"Do you oil your war machines, or do you feed them?"  What an incredibly catchy line from Scott Westerfeld's newest book, Leviathan.  It's not just his first name, or the fact that I enjoyed the Uglies series so much--the idea he captures in the novel is, well, novel.

Leviathan takes place in pre-WWII Europe at the time of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination.  Instead of what we've learned in history class, the superpowers have much greater warring capabilities.  The Germans, or Clankers, have created armies of mechanical walkers reminiscent of Star Wars.  The British, or Darwinists, have harnessed the power of genetics to create an army of beasties that turn the ideal qualities of animals into battle-ready weapons.  

For example, early in the book, main character Deryn watches as a battle exercise involving fabricated bats takes place.  Deryn is airborne on the Leviathan (which I won't even begin to describe here) and looks across the water to a large sailing vessel.  She and a few others feed fabricated bats some figs with metal spikes inside.  The bats swallow the spikes, unharmed.  When a light is shown, the mosquito and moth genetics embedded in the bats draw them to the illumination.  Slowly they are lured over the ship, at which time the light changes from white to red.  These bats, so frightened of red it literally scares the "clunk" (as Westerfeld calls it) right out of them, lets it fly, spikes and all.  The ship is left in tatters as a result.  Who thinks of this stuff?!  So much fun!

It made me wonder what the world has actually done with genetic manipulation.  I researched a few "beasties" of our own that the FDA either approved already or is considering in development.  

Pig manure gives off phosphorus which leeches into waterways and forms fish-killing algae.  The enviropig uses a mouse protein that affects the pigs saliva and eliminates the phosphorus left behind in its waste.

These goats produce a protein, given off in its milk, for a drug called Atryn.  Atryn is an anti-clotting therapy for people with a rare disease called hereditary antithrombin deficiency.

These fish have a florescent glow, kind of like a neon sign.  They were originally developed to detect polluted waterways.  Now, they're sold as unique pets.

So here's the question.  If you could combine qualities of animals into a new fabricated creature, what would you create?  Napoleon Dynamite had his Liger.  What will you create?  

Take a page out of Scott Westerfeld's playbook, and share your ideas here.

~Scott

"Live, Learn, Teach"

www.scotthbooks.com