Who is the narrator, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?
Third Person (Limited Omniscient)
Our third person narrator jumps between Alek's perspective and Deryn's perspective every two chapters, so we assume this person has some kind of sweet warp-speed traveling device that allows for travel across Europe in no time flat. For the record, we want one of those.
The narrator is very sympathetic to both protagonists, meaning that he or she is on their side, loves the things they love, wants the things they want, and generally thinks Alek and Deryn are pretty cool. In fact, the narrator is so closely aligned with Alek and Deryn that it's hard to separate the narrator from the characters. Take a look at this passage:
"God's wounds," he swore. This wasn't a machine at all, but a Darwinist creation! (22.6)
Notice that the narrator doesn't say anything to defend the Darwinists or point out that Alek is being a bit prejudiced. Nope, the narrator sticks right with what Alek thinks and doesn't jump ship to make judgments.