From the New York Times' review of Scott Westerfield's latest, Leviathan:
Westerfeld is best known for his sci-fi Uglies series (“Pretties,” “Specials,” “Extras,” etc.), about a future society in which people have a surgical procedure at age 16 that makes their faces beautiful but their minds frivolous and easily controlled. “Leviathan” is different. If it poses a big question, that question would be, Wouldn’t it be cool if the First World War had been fought with genetically engineered mutant animals, against steam-powered walking machines like the ones from “The Empire Strikes Back”? And the answer is, Yes, it would.
Full review is
here.