I enjoyed the dystopian but historical feel of this novel. Williamson delivered a detailed storyline that made me feel like a world with dragons was actually a thing. The main character, Vivian, was nuanced but did occasionally tick me off with some of her decisions. I feel like that was intentional but, at times, was a bit annoying. I also feel like we didn't learn enough about some of the side characters but, at the same time, this may have been the point, as it is the first book in a series (I believe?).

A girl dreaming of learning the language of dragons finds herself drafted to codebreak the secrets of the rebellion with her family's lives on the line yet finds herself wavering between which side of the war she truly belongs on. In an alternate London in 1923, in a world where there are dragons and there is a 3 class system, Vivien Featherswallow is determined to get her summer internship to study dragon languages, follow the rules, and never put her status as a Second Class at risk. Yet this is all turned upside down when her parents are arrested for conspiring with the rebels and now Vivien's younger sister is taken away and Vivien is offered a trade: if she works for the military and codebreaks the language of dragons, she and her family will be protected and she can go home, if she fails, they all die. Vivien may have accidentally broken out a dragon and started a civil war... but now with the lives of everyone she loves on the line she'll do anything to protect them... but that comes at a cost, because if she succeeds and breaks the code then she is putting every single rebel and dragon in danger and threatening to destroy the livelihoods of people who are trying to fight against a system that has set them up to fail. Vivien finds herself faced with ugly truths and having her own beliefs thrown out the window as she questions what is right and wrong... and how long she can pretend to be ignorant and selfish. Throw in an ex best friend she betrayed, a priest she is falling for, a cousin who is ready to rebel.... and a dragon that keeps coming back, and what you get is a story that kind of has a similar vibe to Babel/ Divine Rivals in the sense that its an academy based setting (not a lot of dragon action) and set during a fictional war time... but without any of the actual goodness that both of those other titles offer. I did not mesh with this book in the slightest. Vivien was her own worst enemy, every decision she made just made me question her... like can you be that dumb? Also I just did not care at all for her as a protagonist, she wasn't likable, like I get where she's coming from but what she actually lacks is that kind of mentality/likability that Katniss (someone who had to go to war and do everything to protect her younger sister) had. I didn't care at all for the romance and Vivien doesn't actually grow until the last 90% of the book. I don't really see myself reading the next book or continuing the series unfortunately.

Release Date: January 7,2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperCollins for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I have a hard time coming to terms on how I feel about this. I have some pros and cons.

Cons:
On one hand the writing wasn't anything exceptional and at some points took me out of the story with how staccato and repetitive in structure it was. Many lines begin with "I say" or "I tell him" which left no room for imagination or imagery. There was also the fact, that even though it is fantasy, it was wildly unbelievable. The fact that one girl, with one decision, unbalanced the entire nation and caused war is kinda insane. In a lot of ways it was also rather predictable. I knew that the romance was going to happen, I knew that her sister was going to be used as leverage, shocker, I knew that the bad guy was indeed bad from the beginning. There was just nothing that I didn't see coming. And one of the biggest twists of the book, and Vivian's main mission was so solvable that when she came to the conclusion that the dragons had dialects....I was like...well....of course they do. And was shocked that the 'brightest linguist of her age' didn't think of that. I also wouldn't call the romance slow burn either, as it was described to be. Since the two characters were professing their love to each other (and giving up their choice of career?) within a few weeks of knowing one another. I think a key element of slow burn is the yearning and there was no yearning here. I also would in no way ever call this enemies-to-lovers. I feel like publishers like to throw that term around as much as they can because they know it brings an audience. Truly a lie here though, they were never enemies, and barely lovers before he DIED. There was also a lot of factors about the "school" and world that just didn't make sense. This "school" was supposedly supposed to be more like a dangerous prison but every time they would make a comment of how they need to be more serious and this is important and no one should be having fun etc. they would do something to completely contradict it. I also don't think that any of the side characters, besides Atlas were very memorable. Because of that, the deaths that did occur did not shake me one bit.

