To bring in 2025 properly, it’s time to discuss one of the biggest new releases in the UK at the moment (believe me, I’ve seen it around just about everywhere) - THE LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS!

Vivian Featherswallow is in trouble. At 17, all she wants to do is to be able to study dragon languages at university, and to ensure that her beloved younger sister, Ursa, won’t ever have to face the degradation of being relegated to the Third Class, the long-suffering and underprivileged working class of Brittania. When her parents are found out as anti-government rebels, it takes less than twenty-four hours for Vivian to accidentally start a civil war. With the fate of her family on her shoulders, on the verge of dooming them all to execution for treason, Vivian’s linguistic skills land her a job at secretive government facility Bletchley Park, and is tasked to decode a secretive dragon language that might turn the tables of the war. But what is the government planning to do with this newfound knowledge - and what is Vivian potentially risking if she agrees?

It would be a lie to say that THE LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS is the first YA novel to be based around Bletchley Park - the site of confidential codebreaking operations to outsmart the Nazis during the Second World War - but this one takes a fun speculative edge to a really compelling historical basis. Sometimes authors have to bend historical contexts a little to ensure their characters, who may not be middle-class white men, can take centre-stage, but since Bletchley Park was a government site which did hire young women to crack secret military codes, it’s already a brilliant temporal setting, which really lets protagonist Vivian shine.

Fundamentally, the novel’s greatest strength is the way in which it takes its readership, young as it assumes them to be, seriously. Sometimes I think publishers forget just how intelligent children and young people are - despite the fact that they’re undergoing rigorous examinations from the age of about 14 - and nothing makes this clearer than with the linguistic details established throughout. Much of the development of Vivian’s translations borrow from real theories and concepts within translation studies - lingua francas, synonyms, linguistic adjustment based on societal relationships, and other such topics - and none of these are dumbed down when being explained; instead, we see how these are relevant to communication, and we undergo the translation process alongside Vivian, ensuring we follow her train of thought and see how this process is undergone. Alongside understandings of how the translator is fundamentally a creator of a text in the same way that a writer may be (for it is the translator’s choice in how they adapt tone and choose words, especially when there might not be a direct counterpart in their own language), there are some interesting conversations that take place concerning the ethics of translation and the personal nature of dialect: by using dragons as this context of the ‘other’, rather than falling back on human languages which might have troubling colonial connotations, this establishes such a contrast between dragon and human society which ensures these more complex linguistic theories, which young people may not have encountered unless in a classroom, and places these theories and themes into a strongly established context.

A key factor with THE LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS, in a similar way that I have seen with other novels being published recently, is that marketing copy produced for the book doesn’t seem to really correlate with the text itself. Much of the copy for THE LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS describes it as an enemies-to-lovers romantasy, when in actual fact it is more of a historical dystopian which utilises dragons to, as previously mentioned, communicate linguistic differences in a streamlined way. Much of the plot revolves around corrupt government officials and a class system established to keep the working class in a subjugated place - while this is a plot which works compellingly in correspondence with its historical setting, it doesn't fit with the romance-heavy implications of the ‘romantasy’ portmanteau. Similarly, while Vivian and her love interest don’t see eye to eye when they first meet, I wouldn't particularly argue that they are enemies. Vivian does definitely have enemies over the course of the novel - aforementioned corrupt government figures aside, there is a soldier figure who uses his societal position to torment Vivian and her family, and who is consequently genuinely sinister - but her love interest is arguably not one of them. I want to stress that none of these factors are issues - in fact, I prefer many of the narrative decisions in the text itself as opposed to the marketing, for I tend to find romantasy unfulfilling - but I would have preferred for the marketing for the novel to reflect its actual content, as opposed to being maximised for SEO and algorithmic optimisation.

As a protagonist, Vivian is a realistic and compelling teenager, which is to say that at times, she can be genuinely very annoying, but there’s a heart to her which reiterates that it’s due to naivety rather than a wilful immaturity on her part. Much of her narrative arc concerns her coming to terms with how the government oppresses others so that she might have the privileged life that she does (oddly a strong theme at the moment considering the recent release of WICKED Part 1), and when it becomes the time to prioritise between personal comfort and morality. While her naivety stretches for longer than I would have imagined (I’m not sure how much I like the decision of Vivian being an early university attendee, both on account of this continuing naivety and the way that it strikes me as an attempt to write NA as opposed to YA), the tough situation she finds herself in after being blackmailed, imprisoned at Bletchley Park to keep her rebel family alive, is a compelling one.

