I won’t lie, I was a bit stressed starting this book. I had high hopes, but early reviews were mixed, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. While there are a few things I wish had been done differently, like spending more time with certain characters and exploring some aspects of the story more thoroughly, I ended up really enjoying it. A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson is a fantastic debut, and I’m already looking forward to the sequel! I also highly recommend the audiobook, narrated by Kristin Atherton, who also done Belladonna!

Set in an alternate 1923 London, A Language of Dragons takes place in a world where humans and dragons coexist under a fragile peace treaty. The story follows Vivien Featherswallow, a young and talented linguist fluent in several human and dragon languages. When her family’s safety is threatened, Vivien is coerced into working as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park, tasked with deciphering a hidden dragon language. As she delves deeper, she uncovers corruption within the peace treaty and must decide who to trust as her entire worldview collapses around her.

Prepare for a love-hate relationship with Vivien. She’s infuriatingly rash, naive, and narrow-minded at times. She constantly makes selfish decisions, prioritising herself and her family regardless for the consequences for those around her. However, her character development is worth the patience. Watching her grow from an unthinking girl into a young woman grappling with complex moral and ethical dilemmas, caught between a corrupt government and rebellious factions, was both fascinating and incredibly realistic.

What I loved most about this book was its focus on languages and translation. You can tell the author has a linguistic background, as everything is presented in a way that’s both engaging and easy to understand. While some might find it a bit dense or info dumpy, I thought it was a highlight of the book. I’ve even seen comparisons to Babel by R.F. Kuang, which makes me want to finally pick that one up this year!

Although the book wasn’t perfect, it was a pleasant surprise. The plot was engaging, and I loved how languages and translations were woven into the narrative. That said, I did wish for more action, better-developed side characters, relationships and romance. The romantic subplot while sweet felt underdeveloped at times. Although, if a certain character doesn’t make it to the second book, I will riot!

While this may not be a story that stays with me forever, it left me wanting more. I’m ready for the sequel! Here’s hoping for more action, DRAGONS, and political intrigue in the next book!

Amazing. Like blood over bright haven meets babel meets dragons. I loved the concept of language and communication being what wins the war just like in the real world wars. The addition of dragons and class wars and politics made this even better. Every character was detailed and well fleshed out, and had their own backstories and motivations. The growth of some of the characters and moral conflicts they faced were incredibly well thought out. Honestly a masterclass in writing I devoured this in one day. A compelling plot with excellent characters.

I was really intrigued by this based on the “Bletchley park with dragons” tagline and even though it’s not my usual genre I enjoyed this story. The characters were well rounded and brought to life, and I really enjoy3d the world building around the setting in both time and place. I did however find big chunks of this asked the reader to take a leap in plausibility (and I don’t just mean the existence of a world with dragons)such as the whole future of war effort being reliant on the shoulders of ‘criminal’ teenagers. The fact that there hadn’t been a rebellion prior to this stage seems implausible. And honestly the romance elements between the characters seemed forced and unnecessary. However, that all being said, it was a gripping page turner.

Oh my gosh, I just inhaled this book (whilst working full time) in less than 72 hours. LOVED. IT.

The last 50 pages had me sobbing, and I am desperate to know what happens next.

language of dragons is like if rf kuang decided to put dragons in babel, and i’m so here for it. the use of linguistics and translation were so well written and explained.

did i mention dragons????

i adored the dragons in this book. they weren’t all bad or all good. they had personalities, desires and hate. they had everything a person would have, but in the shape of a dragon. i really loved that they weren’t mindless creatures and actually had a lot of work put into their creation.

the only thing i disliked about this book was the setting. it’s set after WW1, and i dislike any historical setting between 1901-2010. that’s a me thing, and plenty of people love that. i just can’t get into those types of books very easily. despite this, i still really enjoyed this book, it just made that initial setup and getting into it a little slower.

the characters in a language of dragons were so enjoyable to read about. they, like the dragons, had a lot of thought put into their backstories. everyone had a purpose. everyone had flaws and weaknesses. everyone felt real.

i highly recommend everyone checks out this book, as it went above and beyond what i was expecting for it. i suspect it’ll be a hit.

"Language is as crucial to war as any weapon"

Wow, what a fantastic debut novel by S.F. Williamson!

Although this book is categorised as teen/YA, as an adult I devoured this book.

A Human/Dragon adventure like no other. Clever concept with with Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Dark Academia vibes that combines linguistics, politics, class system, rebel coalitions, battles and of course cool dragons.

Set mainly in Bletchley Park in 1923 we follow Vivien Featherswallow, who is offered a job as a code breaker of the language of dragons in order to save her parents. Along with her friends, family and enemies we join their journey of mistakes, redemption, betrayal, loss, love, friendships and justice.

Although I would have loved just a touch of magic in the story it did not detract from such a brilliantly original piece of writing.

A medium paced code-breaking fantasy delight in an imaginary world with some wonderful characters.

I can't wait for book 2.