Pros:
And all of that to say, there are some really excellent qualities in this book. I think the main character is fascinating. She is incredibly selfish, and quick to make truly terrible decisions, and had done a lot to hurt other people in favor of her family and herself. And while I didn't like her, being in her brain was very interesting and while she was making these awful decisions I was curious to see how the fires would play out. I think that there are some fantastic discussions and themes going on here. There is some Babel like elements when it comes to language, which was cool and I honestly enjoyed here more than I did there. But there was also the topic of being a good person and changing and some grate quotes about privilege and freedom for all and not just some.

I NEVER highlight quotes but I found myself wanting to here:
-"Peace isn’t peace if it’s only given to some."
-"'I have no interest in political debates' -- 'Only because you are privileged enough not to be concerned by them.'"

I do think that this is worth a read for some people. Personally, I am not sure if I will continue with the series though. I think that this would be better suited to readers that are actually in the YA demographic. I love reading YA but I don't think this one was very genre/age bending.

2.75/3.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books and HarperCollins for the advanced copy.

I had heard rave reviews from friends who had been able to read a copy, and it did not disappoint. This allowed me a chance to escape reality for a bit and get caught up in a story.

This book just wasnt for me. I had a hard time staying interested in reading for a few reasons, but mainly because I found Vivian to be obnoxious and selfish. I honestly couldn’t stand her most of the story. 😬

The premise of this book sounded promising with the mix of dragons and academia. But I feel like the story droned on about the language part. And it honestly just fell short for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

Oh, what fun! I was a little concerned with how slowly the depth of the story came to light, thought we might end up with an irritating cliffhanger, but Williamson quickly brought together an action-packed, satisfactory ending. I really appreciated that Viv wasn’t a typical “rebel” heroine, and had full faith in the system where she had privilege. This world was well drawn and easy to fall in love with. I would be quite happy for more of these dragon adventures!

Girls, dragons, war! What more do you need? I loved this book, and and extremely grateful for the Arc!

Meinung:

Vielen Dank an den Verlag für das Rezensionsexemplar!

Erster Satz: I’m dreaming in Draconic again.

Das Cover ist wirklich schön, ich könnte es ewig anschauen. Drachen sind ein großer Bestandteil des Buches, daher passt das super.

Der Schreibstil der Autorin ist wirklich gut und einfach zu lesen. Geschrieben ist das Buch aus Sicht von Viv, in der Ich-Perspektive. Besonders gelungen fand ich die Beschreibung der Drachen und von deren Kommunikation, das war echt gut und hat sich perfekt in die restliche Umgebung eingefügt.

Zu Beginn lernt man Viv kennen, ihre Familie wurde eingesperrt, weil sie im Verdacht sind den Rebellen zu helfen. Viv will ihnen helfen und startet aus Versehen einen Bürgerkrieg indem sie einen eingesperrten Drachen entlässt. Doch ihr wird eine Chance auf Freiheit gegeben, sie muss nur einen Job erfüllen, was sie annimmt. Was sie dabei erwartet hätte sie sich nie träumen lassen.

Der Einstieg in das Buch ist mir unglaublich leicht gefallen. Viv und ihre Familie mochte ich sofort und das alternative London hat mir sofort gefallen. Drachen und Menschen leben Seite and Seite und jeder hat seinen Part zu erfüllen. Ich war gespannt, wie sich das Buch entwickeln würde.

Viv mochte ich wirklich gerne. Sie kann verschiedene Drachensprachen und wollte auch einen entsprechenden Studiengang machen. Für ihre Familie würde sie auch alles tun, was man immer wieder merkt, denn auch wenn sie denkt, dass etwas nicht in Ordnung ist, rechtfertig sie ihre Taten mit den Leben ihrer Familie. Es war verständlich, aber auch etwas naiv. Bis zum Ende hat sie aber eine tolle Charakterentwicklung durchgemacht.

