Leviathan Cover!

Posted on by scott

In celebration of my birthday, I give you the US cover of Leviathan . . .

1p_leviathan_jkt_small

Frequently asked questions:

What? This is the first book of my next series, which will include three novels and one full-color guidebook, The Manual of Aeronautics.

When? Book 1 comes out October 6, 2009. The other two novels come out in October of 2010 and 2011.

Where? It will be published (almost) simultaneously in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. No waiting! We’ve also sold rights to France and Taiwan, so far.

Who? It’s by me, silly. But it also includes 50 awesome illustrations by the artist Keith Thompson, most of them full page! This amazing cover is also by him. I’ll be posting samples here every month, and they will astonish you.

Why? Why is it illustrated? Because back in 1914, almost all books were illustrated, and I wanted it to look and feel like a book from that period. Plus, there are so many weird animals and machines in the world of Leviathan that I wanted to show them.*

WTF? Okay, Leviathan is set in an alternate world in which Charles Darwin discovered biotechnology. So the British Empire was built on the backs of strange, fabricated beasties. Living airships! Fighting kraken! Message lizards!

Um, but what’s that thing on the cover? That’s a Clanker contraption. You see, the Germans and Austrians in my world use machines instead of beasties. Cool walking machines!

Aren’t you sick of answering all these questions? Yes, and it’s my birthday. So enjoy the cover. I’m out of here.

Can’t I ask one more question?
Sure, but that was it. Ciao for now!

____________________
*Also, I wanted an excuse to go to Comic-Con

133 thoughts on “Leviathan Cover!”

  5. Whoa, Scott-la has a birthday. The world works in wondrous ways.

    That cover is absolutely breathtaking, truly different from your most popular series out in the public. Has a whole different feel and everything. I can’t wait!

    (Also note, I too was reminded of Iron Giant at first.)

  7. 1. Happy Birthday!!!!!

    2. WAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTT.

    3. No, really. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnt.

    4. They are shipping me my copy of Mind-Rain! YAY!

  8. Niiice excuse to go to Comic-Con. xD But I’ve always wanted to go to one, so I don’t blame you.

    And it looks amazing! I love the cover. And the story sounds amazing as well, I can’t wait for it to come out!

    and Happy Birthday! ^^

  9. EXTREMELY ICY. I’m so excited!!!

    More Importantly: Happy Birthday!!! Hopefully it shall be the most exclamation mark-filled ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  12. Oops, submitted my last comment too soon. What I meant was:

    Happy birthday! =D
    And I look forward to the release! 🙂

  16. Happy Birthday! The new cover looks amazing. One question though: “It will be published (almost) simultaneously in the US, UK, and Australia.” Does that include Canada, or no?

  17. huhuh…”an excuse to go to comicon.” I’ve been considering going to MTAC, myself.

  18. HAPPY BIRTHDAYYYY!!!! and that cover is just about the coolest cover eeverrr

    and i love picture books. =]

  26. Happy B’day, Scott — you don’t look a year older. 😉

    Love the new cover and I can’t wait to get my hands on my own copy. Early b’day present for me?

    WandaV

  29. AHH! I’ve already seen the image, but I am still excited about this gorgeous cover.

    And merry happy chipper joyous birthday!

  31. Ill be the first one in my town to buy a copy! It looks soooo awesome!

    P.s I just bought your book Bogus to Bubbly and i never thought a hoverboard looked like that :] but i must say the Uglies series is the best series ive read keep up the good work!

  32. Aw yeah ops i also ment to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! *goes off singing birthday songs*

  35. Happy birthday!

    That cover is so freaking amazing. But so much for the cover eye scheme you had going.

  36. Wow! O_O

    1) The artwork is amazing! Now I am so much more excited for this book… It looks so promising! (Not that it’s not anyway… This just adds to it.)
    2) Happy Birthday!

    Seriously, this cover is amazing.
    I can’t wait to see more of the artwork!

  37. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO SO SO AMAZING. I can’t wait. That’s a day before my birthday that it comes out! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!

  39. any wayzzzzzzzzzzzzz………….* BLOW BLOONS AND GET THE FRICKEN STREAMERZ AND CAKE*~!!@!~!~ ITZ UR B-DAY AND I FER GIT?@~!%#!^ HOWW COULD I BE SOOOOO STUPID?`~! WHY? HAPPY-BDAY!

  44. Happy Birthday! Hope you are doing something really awesome for it 🙂

    More books should have illustrations…they add to the experience…but they should be ambiguous, to retain the imaginative aspect of reading. The cover is rad. Can’t wait to read this.

