A Language of Dragons is the epitome of a historical fanatsy novel. There is political intrigue, romance, dynamic characters and- of course- dragons. What I loved about this book is that I felt as if I was learning while reading, in the best possible way. This book gives you knowledge while keeping an engaging plot that has you on the edge of your seat. It’s marketed as a YA novel but I feel like this can appeal to a much larger audience. It touches on such important topics and themes such as government corruption. Such a wonderful book.

Vivien Featherswallow is a teenaged student living in an alternative 1923 London where intelligent dragons coexist with human beings. Viv's parents are both acclaimed academics devoted to ensuring that both of their daughters achieve the grades necessary to remain securely within the family's privileged Second Class status. Viv's best friend, Sophie, failed her Examination and was recently demoted to Third Class. Vivien has not seen Sophie since she was forced to leave her parents' home and move into a halfway house in the poor part of town. Viv is secretly consumed by guilt over her own part in Sophie's demotion.
Hoping to discuss her theories about dragon languages and give Viv a chance to ask about a coveted summer internship, Helina Featherswallow has invited the powerful Professor Hollingsworth to dinner. The family does not expect that this event will lead to the arrest of both parents for treason. Leaving her little sister, Ursa, with family friends, Viv embarks on a perilous attempt to save her parents that results in the breaking of the human and dragon Peace Treaty. Caught in the act, she is sent to Bletchley Park, a secret government base where gifted young criminals like Viv are given the chance to redeem themselves by contributing to the war effort. As a polyglot, Viv is expected to uncover the secret of the Dragon Code.
She will learn the truth about the society she has always viewed as just and the government she has always trusted to be fair. She will make friends with people she would never have bothered with in her previous life. She will risk everything in the pursuit of truth. She will fall in love.
If J.K. Rowling, Anne McCaffrey, and Kate Atkinson collaborated on a novel, it might have looked a lot like this one. A Language of Dragons is a powerful work set in a fully realized alternative world. It is a young adult adventure story that delves into serious moral issues.
The ending of this book leaves the possibility of a sequel. I would love to read that!
I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with a free advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A century ago in London, but with dragons. Good characters and action. The foreshadowing felt heavy handed, and the plot followed all the usual tropes. The MC was a bit young seeming - believed everything she was told by the establishment adults - even when the evidence was in her face. It was a fun ride, and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Love. Not gonna lie, this book is very jarring in the sense of how it relates to history. It is a different representation of some very tragic and traumatic things that have happened in the world. It's very dystopian in that aspect. Not sure what else I expected with it being set in an alternate version of the 1920s. Honestly this was a very good book and I loved the aspect of being able to talk to dragons and knowing multiple different languages human and dragon. There's different class rankings that basically are your station in life and incredibly harsh punishments if you don't fall in line. There's love, betrayal, happiness and heartache. A couple of expected things but also some very interesting plot twists that I did not expect. I was very grateful to be able to read this book in Kindle form and am.Considering getting a physical copy provided my bookshelves will allow it.

I like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for allowing this for reading.

With all the hype around this, I expected better? The story has an interesting premise, girl's dragon supporter parents are taken by the authorities. Leaving the girl desperate to do anything to get them back. Which includes freeing a dragon from imprisonment in a local government building. Due to freeing said dragon, she signs herself over to the government to be used as they see fit.

Which ends up bringing her to be a code-breaker. Instead of the code-breaking that is done at the famous Bletchley Park. The code breaking is now Dragon to Dragon speak.

I found the book to bogged down by nothing and I felt like nothing was going anywhere with plot.

So at 50% I DNF'd it.

I went into this with “fourth wing” in mind as it was described to me that way. What I got was action packed war with dragons.

S. F. Williamson brought action, suspense, and amazing characters with this book. Loosely based off of the codebreakers in Bletchley park, the same park was used in this book. The way the author introduces us to this world and how dragons live and dont live with humans was really easy to follow. The class systems and the government was easy to understand. Right from the get go this book exploades into action, we get a soft launch and introduction to two main characters and then immediately everything starts happening. I was sucked into this book so fast. This is one author to toy with your feelings as she puts these poor characters through the ringer! Towards the middle it slowed down and remembering what the rebellion and the prime ministers army and which was bad and good got a little choppy, but we got to know some relationships between characters backstory which was greatly needed and strengthened the readers knowledge of each character. Then when the end started connecting and time was running out for the war that was raging on fast paced action right up until the end!

