Leviathan by Scott Westerfield

I just finished the book "Leviathan". It is about a war in which a prince can't inherit anything his father (the king) has because his mother is just a commoner. The prince's grandfather didn't like his mother and nobody wanted him because of his mother. They had been complete royal blood for the past 5,000 years. Everyone is after Alek (the prince). It takes place in Austria-Hungary in 1914 and other parts of Europe. It has historical details and a lot of action (and fencing!). It has historic parts but it's science fiction too because a lot of the stuff in the book didn't really happen. For example, the Darwinists fabricated creatures that can fly that are 200 feet tall and 1 mile long! It's futurist stuff but set in the past. Some of the stuff is true like the king (Franz Ferdinand, like the band). My mom said this type of writing is called Steam Punk.

I've read alot of books about wars and fighting, but this was different, in a way. It created a very unique world that I wanted to learn about as much as the characters. There is a second book out, which I have already downloaded to my Kindle!!!