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC

Babel with dragons. As a translator, I had to love it. ^^ It’s a bit info dumpy at times, the same way Babel is too. So... prepare yourself ! ^^

A Language of Dragons is a YA historical fantasy that I absolutely loved. It is set in a post war era and takes a some inspiration from World War 2 codebreakers of Bletchley Park. It has dark academia vibes and gave me similar feeling to Divine Rivals which I also loved. In this world Viv our main character is skilled in several human and dragon languages which makes her useful to the Government in assisting them to break a code used by Dragons. There are lots of twists and turns with lots of political intrigue and the world building is very well done to create a full, descriptive and believable setting. I really enjoyed the character development throughout this book as well. I particularly enjoyed that the characters felt realistic as teenagers/young adults swept up in a war environment.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how this story develops and cant wait to read more in this series.

It's hard to not want to read a book when the cover of said book looks like this. Don't get me wrong, I usually don't buy or get books based on the cover alone. However, in this case the cover caught my attention and I just got too curious. I requested a copy via Netgalley and luckily Harper Fire granted me a digital review copy.

From the very first page this book grabbed me and refused to let me go. That's firstly because of the writing. It feels like we're there, with the heroine, present in the moment. We feel what she feels and therefore it's easy to feel FOR her and to root for her, despite the fact that some of her choices are morally wrong. We understand why she does what she does, though.

I also loved the world-building. The story takes place in the world as we know it, with buildings and landmarks we're familiar with, with historical events we remember all too well. However, this time there are also dragons and it doesn't make everything easier. Especially the politics gets a lot more complicated and yet it works.

And then there's the politics. In a way there is a lot going on, but the heroine of the story also knows close to nothing, which means we discover everything at her pace. And the more we learn, the more sense it starts to make and the more amazing it becomes. I can't wait for the next book to be released, because it's clear that this story is far from over!

Viv is studying dragon languages. She wants to have a good career so that her little sister never has to fear being demoted to a third class citizen. There isn't much besides suffering in the third class.

Things are going well until her parents and cousin are arrested as suspected rebels. In an effort to destroy evidence against them, she might have also destroyed the peace agreement between humans and dragons.

I really liked this! I don't read very much YA anymore, but this has dragons so of course I had to check it out! I love the idea of an alternate world where humans and dragons coexist.

Thank you, Harper Fire and S. F. Williamson, for approving my request for a digital arc of A Language with Dragons.

What a stunning debut and fantastic book to kick off the 2025! A Language of Dragon is a stunning, original historical fantasy story with an ingenious twist using World War 2 history about the work of Alan Turing and the code breakers of Bletchley Park, who broke the Enigma code used by the Nazis.

S. F. Williamson’s plot is full of high stakes, political intrigue, power, and burden of knowledge. The twists are vicious, like a blade to the throat with life-or-death consequences for failing to break a secret language of dragons in a conflict raging between the government, rebels, and dragons. The world-building is immersive, sculpturing incredible and vivid detail about the history, cultural, and political constructs of the story raging in this civil war in a world full of fear and flame.

The relationships between the characters are complicated with rivalry, secrets, and comradery as the teenage recruits are pitted together in a battle for survival. I loved that the dragons were so creatively fleshed out, and S. F. Williamson achieves the level of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novak with the rich, distinct dragon personalities of the dragons.

Be prepared to have a love-hate relationship with Vivian Featherswallow. She’s morally grey, intelligent, and infuriatingly rash. Her character development from this brash, unthinking girl to a young woman holding immense power in her hands and facing the moral and ethical dilemmas of survival caught in the fray of a war between corrupt government and rebel factions is incredibly realistic, full of anguish, and poignant.
An immersive, dragon-filled historical fantasy with high-stakes conflict and knife-edge moral quandaries in the shadow of war and rebellion against fear, injustice, and oppression. If you love clever historical retellings with a twist, morally grey main characters, set in a dark academic setting featuring dragons and political intrigue – this YA Dragon fantasy should be on your 2025 TBR!

This book is set in an alternative version of our world in 1920s where there are dragons who live alongside humans. The main character (Viv) is trying to translate a secret dragon language for the government to help them prevent a war between the government and a rebel group (who want to dismantle the government's class based human segregation system and stop the oppression of dragons in Britain) so that she can save her family.

The themes in this book are similar to Babel, although Babel definitely handles them better and with much more nuance. Viv is on the side of the government for most of the book, and she goes through a lot of mental gymnastics to justify her government's crimes because the system they have in place benefits her. She does grow as a person, but it is hard to read from her perspective the longer the story goes on, and it takes her way too long to get that character development.

This book was very easy to read and when the action was happening (and we were spending less time in Viv's head) it was so hard to put down. I loved how the dragons and dragon languages were done - I'm really hoping for more of the dragons in book 2!

The romance is very much meant to be fleebag / hot priest with the way that the love interest (Atlas) is a Catholic priest in training and some of the scenes and lines that were put in. However his religion isn't really given much thought - most of the world building is done really well and is really easy to understand, but that doesn't extend to Atlas's religion which feels like it's just there to fulfil the hot priest fantasy and isn't given much depth.

Overall, if you mind how religion is handled and don't like having an unlikable protagonist with hard to read viewpoints, then this isn't for you. But if you don't mind those things and you like dragons and themes of decolonisation and Catholic priest romance in an easy to read fantasy book, then you would probably enjoy this.