Language of Dragons is an un-put-downable combination of Fourth Wing’s dragons and military academia, the Rose Code’s setting and basic concept (codebreaking during WW2) with a little bit of Hunger Games politics thrown in. Genius.

This book is also an interesting discussion on topics such as good vs. bad—whether humans are born all good or all bad—guilt, forgiveness, the choices we make, and more than really let you into the psychology behind the very morally grey main character. A morally grey character who was forced into making some impossible decisions (and a few that felt like no brainers).

There were many times I felt like the main character (whose first person point of view is your window to the world) over explained actions or events, and the dialogue as well felt a little basic and cheesy. There was also a lot of awkward hand holding that felt more like it was there to emphasize that these characters like each other rather than it being a sweet, romantic action. There were also some actions in the final sequence that didn’t make logical sense and seemed more like a means to the next plot point.

However, this did not stop or slow me down on my journey through this book. I literally couldn’t put it down, despite some eye rolling at word choice or a character’s actions. Definitely recommend for people who enjoy historical fantasy, dark academia, and morally grey characters. And I will definitely be looking for the next book.

okay hear me out. i'm not sure what i was expecting, but it kind of wasn't 1920ish dragons? i did find myself skimming, but i still recommend this one - i just wasn't connected with the story or the characters. thank you netgalley for the arc!

Thank you so much to HarperCollins and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review!

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4,25 stars - a story about the power and love of, and in, language itself… with cool dragons in the centre

“One must ask: What possible good can come from daughters who converse with dragons?”

I really really enjoyed the world the story was set in, a kind of alternate 1920’s Britain with dragons, as well as the dragons themselves, all the side-characters and the plot. The only thing I disliked was the female main character, enough that I considered dnfing quite early on - but I am so glad I kept reading, as everything else slowly but surely shone brightly enough to distract me from my continuous annoyance at her bad decision making.

“To control languages, to control words, is to control what people know.”

The side-characters were all immediately intriguing to me, and several of them were so loveable that I kept wanting to learn more about their stories. I really hope we get to see and learn more of them as the series goes on!

This is very much a story about privilege and naivety for the female main character, and that was the only part of her character I found interesting. Her journey of growth is the only character trait I can place for her and that somewhat redeemed her to me. She had to unlearn a lot of things, and try to come to terms with the fact that the people in power do not in fact always want the best for their people. It’s a very timely topic and representation, and I think a lot of people could do well to do some of the same kind of introspection when it comes to their own worldview and political leanings.
If it wasn’t for the fmc this would easily be among my top five reads of the year, and for that I am both grateful and frustrated.

“Peace isn’t peace if it’s only given to some.”

The plot was interesting, the academia parts intriguing and easy to follow, and I’m excited to see where the story goes next.

“Language is as crucial to war as any weapon.”

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me the e-proof in epub format.


I loved this book so much that it hurts. It's been months since a book has gotten me this fired up.
Try to keep an open mind and remember that we all were selfish teenagers with regrets once. We all make mistakes, otherwise we wouldn't grow. Things I loved:

• People tend to hate people who stubbornly hold on to their opinions and sadly, people also tend to hate people when they change their minds. This book shows that you can learn to accept the change when it comes.

• Nobody knows which side is the right side unless they get into the depth.

• Bonds between different people can be built any time.

• The grammar was impeccable, I do not know how this is uncorrected.

• Everyone does not agree with everyone's values but even though this diversity of opinions wasn't a hindrance, I liked this.

•Babel; need I say more??

The ending killed me, thank you author for the pain. I needed that. I cannot wait for the release of this book and the next book of the series because I NEED MORE. If this book doesn't blow up, I'm losing faith in readers.

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson is a widely imaginative and immersive book about London in 1923. In this alternate universe, there’s a peace agreement between humans and dragons but Vivien Featherswallow unknowingly starts a war when she tries to rid the authorities of evidence against her parents who have been arrested as rebels. She is forced to make a deal with a government official to go to Bletchley Park and try to decipher dragon language.

I would recommend this book for fantasy and historical fiction readers. I really couldn’t put this book down, have I mentioned talking dragons? The details are fantastic, the dragons are majestic, and I want to converse with a dragon immediately.

