Leviathan

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, 440 pages

"In an alternate 1914 Europe, fifteen-year-old Austrian Prince Alek, on the run from the Clanker Powers who are attempting to take over the globe using mechanical machinery, forms an uneasy alliance with Deryn who, disguised as a boy to join the British Air Service, is learning to fly genetically-engineered beasts."  I'm a relative newcomer to Westerfeld's books but I really liked the first book in this series.  I'm sorry it took me so long to get to it.  I liked this a lot better than the Pretties series, which was good but not great.  This was much better and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.