The key issue with the novel, however, is its length. I’ll preface here that I do love far longer novels as opposed to shorter word counts, but THE LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS is huge: it has a page count I would associate more with a second-world YA fantasy (think something along the lines of THE EMBER IN THE ASHES or WE HUNT THE FLAME), and while some of it is necessary for worldbuilding to establish the tenuous nature of politics in this alternate 1920s world, it does become detrimental to the overall narrative. Both the beginning and the end are narratively - and literally - explosive, but the middle sections have a tendency to drag between dramatic scenes, especially in scenes requiring heavy amounts of action, which in contrast to their purpose really slow the pace down. It’s a word count which could have ideally been tightened in the editing stage, and which is a sad detriment to a novel which otherwise has some really high stakes.

Overall, even without the market trend for dragons at the moment (thanks, FOURTH WING!), it’s a nice development in the market to see an alternate version of an important historical event, with a female protagonist whose strengths come from her intelligence and knowledge, both in and out of an academic setting. Sometimes, female protagonists who don’t sling swords about and get into physical fights catch criticism for being ‘weaker’, but this is a really fun way of established multi-faceted strengths, and, I must say, it’s refreshing in an online environment full of ‘I’m just a girl’ encouraged anti-intellectualism. The novel finishes on an open ending, but since it has just released, it’s unclear yet whether HarperFire has contracted a sequel yet: after all, with the amount of page count utilised for worldbuilding, it would be a shame if they didn’t.

Thank you to HarperFire for an eArc in exchange for an honest review. THE LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS was published in the UK on the 2nd of January, so remember to support your brick-and-mortar bookshops, especially indies!

A Disappointing Execution of a Promising Premise

This book had all the ingredients for a compelling story—dragons, academia, distopia, high stakes, and the potential for rich character development. Unfortunately, it fell short in several key areas, leaving me frustrated and unsatisfied by the end. One of the biggest issues was the inconsistent tone. The writing often felt like it was aimed at a middle-grade audience, with simplistic dialogue and pacing. However, the story was packed with graphic depictions of war, bloodshed, and violence that felt jarringly out of place for that style. This tonal whiplash made it difficult to fully immerse myself in the narrative. The protagonist (FMC) was another major stumbling block. She was insufferably unlikable—privileged, prejudiced, and constantly making selfish decisions. Her lack of empathy made it nearly impossible to root for her, and her so-called "character development" felt shallow and unearned.
The romance didn’t help matters either. It was a classic case of instalove—an immediate attraction that escalated to declarations of love within what felt like a week. There was zero chemistry between the characters, making their relationship feel forced and unconvincing. On top of that, the plot was riddled with holes. Why were children tasked with winning a war? How did they manage to build a fully functional plane with no prior knowledge or resources? So many elements defied logic or went completely unexplained, making it hard to suspend disbelief. To make matters worse, the villain was one-dimensional and cartoonishly evil, which stripped the story of any nuance or complexity. Without a compelling antagonist or meaningful stakes, the conflict felt hollow. While I appreciate what this book could have been, its execution left much to be desired. Between the unlikable protagonist, nonsensical plot points, and lackluster character development, I found myself struggling to finish it. Sadly, this is one I wouldn’t recommend.

A brilliant start to 2025s year of reading for me. This is part alternate history, part epic fantasy. The source of the conflict is the uneasy relationship between two sentient species - humans and dragons. Both have come up with ways to manage their own people and as the story progresses, you see injustice and corruption on both sides.