Thank you Harper Collin’s Children’s books and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the premise of this debut and found the concept of dragon linguistics fascinating. I really struggled with the main character Vivien - I found her character to be incredibly irritating. Between her cluelessness, naïveté, and rash decision making, I never ended up warming up to her by the end of the book. I realize that she is supposed to be a flawed character who needs to have her beliefs challenged. Despite that, I felt her overall growth was lacking. I wanted more side character time as well - as a reader I don’t feel as though their backgrounds were developed enough. I also would have appreciated more chemistry between Viv and her love interest. I am curious to see where the next book takes the story and am hopeful Viv becomes more likable. If you enjoy books about corrupt societies, dragons and linguistics, then this story is for you. 3.5/5 stars rounded up.

4.9 / 5.0 A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson is a debut YA historical fantasy with some romance, some politics, and a lot of intrigue. This is the dragon book my history-loving, research-obsessive, language-fascinated heart needs. It hit all the notes of an immersive, entertaining read that I hope for in a book and my only complaint is now I have to wait for a more. That it was picked up for a special edition box is a given and I am so ecstatic that this exists and I get to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC.

A Language of Dragons
by S. F. Williamson
Pub Date: Jan 07 2025

Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon.

By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.

With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker—if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.

As Viv begins to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it.

A Language of Dragons takes place in an alternate London after the end of World War I in which dragons coexist with humans. Throughout the book, Viv's world gets upended multiple times, leaving her questioning her world view and her morals. Does she keep helping the Prime Minister in order to save her family or does she join the rebel cause to help free the oppressed dragons and third class citizens?

Viv is a deeply flawed FMC who is struggling with all the decisions that have led her to this spot at Bletchley Park and all the decisions she has to make going forward. I don't always agree with her thinking or her choices, but as a reader I can see how she got there. Our supporting characters too, are great. Marquis is a loyal cousin, even when he is disappointed with Viv's decisions. And Atlas is smart and passionate. The only thing that I wish I would change is we didn't see most of Viv and Atlas's letters which I felt would have given us a better insight into their relationship and into Atlas himself.

I am so excited for the sequel and to get more interactions with the dragons. I'm also excited to see how Viv's language skills are put to use from here on out! A Language of Dragons is a fabulous debut fantasy novel that young adult and adult readers will both enjoy.

Review goes live November 11

Can't say I enjoyed this one that much even though, at first glance, a book involving dragons AND languages sounds amazing.

I wish authors would stop throwing in random gay characters where they don't fit. Marquis being gay added nothing to the story and felt like an afterthought.

The random demonization of eastern Europe was just strange. Why were the Bulgarians such villains?

I also hated the main character. She was annoying, stupid, and mean. I know the author tried to do a redemption arc for her but... it just didn't work for me.

3.5/5

Started this book due to it being FairyLoot’s young adult book in December and was so pleasantly surprised! “The Language of Dragons” is set in 1923 London where humans are at war with dragons, and our FMC Vivien is recruited to learn a secret language that dragons use to communicate to help her country win the war.

It was such an interesting concept that was very well executed! This wasn’t a perfect rating for me bc 1) that ending and 2) I prefer a liiiiittle more romance in my books. Overall it was a very good time.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Language of Dragons is a mixture of the historical code-breaking of Bletchley Park, RF Kuang's Babel (an act of translation is an act of sacrifice), a little V for Vendetta, and Starship Troopers (the movie satirizing facism, not the book, but not as campy). I mention Starship Troopers firstly because the MC here, Viv, starts off as a propaganda-inhaling villain, although she does come around by the end (unlike the movie characters), and secondly because this novel is a deconstruction of racist, nationalist authoritarianism. There are a lot of parallels between this book and Starship Troopers: the non-human bug/dragon threat, the surrendering of liberties being necessary to defeat the enemy, citizens buying into the government's "meritocracy" to improve their lives and social standing, even that humanity instigated the original conflict and bugs/dragons acted in self defense. Unlike Starship Troopers, though, the government/society is explicitly described as flawed and needing revolution (this novel is NOT a satire), and the characters are good people at their core.

I do have some issues with the plight of the non human species being analogous to POC and colonized peoples, same as I did with Starship Troopers, but the dragons were much more humanized (probably not the best word to use here) than the aliens. And that's where we get into the next huge theme of the book: language. The power of language, language as an exchange, as empathy, as a sacred bond between family, and how restricting people to one language removes understanding and compassion.

There were also some musings on Christian sin and forgiveness, but I'm never a big fan of a love interest being a priest or priest-in-training.

