Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld‘s Steampunk/Biopunk take on World War I, was one of my favourite novels from last year. Not only did Westerfeld meld our real world history in with giant Mechs and floating whales-turned-zepplins, but it was also flush with gorgeous artwork from Keith Thompson, perfectly rendering Westerfeld’s vision of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, et al on the eve of World War I. On top of this, it had terrific cover art, which convinced me to buy the novel in the first place.

So, it comes to reason that I was bloody excited about the cover to the sequel, Behemoth, which is set to come out later this year. Then, I stumbled across it on Stomping on Yeti, and a little piece of my soul died.

Really? Really?!

All that amazing artwork… and we get a photograph of a seventh grader from Tuscon, Arizona? Is he dressed up for one of those Olde Tyme photobooths at a fair? And that slimy lightning? The bottom half of the cover, which falls in line with the previous release, is good… but, seriously, way to miss the mark of what made Leviathan so compelling to pick up off the shelf. At least Thompson is still on board to provide the artwork inside, it’s sure to be wonderful again.