The MC, Viv, is a seventeen year old girl who is trying to win a place as a dragon linguist at university college London. However it's not just ambition which drives her, there's fear too. Viv is a second class citizen. You class is decided when you take your final exams and there are only so many places for advancement. Fail your exams or not pass well enough and you slide down a class for the rest of your life. However, Viv ends up embroiled in an unlikely act of rebellion when everything goes wrong and finds herself indentured as a codebreajer ibstead with her family's lives on the line. War is coming - which side is Viv on.
This was brilliant, engaging, a little bizarre and utterly magical. It had a smattering of political fantasy, a lot of self examination and of course dragons. I gulped it down in two days and can't wait for book 2. Highly recommend.

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I absolutely loved this book, I read in a day. I received the Arc copy, but I also knew I would love it so I purchased it as well. I hope there is a second book!

A Language of Dragons is getting a lot of buzz, especially in my country as it is getting translated around the time of publishing here. Unfortuantely, in my opinion, it doesn't really deserve it.

We meet Vivien as her family is preparing for an important dinner for her mother who wants to share her research. Instead they get outed as traitors, rebels. Vivien wants to do everything she can to save them. Of course she gets caught and instead is forced to work for her government.

This could have had potential. Except our main character is naive and stupid. And the world building isn't quite there.

In this world you can be born in three classes. Of course first class is the highest and third class the lowers. If you fail your exam at 16 you get demoted a class. I still don't even get what the incentive is for doing the exam of you are third class. It is not like they can go any lower and it doesn't sound like they can go up. Then there is the peace agreement with the dragons. Everything about this shouts from the start that this is terrible for its people and the dragons. Everyone else shouts it. But our main character is so naive that she believes everything the government force feeds her. Which makes it even worse is that her parents ARE rebels en believe completely different things. You can't live in those close quarters and not have an inkling of your parents being rebels.

What I think is even worse is that for the majority of the book we aren't even anywhere near the atrocities that are happening to her people. No she is in a building with other teens that have to prove their worth by working for the government. And in that situation she has to realise how bad their government is. Everything is constantly in her face but the shoe never quite drops. I'm not even sure that by the ending the shoe has dropped. She's only choosing the right thing because that was in her best interest. Not because she is in anyway a good person. The depth that a story like this needs, in world buidling and in the characters, was lacking.

This is also being sold as a dragon book. For a society that has dragons it is severely lacking. What is even the point of everyone learning dragon languages if there are rarely dragons around for them to use them with. We do get dragons, don't get me wrong, but it is far removed. And the only true mentions are the british and bulgarian dragons. Also why would the dragons even keep to our country borders? Like why? Honestly by the end I just wanted the dragons to burn it all down.

The more I write down things the more I find things that I want to complain about. But I am going to stop it here. I think I made my point.

I’m not usually one for alternate history but I couldn’t resist requesting A Language of Dragons.

This was a very fun YA story about a girl who lives in Great Britain during the 1930s. Some unfortunate circumstances mean she finds herself in Bletchley Park but instead of listening to German codes she studies Dragon Languages.

It was fast paced to the point that I wished some things had been explored more deeply like the relationships between the characters and the actual work they do at Bletchley Park.
I loved the dragons however there isn’t as much interaction with them as I would have hoped.

Definitely looking forward to the second installment to see how the story ends.

Many thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC for review!

“𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

this book has dragons in it so naturally I’m going to read it and let’s just say for a debut novel this was freaking amazing, I’m massively in my fantasy era so this hit the spot for me.

this actually blew me away with how good it was, with the world building, politics and dark academia vibes, some found family thrown in there and a little sprinkle of romance and we can’t forget the talking dragons so this was just perfect and the writing was easy to follow but the cliffhanger? WHAT IS THAT! This book isn’t out yet until January and I already need the next book .

You all need to add this one to your tbr if you’re a lover of fantasy 🐉

A Language of Dragons hit every spot for me. It was cleverly written and intricately explored themes of politics, rebellion, class, translation and academia.

Set in an alternate 1920s, we follow Violet Featherswallow as she accidentally incites a war when she helps a dragon.

I LOVE that concept of Dragons, languages and academia being mixed and the wonderfully immersive way it was written.

This is an amazing YA debut and I'm so excited for the sequel.

