How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The Austrian horses glinted in the moonlight, their riders standing tall in the saddle, swords raised. Behind them, two ranks of diesel-powered walking machines stood ready to fire, cannon aimed over the heads of the cavalry. A zeppelin scouted no-man's-land at the center of the battlefield, its metal skin sparkling.
The French and British infantry crouched behind their fortifications—a letter opener, an ink jar, and a line of fountain pens—knowing they stood no chance against the might of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But a row of Darwinist monsters loomed behind them, ready to devour any who dared retreat. (1.1-2)
That's one way to open a novel. At this point, we don't yet know anything about the Darwinists and Clankers. What can we learn about them from this passage?
Quote #2
Surely the Germans and their Austrian chums weren't so daft as to start a war just because some aristocrat had been assassinated. The Clankers were like Newkirk's mum. They were afraid of fabricated species and worshipped their mechanical engines. Did they think their mob of walking contraptions and buzzing aeroplanes could stand against the Darwinist might of Russia, France, and Britain? (12.73)
This is obviously from Deryn's Darwinist perspective. What does it say about her understanding of Darwinist and Clanker technology?
Quote #3
"God's wounds," he swore. This wasn't a machine at all, but a Darwinist creation!
He'd seen monsters before, of course—talking lizards in the fashionable parlors of Prague, a draft animal displayed in a traveling circus—but nothing as gigantic as this. It was like one of his war toys come to life, a thousand times larger and more incredible. (22.6-7)
In the first quote, we saw Alek playing at war, but here he sees a real-life fabricated beast. How do his war games compare to his actual experience of encountering the Leviathan?
Quote #4
Alek wondered for a moment if the Germans were right after all. These godless beasts were an insult to nature itself. Perhaps a war was worth ridding the world of them.
And yet he couldn't take his eyes from the creature. Even lying wounded it looked so powerful, more like something from legend than the work of men. (22.53-54)
Given what we learn about the war and the reasons for it throughout the novel, do you think the Clankers are really interested in fighting the Darwinists simply because they disagree with their scientific practices? Or is there another reason? Is there any real reason?
Quote #5
He'd been such a fool—this vast creature, these people were so alien. It was madness to try to cross the gulf between his world and theirs. (25.5)
Alek thinks this after Deryn takes him prisoner. What do you think? Can he cross the gulf? What might legitimately prevent him from doing so?
Quote #6
"This is…disgusting. We're inside an animal!"
Suddenly the tilted walkway beneath his feet felt slippery and unstable.
Dylan laughed, turning to help Dr. Barlow up through the hatch. "Aye, but the skins of your zeppelins are made of cattle gut. That's like being inside an animal, isn't it? And so's wearing a leather jacket!"
"But this one's alive!" Alek sputtered.
"True," Dylan said, heading down the metal walkway with Tazza. "And being inside a dead animal is much more awful, if you think about it. You Clankers really are an odd bunch." (25.59-63)
This passage is a little hilarious. Also, it makes us rethink all our transportation and fashion choices.
Quote #7
"But I prefer machines, I'm afraid."
"Machines!" Dylan cried. "Barking useless. Give me fabricated species any day."
"Really?" Alek said. "Have your scientists bred anything that can run as fast as a train?"
"No, but have you Clankers ever made a train that can hunt for its own food, or heal itself, or reproduce?" (26.26-29)
She's got him there. This passage sets off a whole series of fusses about who's better, Darwinists or Clankers—sounds like Deryn has mastered this whole "acting like a boy" thing.
Quote #8
She shrugged. "We borrow as much from your engineering as you do from ours."
"Us, borrow from Darwinists?" Alek snorted. "How absurd."
"Aye, it's true," Dylan spoke up from across the room. "Mr. Rigby says you Clankers wouldn't have invented walking machines without our example to follow." (30.30-32)
Leave it to Dr. Barlow to tell the scientific truth, without a whole bunch of politics and patriotism getting in the way. She's saying what everyone else likes to ignore: Darwinists and Clankers are actually sort of interdependent. Like two parts of an ecosystem. Way to blow our minds, Dr. B.
Quote #9
"But isn't it a bother?" Dylan asked. "Making a machine to do something animals are better at?"
"Better?" Alek said. "I doubt one of your fabricated creatures could pull this load."
"I reckon an elephantine could drag that, easy." Dylan pointed at Klopp. "And you wouldn't have to oil its gears every few minutes."
"Master Klopp's only being careful," Alek said. "Metal can be brittle in this cold."
"That's exactly what I mean. Mammothines love the cold!" (30.44-48)
Deryn is actually really good at winning these arguments. We wonder if she prepped her speeches beforehand, or if the author secretly prefers beasties over machines.
Quote #10
Dr. Barlow wasn't just a Darwinist; she was a Darwin—the granddaughter of the man who'd fathomed the very threads of life.
Alek felt the floor shifting beneath him, but he doubted it was the airship turning. He was standing beside the incarnation of everything he'd been taught to fear.
And he had entrusted himself to her completely. (41.35-37)
Of course Alek entrusts himself to Dr. Barlow—in the end the Darwinists, and even the Darwin proper, turn out to be pretty cool. What might this mean for his Clanker loyalties going forward?