This was an easily digestible takedown of discrimination and almost-fascism for a YA audience.

Hear the Call. Ignite the Revolution. In an alternative London in 1923, a young accidentally breaks the fragile truce between dragons and humans all while trying to save her family from a traitor's death.

A Language of Dragons is a debut novel by S. F. Williamson and it is a retelling of Bletchley Park steeped in language, class wars, politics and rebellion. Vivien Featherswallow has her whole life turned upside down when her parents and uncle are arrested as suspected traitors to the crown as they study dragon linguistics. To help them be pardoned and make sure her sister does not get moved into the Third Class, Viv agrees to help the government with translating dragon language.

And they say books aren't political? Williamson's novel is superb. I loved the characters, I loved the setting and how it is steeped with real world history. Such a beautiful read that left me wanting more.

Thank you to Harper Collins for inviting me to reading an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review, and thank you to NetGalley for providing the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for granting me access to this ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I have been slow to embrace fantasy's recent shift toward dragons, so when I read the blurb for <u>A Language of Dragons</u>--dark academia! found family! linguistics! <i>dragons</i>!--I thought my time had finally come. <i>Yes</i>, I will happily read a book about the magic and power of translation, set in a post-Great War England inhabited by dragons!

Unfortunately, though, <u>The Language of Dragons</u> just didn't work for me. The problems started almost from page one with the FMC, Vivien, who is, to put it mildly, a narcissistic brat. I read the author's note at the beginning of the book, so I was, in part, prepared for Vivien to be problematic. But I was <i>not</i> prepared for how little growth she would demonstrate throughout the book. Despite the <i>overwhelming</i> evidence of the horrors of the class/caste system in which she lives, Vivien seems to be the only person in England who thinks it's a system that benefits not only her (a member of the privileged Second Class) but everyone around her (including the members of the Third Class who literally live in squalor). Vivien is frequently and directly confronted with the (many, many) shortcomings of the class system; however she continues to support it and fight for it for reasons that are never fully explained (or, rather, can only be explained by the conclusion that Vivien is, herself, classist--at best--and racist/xenophobic at worst). By the time she switches sides, she's already shown her true colors, and her "change of heart" feels less like an actual shift in mindset and more like a resigned admittance that all her friends support the rebel cause so she, therefore, probably should as well.

Because the entire story is narrated through Vivien's POV, there is little time or space for us to get to know the rest of the supporting cast. Marquis, Atlas, and Sophie are the most fleshed-out side characters, but still, after 400 pages, they seem more like archetypes than actual people. And I never once understood why any of them liked and/or even wanted to be <i>around</i> Viv. The romance didn't work for me at <i>all</i> because I didn't believe for a second that Atlas would be attracted to Viv. And the "found family" trope fell flat as well because neither Sophie nor Marquis were around enough to make an impression.

Then there were the dragons. Notice that I haven't mentioned them until now. That's because I truly don't know what to say about them. They were in the book, yes, but I never understood their relationship to humans. Like, these are <i>huge</i>, intelligent animals who can communicate in dozens of different languages. And yet they seem to just want to assimilate into human society and be subservient to humans... why? Why don't they have their own societal structures? Why don't they have their own towns and governments? Why aren't they just burning human civilizations to the ground? Totally unclear. Also, why are they sometimes pets (like the dracoval)? Isn't this kind of demeaning for a species that has at <i>least</i> human-equivalent intelligence?

Finally, the translation. Setting aside for a moment that a 17-year-old is apparently the only person in England capable of learning multiple languages, the premise that a human is needed to crack a dragon's code is pretty far-fetched. There are dragons that are working <i>with</i> England's government to fight the rebels and uphold the class system (which again, why?); so why wouldn't these dragons provide the insight necessary to help win the war? Especially since several of them share information with Viv (but not the Prime Minister!) about the code? For as much page space as was dedicated to the tedious task of translation in this book, it was the part of the book I cared about--and bought into--the least. Viv is constantly talking about clicks and swoops and whorls, but all of the pertinent information about the code is revealed in conversations that occur outside of the translation room. And it turns out that the code wasn't even that complex in the first place, so when Viv finally "cracks" it, it feels very anticlimactic.

So, overall, I didn't find what I was looking for in this book. The ending definitely sets up room for a sequel, but I think I'll be skipping it and looking for my potential dragon fix elsewhere.