This was one book that I thought that I would enjoy and I was not disappointed. Set in a parallel universe where Dragons are real and co-exist with the human population. It is just after WW1 in 1923, there is a peace accord between the Dragon Queen and the government, but on the streets there is unrest. Throughout this Viv is determined to be a good citizen and abide by the rules as she does not want to be demoted from her second class status to that of third where she will have no chances ever again to study the dragon language.
I was sucked into the tale with its political twist and turns, leaving Viv to face the consequences of her choices a lot of which were down to her naivety. She becomes a pawn in the political manipulations of the government and must grow up fast to see what she really believes in.

The blurb above says unmissable and honestly I couldn’t agree more. If this book isn’t on your TBR, it needs to be. It is dragons, code-breaking, languages and dystopia. Not since Babel has a book excited the linguist in me as much as this. I loved every second of it.

The dragons were amazing. I can’t wait to see more of them in the next book. I loved their society and their languages, especially the echolocation that Viv is tasked to translate. I love how important the language is to the dragons and some of the reveals were just so good.

This is a Dark Academic title for the Fourth Wing girlies. It’s got the high stakes and epic twists of Fourth Wing with the thought out world building of Babel. Honestly it was a combination that worked really really well.

I really can’t wait for the next book!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 rounded up

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Language of Dragons is a fantastic fantasy debut that had me hooked page after page! The protagonist, Vivien, is a prodigy translator. After her parents are sentenced to death for supporting a rebellion and she gets in trouble for breaking the law, Vivi is offered the chance to save her family AND help her country win the suddenly-started war against the Human-Dragon Coalition. Her new job as a codebreaker seems to be a manageable challenge at first, but she soon starts uncovering secrets that make her question everything she knows - even her own loyalties.

I thought this would be a standalone, and about half way through realised I wanted more from this world... so I was delighted to find out it's the beginning of a series 😍 Viv and her love for languages drew me in straight away, and I wanted to know every detail of this mysterious dragon language she was tasked to decipher. The way the book entwines dragon biology with the war plot is fantastic - I was just as interested to discover more about dragon species as to find out what would happen next in the conflict!

A highlight was for sure the way dragons are portrayed ❤️ We often read of them as sidekicks or part of a bond, but these dragons are characters of their own, fully sentient and part of society in a totally novel way! Chumana was a really cool one and I'm so glad she was given the space she got later in the book.

Generally, the author created excellent characters, with Vivien being a well-rounded protagonist (although occasionally a bit too self-deprecatory and repetitively not letting herself move on from things) and side characters being interesting.

The book is well written and flows very smoothly. The story suddenly picks up pace in the last third or so, which was a bit of a sudden shock after the slower-paced build up The slower build up made sense and really called to the language-lover in me - it was just the sudden change of pace that was perhaps a bit too much.

Anyway, in case it wasn't clear, I'd totally recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, dragons and high stakes. It's a brilliant debut and I can't wait to read its sequel!

This book had such epic and well written world-building it made me swoon. I adored every second of it so much that I recently bought a physical copy of it. S.F. Williams is truly a gifted writer, and this book made me fall in love with dragons all over again. My only complaint is that it was too short. My god, this book. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

3.5

I liked the premise of this, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. I was hoping there was more focus on the language and politics surrounding the world and dragons. The main protagonist was also quite unlikeable and many decisions that were made left me frustrated. I understands it's YA and there's a certain naivety to a young protagonist, but for someone that's supposed to be very intelligent, she didn't catch on things quickly. Also some things that happened at the end, I thought were unnecessary. I think if you like Babel though, you'll might enjoy this. It just wasn't quite for me.

This is a parallel world, where a version of WWI has occurred – except events are altered because it is also a world where there are dragons. Times are now tense. Society is fractured into separate classes, with the first class getting the best of everything, those in the second class desperate to keep their position of precarious comfort. While those in the third class subsist on insufficient food, inadequate education and poor housing, with little chance of bettering themselves. No wonder second class children are beaten until they’re scarred if their marks aren’t good enough at school – for examination results are crucial to staying clear of grinding poverty.

