I’m speaking at DFWCon: The Dallas-Fort Worth Writers Conference, June 10-11
I’m not the guest of honor, though. Brace yourself for the guest of honor.
Yes, Scott Westerfeld. That Scott Westerfeld. Scott. Freaking. Westerfeld.
He is known for so many fabulous series. Uglies was the first I read. It was one of those rare-for-me instances of getting caught up in a contemporary science fiction fantasy instead of something historical.
Uglies is yet another YA post-apocalyptic dystopian series, but what a hella twist. Everyone gets extreme surgery at age 16 to make them Pretties. Perfect body, perfect face. Why? Society had grown so superficial that the cure of many evils is to make everyone equally, perfectly beautiful to prevent people from having an unfair advantage in the workplace and to prevent conflicts because of the color of people’s skin.
Tally is the youngest and last of her friends to make the change. And she can’t wait to become a Pretty.
Until…
Wait. There is a Manga, too?
How did I miss that?
Okay, I almost inhaled this series.
But this is not the series that I bought in hardcover.
This is not the series that I have listened repeatedly to in audiobook because, Alan Cumming. Awesome.
The Original Leviathan cover, before they began using character images. It’s my favorite.
This is that series.
The reason I will be lugging three hardcover tomes to DFWCon to get them signed by Scott Westerfeld. Books that are gorgeous in print and exuberant in audio.
It begins with Leviathan, a kickass alternate history in which the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of [nation] launches World War I, just as it does in our history.
It takes fabulous true facts, plays ‘what if?’, and weaves them into a fantastical steampunk tale of Darwinists, the Allies [Great Britain, France and Russia] who have continued Darwin’s work and ended up with genetically created animals that are used in warfare– and the Clankers, the Central Powers [Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy] who believed Darwin a heretic and instead created mechanical wonders for the same.
span the globe over the three centuries and bring in everybody from Tesla to Pancho Villa. It’s a kickass adventure and at the end of each took the author’s notes always revealed that some of the wildest aspects of the story actually happened. Great fun! I need to make a separate post about Deryn Sharp, our intrepid young Scottish heroine who is one of the best female characters I have ever read. Her counterpart, Prince Aleksandar Ferdinand, is equally well-drawn and his situation darkly compelling.
The story:
Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected ways, taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.
The entire Leviathan Series in all its glory. If it sounds interesting to you, I hope you check it out!
Oh, and another book trailer. If only Alan Cumming were narrating!
Scott Westerfeld rocks and I look forward to hearing him speak and getting my books signed.
Oh yeah, I will be there speaking on these topics: “Writing with Passion” and “Finding Your Writer’s Voices.” More on that later!
Have you read any of Westerfeld’s books? Which were your faves? These are the only two series of his that I have read.
Are you going to the conference?
Tell me in comments!
Fangirling! So cool.
Indeed!