From Goodreads:The behemoth is the fiercest creature in the British navy. It can swallow enemy battleships with one bite. The Darwinists will need it, now that they are at war with the Clanker powers.
Deryn is a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek is the heir to an empire posing as a commoner. Finally together aboard the airship Leviathan, they hope to bring the war to a halt. But when disaster strikes the Leviathan's peacekeeping mission, they find themselves alone and hunted in enemy territory.
Alek and Deryn will need great skill, new allies, and brave hearts to face what's ahead.
Thoughts: This is the second book in the Leviathan series. I reviewed book one here as part of the 13 in'13 challenge.
So Deryn, a girl posing as a boy in the British Air Service, and Alek, the heir to an empire posing as a commoner, are back as World War I continues to heat up. Set largely in Istanbul, it once again give a bit of a view into world history - even if it is set in an alternate universe.
I love the steampunk universe, the way what we consider the natural order of things may not be so. The question also being, would you be a Darwinist - someone who tinkers with the natural to make it more than it was, or a Clunker - someone who replies on pure mechanics. Personally, I like the idea of living, breathing machinery!