As if a severely divided society isn’t enough to contend with, the Prime Minister is trying to hold together the Peace Agreement with the Queen of the Dragons in the face of mounting tension. Rebels pledged to overthrow the current government are causing mayhem and Viv is faced with a stark choice, once she is confronted with a terrible discovery. Initially, I sympathised and liked Viv. She is clearly intelligent and driven, even though she is struggling with guilt and grief.

Meanwhile, the story starts with a bang and moves along at a good clip. Until we get to the middle section, where the pace seems to falter as Viv loses her way. I became a tad frustrated with Viv’s inability to follow any sort of plan, as she agrees to the demands of every person pressuring her, until the next character has their say. By this time, I was ready to shake her until her teeth rattled – until events pile up to a point where she is caught up in a flurry of upsetting violence, which carries the book onto the conclusion. While she is clearly academically brilliant, I wonder if the wrong character was the protagonist – Sophie seems far more focused and able to make decisions under pressure than hapless, indecisive Viv. Particularly as Viv’s dithering takes the narrative’s forward momentum with her.

What works well is the depiction of the world and the tension within Bletchley Park. I enjoyed how the divisions within the society play out at a personal level – I think that’s been done well and in the closing stages of the story, there are several unexpected events that are both shocking and take the story in a different direction. The book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so there is more to come in this intriguing world. Despite my issues with the pacing and the main character, this is an enjoyable adventure with plenty of potential. Recommended for fans of historical fantasy. While I obtained an arc of A Language of Dragons from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

4.5 stars – wow. I’ve been burned by dragon books before (oun intended), but A Language of Dragons completely blew me away! Set in an alternate 1923 London with dragons, this historical fantasy is a rollercoaster of political intrigue, a corrupt government, and characters so rich with flaws and growth, oh and did I forget about the dragons?? I was pretty much at the edge of my seat the whole time. I was so invested in these characters, even the side characters - I was deeply invested in everyones wellbeinging.

The plot itself was fantastic, there were so many twists and turns and revelations I had no clue how this story would end. The world building and prose was beautiful, everything felt so fleshed out and real.

One part I adored was the romance, so sweet and raw, adding depth to Viv’s character without ever overshadowing the story

I had such a great time with this book, I was legit sobbing at the end and I cannot wait for book two (please someone tell me there is going to be book 2).

‘Forgiveness is suffering redeemed’

The book was an enjoyable read, set in the 1930s during a time when humans and dragons coexist peacefully. I found immense pleasure in exploring this richly developed world. One aspect that particularly resonated with me was the emphasis on the importance of languages and translation throughout the story, a topic that is very close to my heart. What can go wrong when you mix dark academy and dragons? Big thanks to harper fire and harper collins for the access to this book

🔥 A Language of Dragons • S. F. Williamson 🔥
★★★★

Read if you enjoy:
🔥 Fantasy
🔥 Dragons
🔥 Academia and linguistics
🔥 Reading about codebreakers during the war
🔥 Reading about systems that ostracize the poor
🔥 Slow burn romance

Vivian Featherswallow’s life is turned upside down when her family are arrested for treason. Instead of joining them in prison, she is offered a chance to be recruited as a codebreaker in the upcoming war, focusing on learning the secret language of the dragons.

Changing the rating from 3.75* to 4* because this book has really stuck with me and I’m realising as time goes by just how much I loved it. It really is one of those reads where it has to be given time to process and settle. So much happens in one story. The writing is incredible. The world building reflects basically a historical dystopia with dragons. Viv as a character could be a bit frustrating which is why I originally gave it the rating I did, but overall, considering the circumstances and that this is YA, perhaps my frustration was a bit unfair 😂.

An amazing fan stays!

An amazing fantasy with great characters, themes, dragons and twists an turns.

Overall really enjoyed this book but sometimes the pacing threw me of and out of the story.

This book was pitched to me as "Bletchley Park with dragons", which it is, but it's also so much more than that.

I loved the politics and the exploration of the class system and how little those in the higher classes really understand about those below them as well as the desperate lengths someone will go to to avoid being in the third class.

We see Vivian have to really interrogate her beliefs and struggle with the morality of her choices. I loved her excitement at decoding language and the way language works in this world.

A Language of Dragons is a brilliant fantasy, with great twists and turns.

Also, there are dragons. And everything is better with dragons.