I was really excited by the prospect of this book, because I love the idea of Alternative history (Which this was not, except in terms of technology), and it had an incredibly cool illustrated map on the inside cover, something which usually occurs in books i really enjoy. This book has several major problems for me, though.

First, was the YA classification, which seems far off, as the two main characters in this book are tweens at best, who are far less identifiable than 15-17 year old characters. The book was written at a very low level as well, and is something I could have read and probably enjoyed more as a child.

Second, I was misled by the synopses that this was going to be more about the 'War' aspect of World War 1, and less about to young children who are able to outsmart adult soldiers in completely unbelievable ways and be really annoying other than that. The book essentially in the same category of children's books that have a message that "Adults aren't always right!" I would have rather just seen the kids die after making stupid, reckless decisions.

Finally, the technology on the Darwinist side was incomprehensibly nonsensical, and there is no reason they should/would have been able to effectively fight the Clankers. One of their weapons involves feeding metal spikes to bats, and then guiding the bats over the top of a Clanker target, and then shooting a much more effective, realistic weapon solely to scare the bats, who are trained to all shit at the same time when the sound in heard, and they poop out the spikes onto the target.

I slammed the book shut in frustration when this maneuver was used to WIN an aerial battle against the team that uses armor, engines, and bullets.

The art, and some of the Clanker plot, before they meet the female character, is enjoyable, and young kids who aren't old enough to understand how ridiculous the combat logistics are in the book may enjoy this, so 2 stars.