Es gab noch viele andere Charaktere, aber Vivian ist einfach der Hauptcharakter. Der Love Interest kommt auch nicht ganz so viel vor, weil die Liebesgeschichte auch eher im Hintergrund passiert. Aber ich mochte alle Charaktere und fand sie vielschichtig. Aus jeder möglichen Gesellschaftsschicht und mit allen möglichen Talenten werden sie zusammen in diesen Job verfrachtet. Eine wirklich bunte Mischung.

Ich war super gespannt auf die Geschichte, aber hatte auch ein wenig Angst, weil es doch YA ist und ich die meisten Bücher in dem Genre nicht mehr mag. Aber meine Angst war grundlos, bereits der Einstieg war super interessant. Man lernt das Leben in dieser Zeit kennen, erfährt wie die Drachen helfen und wie sie sich untereinander unterhalten. Allein schon dieser Weltenbau hat mir unglaublich gut gefallen, denn meist gibt es eine ganz andere Dynamik zwischen Menschen und Drachen in Büchern.

Der Klappentext sagt schon, was Viv tut, das verrät eigentlich ziemlich viel über das Buch. Diese geheime Drachensprache ist der wichtigste Baustein und als Leser kann man mit Viv miträtseln, und erfährt auch gemeinsam mit ihr Geheimnisse. Es wird schnell klar, dass da mehr dahinter steckt und dass die Regierung ganz andere Pläne als angenommen hat. Das Buch ist also sehr politisch, es geht um Unterdrückung von Gruppen, Staatsgeheimnisse und Kriege, all das ausgelöst durch Machthunger und einem Überlegenheitsgefühl. Es zeigt aber auch, wie gut Politiker andere manipulieren können, denn einige Drachen stehen immer auf der Seite der Menschen, obwohl sich viele Intrigen gegen ihre eigene Rasse richten. Ziemlich schwere Themen für ein Jugendbuch, aber alles was darin passiert kann auch auf die echte Welt angewandt werden, es ist wirklich erschreckend.

Als Viv dann ihre Arbeit beginnt lernt sie auch andere Leute kennen, die ebenfalls ausgewählt wurden. Die Gruppe fand ich super, alle sind unterschiedlich, kommen aus verschiedenen Schichten und freunden sich langsam an. Es gibt trotzdem immer wieder Spannungen und ich hatte nie eine Idee, was sie als nächstes tun würden. Zu manchen Charakteren hatte ich Theorien, bei anderen war ich überrascht, wenn sie etwas gemacht haben, aber insgesamt wurde es durch sie nie langweilig.

Es gibt auch eine ganz leichte Liebesgeschichte. Sie findet sehr im Hintergrund statt und ist erst auf den letzten Seiten so wirklich präsent, davor nimmt sie keinen allzu großen Raum ein, was ich sehr mag. Für mich war das realistisch, denn die Gefühle haben sich mit der Zeit entwickelt und waren nicht plötzlich da.

Am Ende geht es dann richtig zur Sache und ich konnte das Buch gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen. Es passierte so viel, es war spannend und actionreich und ich bin wirklich gespannt, wie es im zweiten Teil weitergehen wird.

Fazit:

Ich habe nicht erwartet, dass mich das Buch so sehr begeistern würde. Von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite habe ich alles geliebt, es war für mich perfekt. Viv ist ein toller Charakter und die Geschichte war anders als andere aktuelle Drachenbücher. Von mir gibt es eindeutig fünf Sterne.

A Language of Dragon by S.F. Williamson is a fantastic blend of historical fiction and dragon fantasy. This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint. Emily Wilde meets Babel meets V is for Vendetta, this book dives into the complex academics and political intrigue of language studies and code=breaking, and it does it surprisingly well for a YA book. I adored it and am happy to wait for the next installment.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for access to this eARC.

