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 animals) 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 rollicking adventuresome that I had to love it -- and will now have to get my daughter to read it, too.