  50. happy birthday scott-la!!!!!!!!!!
    oooooooooh levithan looks so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂

  52. hoooooooly crap!!!!! I WANT IT now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! happy birthday! oh, are you going on a book tour again? ‘cuz that would be SWEET!

  54. 1. Awesome cover.
    2. Happy birthday.
    3. Nervous-making was used in Revolutionary Road writtan by Richard Yates in 1961. I’m reading it for English and I just about fell off my bed when I read it this afternoon.

  56. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT-SENSEI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Fawsome cover!!!!

  57. Scott-la!
    you commented again
    haha

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    you deserve an icy major day
    have the bubbliest

  58. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SCOTT-LA!♪
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SCOTT-LA!♪
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SCOTT-LA!♪
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!♪

    ANOTHER SONG!

    OH YEAH! LEVIATHAN!♪
    I CANT WAIIT!♪
    OH YEAHH!♪
    LALLALALALALALLALALLA♪

  59. mmmm new bookie….
    *drool*

    happy birthday, scott-la!!!

    does this mean you’ll be going on tour soon?
    cause i want a copy and a signie signie…

  60. Hey, I’ve held a giant poster of that cover. It’s still pretty! And illustrated!

    Hey, this is also my friend’s birthday. Happy birthday!

  64. Happy birthday 🙂 I’m so excited for this book. The cover artwork is terrific 🙂

  71. Happy Birthday, Scott! So I guess the Clanker contraptions would be like the Eva Units from Neon Genesis Evangelion. That makes it Leviathan at least ten times cooler.

  75. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT-LA!!

    That is one righteous cover!! I’m unbelievably excited now that I know what the book is about!
    Whoa. Look at the very bottom of this website and the green text? It says This is silly text. Evil silly text!
    That’s kind of amazing. The smily face is still there too! 😀

    NOTE: If there is a girl reading this (hang on I’m getting more specific) I’m that one girl from Barnes and Nobel (5/05) last night, you recommended The Black Tattoo to me. I should’ve probably told you, like, my name but whatever. Hello! if you read this.

  76. I just looked at the cover again, and it’s absolutely amazing. *cries at the beauty* lol.
    (also, in my time zone, it’s 7:57 AM on the sixth. So…)
    I wish was October (stupid Time-Space-Continuum time machine conundrum)
    Peace!:)

  77. Hey, who came up with the questions?
    And, ‘I need an excuse to go to Comic-Con’ that’s amazing.
    What do you do at a Comic-Con?

  78. I’ve decided that this is going to be an awesome year, book wise. Crashed (by Robin Wasserman) is due to be out in September, then there’s this…and that’s all I know about. It doesn’t take much to get me happy…OH!! And the 6th book to HON…I’m going to work on saving up some money…75cents…I’m doing good! lol 😀

  83. OMG Jay-wa i just saw at the bottom of the page the Evil Silly text thing. Funny scott-la.
    ps happy bday and when is Mind Rain coming out?

  84. That is a fantastical cover!!! Can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!
    HHHHHHAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPYYYYYYYYYYYY
    BBBBBIIIIIIRRRRRTTTTTTTHHHHHDDDDDDAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😀
    😉
    If you can’t tell i’m feeling rather spastic right now.

  86. I like your evil silly text at the bottom,
    It adds a unique touch to your website! 🙂

  87. I already knew Keith Thompson was an awesome artist (I’ve followed his work for a year now), and i have to say this cover is pretty high up there. When I read the preview chapters of Leviathan I had a horrible suspicion that you might go overboard on the steampunk, but NO! It looks fantastic, not too extreme, and reminds me of Robo from Chrono Trigger.

    Which is a good thing.

  89. Oh yeah. Happy birthday! I won’t say anything more, because I know how I hate being told “happy birthday” countless times

  90. It’s an okay cover. I’m not gonna lie though, it doesn’t look like my thing. but hey I’m sure it’s a good book anyway!

  91. Awesome, I can wait for it to come out. Waiting is so nervous-making. But i love the Uglies series, it was so happy-making but not so happy-making when i didn’t have time to read them. BUt i am reading Extras and it is SO happy-making!

  93. reagan: Yes. Waiting is hard. (‘patience is a virtue’ whoever came up with that crap was obviously not talking about [teenagers] waiting for anything important.)
    My friends are excited about this!
    ♥
    Peace

  95. I just checked out Keith Thompson’s website (and besides my computer being SOOPER S L O W and me wanting to claw my eyes out because of it…) and it was glorious! He is a gifted dude, seriously.
    🙂 Peace

  97. scott that looks really good but you should seriously write more uglies books…PLEASE!!!

