My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This steampunkish take on the beginning of World War I (with the Central Powers reliant on legged war machines and zeppelins, while the Allies — the Brits, at least — specialize in genetic manipulation to make war creatures) was a fantastic ripping yarn. It was made even better by the lead characters — one the son of the assassinated Franz Ferdinand, fleeing from the Austrian and German forces who want him dead; the other an adolescent British girl masquerading as a boy so she can serve in the Air Force.
If it has one flaw, it’s that the book suddenly ended and I wanted more.
There’s not a tremendous amount of depth here, but it’s such splendid fun and rollickingly adventuresome that I had to love it — and will now have to get my daughter to read it, too.