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson is set in an alternate London in 1923. In this reimagined history, Dragons live and fly alongside the humans. The humans exist in a class system, first, second and third. Everyone wears a “pass” around their necks to show what class they are in. Naturally, third class citizens are not allowed to be in other quarters, as well as the second not being allowed into the First quarter. You can only attain a new class by passing an Examination. But if you fail you’re demoted. Vivian Featherswallow has already passed her examination and wants nothing more than to be a Draconic Translator. But when her parents are suddenly arrested for rebellion. She struggles to believe her parents could ever join the rebellion and insists they’re innocent, but still tries to find a way to save them.

“The Peace Agreement between Prime Minister Wvernmire and the British Dragon Queen allows humans and dragons to coexist harmoniously. Without that and the Class System, we’d still have overcrowding, homelessness, and the hunting of humans and dragons. I don’t understand the sudden backlash against it.”

So she releases an imprisoned dragon. After the Massacre of Bulgaria, which is where Vivian’s mother is from, the library dragon rebelled against the creation of the Peace Agreement, refusing to be governed by human laws. Its punishment was to be of service to humans in the library and provide scholars with knowledge and history. She lets the dragon free. Viv is arrested and finds out from the Prime Minister herself that a civil war has now broken out against the British Government and the Dragon Queen with the rebels.

Vivian is offered an opportunity. She is sent to Bletchley Park, her cousin joins her after she insists he’s of more use there than in prison. They are joined by a group of other young people, all of different class status and skill. Sophie, Viv’s best friend, who recently failed her Examination and was demoted to Third Class is one of the bunch. They’re given three months to find the answer that will end the war. Viv and Sophie are both sent to work on dragon languages while her cousin is sent to work on planes. If they succeed, their whole family will be released and they won’t go to prison.

There is a bit of romance in this book. She meets Marquis, a Third class priest-in-training and they kinda hit it off and leave secret messages in the dusty library. It’s honestly a romance I would usually enjoy but it is marketed as enemies to lovers, and I don’t think that is correct. While technically Viv is not a “rebel” throughout the book, this is the story of her waking up and learning the truth of the regime. And Marquis is a “rebel” so they fall in love. I just don’t think it’s enemies to lovers. Viv’s motivations are to save her family, while she still seems to believe in the Peace Agreement and the Class System, she’s actively being pulled out of that mindset, with his aid. I don’t see them as enemies, they’re just not entirely on the same page yet.

We learn SO much about the dragons in this and it makes me SO HAPPY. Dragons are known to learn languages at a higher rate. There’s smaller dragons called dracovol that fly letters around and are kept as companions. Even how they breathe fire is explained:

“Dragons gizzards are covered in flint-like scales,” Marquis explains. “And dragons eat small rocks for digestion. SO, when the rocks strike against the scales in the presence of methane, flames spark.”

Most of the book deals with Viv going through what I consider re-educating. She has been indoctrinated to believe in the Peach Agreement and the Class system and it takes her almost the entire book to break out of this conditioning. Even with all the information in front of her, she struggles. Mainly because she’s terrified she won’t be able to keep her family safe. Throughout the story people combat her points with information about how different the third class is truly treated. They’re not allowed to travel freely, are supplied with scraps of the first two classes for supplies and food, aren’t supplied with the same education supplies or teaching, and left to live in poor conditions while Guardians of the Peace also treat them less than human.

This might actually be my best read of 2024, and it was the last book I read in December. The author does an amazing job with world building and evokes so many emotions by having you sit through Viv’s re-conditioning.

this was an ambitious story and i really appreciated it, original, fun, great characters. i don't know what i was expecting but this far exceeded it

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson was such a fun and immersive read! I loved following the characters on their journey. While a few parts were a bit slow, the story as a whole really delivered. This was an impressive debut, and I’m excited to see what the author writes next. If you enjoy fantasy with dragons and adventure, this one is worth picking up!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

When I got this book, I was stoked - nerds, espionage, war, dragons....it sounded perfect! And I really enjoyed it at the start - it's well written, the world is interesting, and I genuinely think it had the makings of a fantastic historical fantasy. But, the pacing was slow, I never really warmed to the main character (she's supposed to be a bit unlikeable....but she never really became redeemable in my eyes), and it was just too long in my opinion. So little happens and so much felt repetitive....it was a slog to get through at times.

