Just in the passed day, however, Twitter allowed me to connect with someone we’ve actually talked about on the show: Scott Westefeld. Through a series of but four tweets, we had an incredible thought provoking dialogue:

ScottWesterfeld:

Just read three reviews of Leviathan in a row, none of which mentions the illustrations. (Silly adults.)

garretble:

@ScottWesterfeld I did a review a bit ago and I definitely mentioned the great visuals! http://www.pressednbound.net/episode-82-hatisode/

ScottWesterfeld:

@garretble Dude, you totally GOT IT. Yes, I am a lucky man to have Keith alongside. Anyone who doesn’t get the pix fails at the book.

garretble:

@ScottWesterfeld Indeed, my friend. High five!

So there you have it. Scott is a cool guy, a good author, and you would be remiss to ignore how interesting Leviathan is.

Leviathan was further discussed on Episode 82.

Last time, we brought you a bio of Scott Westerfeld, author of super cool, steampunktastic Leviathan. Today, following in those punky steam boots, we’ll discuss another author who rolls in that genre: Cherie Priest. Just a few weeks ago, her latest novel, Boneshaker, was released, replete with zombies, airships, and a walled Civil War era Seattle full of craziness; and from all I can tell, it’s pretty damned cool.

Born in 1975 and currently living in Seattle, Priest’s first novel, Four and Twenty Blackbirds, introduces Eden Moore, a girl living in the south who is visited by spirits as a child that guide her in figuring out the history behind her crooked ancestry. After this, Priest went on to pen two more novels involving Eden Moore, which conveniently became known as the Eden Moore Trilogy: Wings to the Kingdom and Not Flesh Nor Feathers. These novels all center around the South and mysteries therein. To date, Priest’s writing falls mostly within the horror/holy-crap-there’s-voodoo-and-stuff-in-this-novel-genre, but is now extending into the fields of the aforementioned steampunk (although according to the all-mighty Wikipedia she likes to describe these novels as an “alternate history,” but we’ll get to that).

More currently, as as mentioned above, Priest has released Boneshaker, about a son who attempts to clear the names of his grandfather and father and his mother who attempts to save his life. You see, the only way for the son, Zeke, to complete his goal is to go into a walled off part of 1870s Seattle that is full of zombies (a.k.a “rotters”). The reason Seattle is walled off just happens to be part of why everyone kinda hates his late father and grandfather. Zeke believes that they can’t be all that bad, and ventures inside to find some proof of that theory. Knowing that it’s essentially a suicide mission, his mother, Briar, sets off to bring him home, and goes within the walls herself.

Boneshaker is the first of a series that Priest is calling The Clockwork Century. Basically here’s the scoop:

Here, it is 1880 (or thereabouts). The Civil War is still underway, drawn out by English interference, a different transportation infrastructure, and a powerful Republic of Texas that discovered oil at Spindletop some fifty years sooner than real life allowed. The competition of war has led to technological progress and horrors unimaginable, and many people have fled the combating states, hoping for an easier life out west. Some of them have found it. Some of have found something else.

These novels are described as an “alternate history,” and so far that history is filled with zombies and airships. I’m currently about halfway through Boneshaker, and I must say it’s a very enthralling tale. Civil War history is fairly interesting in its own right, but what if there were ZOMBIES, you know? As far as I’ve come in the novel, I can’t help but think there could be a really interesting screenplay to come out of this. I’d watch a Civil War zombie movie.

And to end this all out, I want to briefly mention the novel itself, in it’s physical form. The paperback is a really solid, really sharp cut book that feels good in the hand. Most people probably don’t think twice about that sort of thing, but I like it when paperbacks feel sturdy. I’m going through a pretty large series right now, the current novel being upwards of 1,000 pages, and it just flip flops all around like a dead fish in your hands. And while that series is super epic, I wish I didn’t have to strain my weak nerd arms just holding the book upright. That is all.

Look for more about Boneshaker on a future episode.

Leviathan

Coming straight from his own personal (WordPress, woo!) blog, Scott, a native of Texas, has written five science fiction novels and does some ghostwriting for other authors, none of whom he names. I suppose if you were a ghostwriter and then told people who you wrote for, would that make you a zombiewriter? I’m not quite sure how all of that works.

Mr. Westerfeld has penned a few young adult novels, which I believe Leviathan falls under. His other works include the Midnighters series, about five kids who where all born at midnight, and the Uglies series, about a world where everyone at age 16 has to get plastic surgery. All very interesting ideas.

For Leviathan, his latest work, Scott has teamed up with a fantastic artist to help illustrate the world, and I would be remiss to leave him out. Before we discuss the artist, however, let’s take a quick look at the plot, so you can have it in your mind when you see some of these illustrations. Leviathan’s world is set during WWI, a super badassed WWI, but I’ll let the product description speak for itself:

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. Their Leviathan is a whale airship, and the most masterful beast in the British fleet.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl 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 the Great War brewing, Alek’s and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

So now that we have that setting in our heads, let’s look at a couple of works by Keith Thompson, badass extraordinaire:

I don’t know about you, but with these images in my head, with a story set in a WWI Europe with airships and fantastical beasts used for warfare, in addition to gear/steam powered mechs, how can this book not kick ass? I would urge you to go check out Keith’s website and browse through all of his pieces. They’re all pretty gritty and freaking amazing. For a little bit more of his artwork, there just so happens to be a trailer for Leviathan:

So there you have it, the short scoop on Scott Westerfeld AND bonus scoops of Keith Thompson. I have yet to be able to dive into Laviathan outside of two chapters I read at work today (don’t tell anyone), but it looks to be a completely interesting, if not totally awesome work. Look for a discussion of it on a future episode.