deck.)

Levithan by Scott Westerfield. (Alternate World War One, where the allies use genetic manipulation to create huge beasts of burden and war, while the Central powers use huge steampunk machines. Plot follows a girl who dresses as a boy to join in the ranks of an air force, who meets an Austrian Prince on the run from the German Empire)

Fantasy/Horror:

The Spook's Apprentice by Joseph Delany (Seventh son gets appreticed to the local spook, a man who fights magical threats around the County. Does a unique job of showing its monsters and boogeymen, with a plot that builds over the course of the books.)

Cirque Du Freak (Boy becomes a half-vampire, traveling with a circus of freaks. Most action takes place away from the circus and towards the other vampires in the world. 12 books that are really 4 trilogies, which ought to be 4 books. Nice job of presenting unique vampires. Actual horror varies, although I've heard good things about the Demonata series by the same author, which I haven't read.)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. (First line: "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." Plot is series of vignettes about boy being raised by a group of ghosts in a graveyard. Gaiman gets pretty good reviews overall, and for good reason.)

The Midnighters Series by Scott Westerfield (Girl moves to new town and discovers she is one of a very few who can access the "Secret Hour"- An extra hour when time is frozen at midnight, along with gaining new powers. Her and a few select others fight ancient beasts who were the last predators of ancient man.)

Hmm, the steampunk I've read has been set in the past or closer to the present.

The Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld is a YA re-imagining of WWI where the Germans have advanced steam-powered technology and the British have discovered genetic engineering early and gone crazy with it (think giant inflatable whale in place of a zeppelin). Girl disguised as a boy, prince on the run, etc, etc. An enjoyable trilogy.

The Golden Compass, the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy, also has some steampunk elements to it. It's set in an alternate version of Oxford where the church never lost power and electricity never got "big." Definitely some magical elements in there (kind of).

It's steampunk, but I'm really not a fan of Boneshaker. It's a steampunk version of the west coast in the 1800s... With zombies. Very flat, unlikeable characters in my opinion.

At least give some info on it ;)

artist - Keith Thompson
from the book - Leviathan

Thompson does some great illustrations for the book. As for the book itself, wasn't too bad for an alternative history/steampunk story. Not in the ilk of Glen Cook or Michael Moorcock, IMO, but a fun read.

This was actually a main plot point for the third of a series of steampunk books by Scott Westerfeld (I thought they were pretty good). The various theories centered around a meteorite hitting and also Tesla (who is a character in the books) test-firing his "death-ray."

Link to the book series for the curious

For those wondering about source.
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld is a great book and the series is a wonderful read.

Maybe Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield would be a good one? It's a YA steampunk set in an alternative WWI scenario. Very cool illustrations, too. The only problem is, it's part of a series and only the first book has come out.

Hope you get well soon.

It's fictionalized to include mutant creatures and steampunk klanks, but I recommend Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld. It gives a decent feel for the period, and some of the background goings-on are based on WWI.

Along with some of the comments, this is starting to sound like Leviathan.