This had a ton of potential, I think it just suffered from poor pacing, a lack of editing out redundancy, and a main character that was intentionally unlikeable but never really grew until the very, very end.

I loved this one! Fast paced from the beginning, historical aspects, and dragons! It gave me Divine Rival vibes and was the perfect book for my current mood. I buddy read it with friends and had a difficult time putting it down.

Also, this definitely ended on a cliffhanger so be prepared for the ending!

This was likened to Fourth Wing (which i loved) and Babel (which i have not read). For me it was just ok.

This was highkey political intrigue and warfare >> lowkey romance. Yes there are dragons. Yes there is a romance subplot. But I wasn't very interested in the characters. And there wasn't any character growth, tension or suspense with the plot. It felt very heavy on the mechanics of how they studied the languages, the machines they used, etc.

Unfortunately, I forced myself through this one. **I need to stop doing that**

3.75 stars

This was an easy book to slip into, a sort of alternate version of WWII but with dragons. I liked the various languages spoken, both human and dragon, and admired the way Viv can easily translate and engage through them.

The action starts pretty quickly and there's always danger lurking for Viv and her friends with the country entering into war. The side characters were a nice addition to the plot, I just wish some of them were developed more.

For me, the ending was the weakest part. It felt like a lot of back and forth for no reason, just to fill pages. There's a tragedy that I didn't think was needed and the ending didn't resolve much. Maybe leaving it open for a sequel, but I wanted a bit more wrap up either way. If there ends up being more, hopefully it will expand on the class system and dive more into the world itself.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the copy.

I didn’t know what to expect from A Language of Dragons upon picking it up - perhaps something akin to an alternate history WWII but with dragons? What I actually got was a world locked in a dystopian state thanks to the fear of dragons and awful politicians. This world is one where citizens tread carefully lest they get imprisoned by the prime minister, where children are physically punished if they don’t do well in school because failure means their social standing is downgraded, and where the knowledge of dragons is heavily restricted because if the citizenry speak to them too much they might start getting ideas.

A Language of Dragons follows Vivian Featherswallow, a young woman who seems to have made it in life - she passed her exams, was accepted early into the dragon linguistics program at the university along with her cousin, and she gets to work toward what she feels is good and right. Until one day her parents are hauled off to prison because they are supposed rebels and in a pique of fury and determination, she only worsens things when she frees a dragon and asks it to burn the evidence of her parents' crimes (which happens to be in the prime minister’s office). Rather than simply being imprisoned or killed, the Prime Minister makes a deal with Viv - work at Bletchley Park on a secret operation as a dragon linguistic expert and if her work is successful, Viv’s family will be freed. 

What Viv doesn’t realize is that their work is going to be used for war and destruction - translating a secret dragon language, building a more deadly airplane based on dragon physiology, and possibly learning how humans could hatch and raise dragons themselves. Even then, she continues to parrot the accepted rhetoric and tries to justify the work she’s participating in. It’s clear very early on in the book that Viv isn’t a ‘good’ person per se, and she is purely looking out for her own best interest at almost any cost. This is apparent throughout the story, though she does suffer some character growth that’s nearly as painful for the reader as I’m sure it was intended to be for her. 

This was an excellent story, with character depth, truly nasty villains of the political bent, a fascinating world, and a decent amount of dragon page time. I’ve been terribly disappointed by too many books lately promising dragons and not really delivering on them, but they are well and truly present here even with humans as the primary protagonists and antagonists. A Language of Dragons does have a romantic subplot, but it is most certainly not the main focus and when it does pop up throughout the book, it’s enjoyable and suitably slow burn for the setting. Don’t expect a thinly veiled WWI or WWII narrative here - S.F. Williamson has built something entirely brilliant and new with some familiar settings. I would definitely recommend this for fans of R.F. Kuang’s Babel and possibly for fans of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series.