  98. le·vi·a·than (lÉ™-vÄ«’É™-thÉ™n)
    n.

    1. Something unusually large of its kind, especially a ship.
    2. A very large animal, especially a whale.
    3. A monstrous sea creature mentioned in the Bible.

    I love dictionary.com

    Also, I agree with Kay-la, except you also need another Midnighters too (Just think of us as like, your accountant or something, we’re trying to make you money. Though, that’s not really the accountants job, is it?)

  99. Sorry, I meant to post this with the last comment, but there’s this righteous sci-fi song called Major Tom (coming home) it kind of reminds me of The Risen Empire, but not really.
    That’s all!
    }:D
    Peace…again

  100. YAY! I’m the one hundredth comment! The cover is awesome. I can’t wait to get a copy. :p

  101. Happy Birthday!!!

    The book looks so amazing! Seriously giddy-extreme!!!

    I hope by comic-con, you’re not meaning the San Diego Comic-Con… I had to refund my tickets so I can afford my first apartment. Stupid independence. 🙁

  106. oi…there’s ANOTHER fire in my town. and it’s starting to burn houses now.
    this is the FOURTH in two years, two summers ago, last summer, in october, and now another one.
    we need RAIN!!!
    also doesn’t help that it was 100 degrees today…

  108. Happy Birthday Mr. Westerfeld!

    That cover makes me jealous… Your books make me jealous. Going to Comic-Con makes me jealous. I WANT TO BE YOU!!

    Okay, now that my jealousy and envy have subsided. That cover looks like complete and utter awesomeness! Also, have fun at Comic-Con.

  109. it’s really weird that someone in this town found out about the fire…from someone in NORTH CAROLINA. that just doesn’t make sense.
    i know some people who were evacuated…good thing we live far-ish away from it. my school is the evacuation site, it’s really weird to walk past the gym and see cots and sleeping bags in it.
    STUPID WIND it’s making the fire get bigger!!

  111. i really enjoyed the uglies series. i was kinda mad when i got done with the 4th book and there were no more lolz. but i look forward to reading this series and so on.

  112. Haley-Sensei~TOP NINJA: I’m glad you’re okay! Do you live in California? (I’m not so good with the paying-attention-to-the-news thing)

    Laura-wa: Your Birthday will definitely be happy then!

    Hello, Babygirl, who are you?

  113. Wait, your a fan of comics? O_O I should have known! You’re officially now more awesome than you were before.

    And I can’t wait to read this!

  115. omg dude i was like wheres my comment and then i was like maybe i didnt comment on this one and then i found it!!!!!!!!!!! happines!!!!!

  118. Dude, this series looks and sounds really cool! I’m so excited to read them! And thanks Scott for doing illustrations! It’s so much easier to see what sci fi writers are talking about when they’ve created a whole new world 🙂
    And happy belated birthday Scott!

  121. Totally reminded me of Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle. I’m loving the art and the story already sounds kick-ass. Can’t wait!!

  122. That’s weird. Who found out from North Carolina??? I hope everything’s okay though!

  123. Jay-wa: i live in the adjacent town to where the fire is. i’m close, but not evacuation-warning close.
    i hope it doesn’t jump highway 154…some houses and stuff have been burned, a park and botanical gardens have been burned!
    a lot of my friends have been evacuated. sad stuff. it’s 10% contained now.
    i really need aya’s feed technology, so i can actually know what’s going on…

  125. I agree with dame-orchid and the first post etc.
    Im really excited for it to come out, although I am rather sad that the uglies series ended, hopefully one day another book will come out after extras.
    me too, happy belated birthday.
    It does remind me of Hayao Miyazaki’s works, which are so dear to me.

    Things I love the most are Miyazaki’s Movies, Scott Westerfeld books, animes, mangas, Studio Ghibli Movies, ummmm and i guess music.
    No specific order 🙂

  126. I love Keith’s picture, but I still wonder what it’d look like in mangaaaa form *-*, uglies series too 🙂

  127. That cover is so cool! I absolutely can’t wait for the book. It’s going to be amazing!

    Make it come faster!

    Now!

  129. Oooh goody, I love the release dates. October birthdays and the capability to convince parents to give birthday presents early FTW.

  132. happy birthday! 🙂 well late birthday actually… anyways… AWESOME cover! can’t wait for it to come out! and you said the setting was in austria?!? i’m born there! 😛 sweet! LOL

  133. ahahahaha noobs I got this before it came out froma very nice lady at the book store and the book was uncorrected proof! the AUS cover is sooooo much better than the crappy us one (no offense)

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