** 4.5 Stars**

Vivian is 17 yrs old, a 2nd class citizen growing up in 1920's London. Viv works hard and studies harder to make sure the she and her little sister, Ursa, don't drop to third class. But when her parents are abruptly arrested for supposedly assisting the dragon rebellion, Viv has to resort to committing a major crime to try and get them out. Instead of jail, Viv is offered a "job" - codebreak the dragon language for her government. If she succeeds, she and her parents can go home and resume life as normal. If she fails, they all die. As Viv learns more about the dragons and their language, she comes to realize that the working relationship between dragons and humans isn't actually working, and she must choose who to side with in the war.

I really enjoyed this!! I think this is an amazing YA novel that touches upon the politics of a class system and morally corrupt government, and making it palatable (as someone who doesn't like history) with the fantastical elements of dragons. It is age appropriate while also written mature enough to keep older readers invested. Viv is a strong, relatable, morally gray FMC who is wiling to do just about anything to try and save her family. The side characters were well rounded (and also morally gray, which I loved) - they all had committed some type of crime and all had something on the line, forcing them to work for the government for their and their families' freedom. We also had a cute romance sub-plot between Viv and one of the other people indebted to this program, I enjoyed their build up a lot.

I also really enjoyed the world building - we got a good sense of the government and their incessant need to control the population and dragons, and the perpetual class system keeping them in control with the threat of poverty. The one thing that I think lacked in the world building was in the setting of the time period - we're told this takes place in the 1920's but we don't get a lot of visual storytelling that cements that fact. There's some tidbits here and there - the news stories that are dated and placed at the end of each chapter, and the device they use to codebreak is compared to a gramophone. But beyond that, we don't get a lot of descriptors that would put us in this epoch. For all intents and purposes, it could've taken place in present day minus the technology like tv's and cell phones. The way they spoke was modern, the way they dressed was modern, and the only thing putting them in that time period was the fact that we were told it took place in that time period.

Another minor complaint I have is the pacing - we start of strong with Viv getting caught in a public riot on her way home, then her parents getting caught, then her committing this crime in an attempt to free them. All within the first 3-4 chapters. Then once she's placed in the government program, we slow down for most of the middle part of the book as we focus on Vivian's attempts to codebreak, then we pick back up again for the final battle at the end. There were some intense moments in the middle that helped with pacing, but I think the initial jump from basically starting a war to what feels like Violet going back to school gave me a bit of whiplash. Don't get me wrong - I very much enjoyed following Viv and her linguistic and draconic explorations, but the start feels very intense for a story that doesn't keep up that pace.

I believe this is a series (the ending very much left the story in somewhat of a cliffhanger), and I would definitely like to continue once the next is released!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins, & S. F. Williamson for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

This was one of the most unique ya fantasy stories I have read in so long. Anything with dragons will get me but throw in translation and I was sold!

This book has a mix of so many wonderful things that make it a bingeable, captivating and incredible story to read. We follow Vivian, who accidentally starts a civil war in her country with dragons. In order to “right her wrongs”, Vivian must work as a code breaker, spying on dragons to better understand their enemies, and maybe even their allies.

One of the things I loved most about this story was how complex the plot and characters were. There was no “obvious decision” for Vivian to make. We saw her and several other characters struggle with their own opinions, versus what was expected, versus what they thought. Combining that with an intriguing world, dragons, and rebellion and I was sold! This is a must read for any fantasy-lover!

If you enjoyed:

Babel
The Imitation Game
The Black With Chronicles
Fourth Wing (because DRAGONS, duh!)
dystopian aspect of The Hunger Games

then you will love this. A definite add to our collection!