This was an enjoyable book.
I felt as if I was at Bletchley with the characters feeling their emotions and worries.
I grew to really like Vivien, Marquis, Atlas, Sophie and Karim. As I got into the story I understood their decisions were based on fear of going back to the class system which had been established.
Vivien did annoy me at times but there again she believed what she had been told she grew up not questioning and was focused on where she wanted to go in life.
She didn't see not everyone had the same chance and choices.
I loved the dragons their colours and the different personalities.
I really liked Marquis and Atlas and would want them as best friends. They always had Vivien's back.
Sometimes you aren't always on the right side to start with but you just need someone to give you a push in right direction. Where you end up and what you do is what matters. My heart broke a little at the end.
Looking forward to the next instalment.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

This was absolutely magical. A post WW1 Europe (mainly focused on Britain), a secret government service, a rebellion, dragons, linguistics and so much loss. I struggled getting into it at first (although that may just be that I wasn’t fully in the mood for it with it being Christmas). It was a really unique perspective on dragons in the UK and I am really trying not to spoil anything but there are so many things I want to say that they won’t quite come into words. It was beautifully written, incredibly emotional, and a very interesting story. I think if you are intrigued by anything about this book you should give reading it a go. And if like me you seem to struggle a bit at first, stick with it. It is worth it. It was also a great match up with this time of year, as we finished around Boxing Day.

🐉I received an ARC of this book and am leaving an honest review voluntarily🐉

I came for the dragons, but stayed for the political uprising and emotional damage 😅

So… I saw a book about dragons and code breaking and was like, this will be a fun read. Well now I’m crying 😂

But in all seriousness, this was fantastic! I can’t believe it’s a debut!

🐉🐉🐉

Premise:

Vivien is a budding linguist, in a post-WW1 Britain shared by humans and dragons. After her family is arrested, Vivien sets free a rebel dragon and accidentally breaks the peace agreement between the two species.

To avoid being locked up for treason, she is offered a new job by the Prime Minister, at Bletchley Park, where she can put her language skills to use and unlock a secret code of the dragons. And in doing so, save her family.

🐉🐉🐉

It’s incredibly enthralling and I struggled to put it down!

Vivien, whilst not the most likeable narrator at times due to her actions, is incredibly relatable, and I loved seeing her go through her internal struggle of what is right and wrong. I still feel she has gotten off lightly with Sophie though and wonder if there will be further revenge later on 🤔🤔

The location itself, was literally my dream. As someone who studied maths and did extra courses around code breaking at school, with trips to Bletchley park, I was obsessed! And despite not being much of a linguist myself, the way the language of dragons was developed was fascinating. Plus I love the magical element of it all!

And the plot was fantastic! With the state of the UK with it’s division and the uprising! This book is truly, first and foremost, a political fantasy in my mind. But despite the 1920s backdrop, so much still seems relevant today!

And the romance subplot was very cute! Firstly, he’s a priest in training!! Which just adds to the forbidden nature of it all! But I loved them sharing notes and how well they clicked despite the class divide.

And the wider characters were fab! I want to adopt Marquis as my cousin! And I’m very intrigued about wider characters and what happens next for them, especially Serena, Sophie and Gideon! (What was that bomb drop by Gideon at the end? Bloody hell!)

The ending definitely broke me emotionally, but I will 100% be reading the next book!

This was a fascinating and imaginative tale set in an alternative post WW1 world where dragons exist alongside humans. As a lover of alternate histories and dragons, this book was one that I was excited to be reading.
I felt that Language of Dragons was aimed towards the younger end of YA. The protagonists are all in late teens and I really got that adolescent feeling of knowing everything when actually, you don’t especially from Viv, the main protagonist. It’s an action packed story with a real emphasis on friendship and although there is a romance (in fact more than one), they don’t form the main part of the book.
The story is told in the first person which has the effect of making events feel very dramatic as they are seen through Viv’s eyes. The opening scenes when her family life is turned upside down are gripping. She is definitely not perfect but I enjoyed her character flaws and felt that they were in keeping with her age and experience. Her inability or unwillingness to see the truth of what was actually happening felt very lifelike even though it was frustrating to read. I thought that her story arc during the book and the way she grew up was really well done.
One downside of the first person narrative is that it restricts how much we see of other characters. Some of them were well developed especially Atlas but others were more two-dimensional and it would have been nice to have more insight into them. I did enjoy the villains of the story though and the dragons of course.
I enjoyed the world building with its politics and uneasy alliance between humans and dragons. There was very clear history which we were given enough details of to anchor the story without feeling too bogged down by details. The social structure with its different classes was well thought out too and although it’s a theme that has been used many times before, it felt quite fresh in this novel.
The language element was fascinating although not really like Babel which it has been compared to. I loved the academic aspect of their work at Bletchley park and the way that the students were all engrossed in their work of translation. Language is a strong theme throughout the book with the constant idea that no translation, no matter how good, can ever convey exactly what a reader meant.
This was a great YA read and a book that I would love to have read when I was a teenager. My thanks as always to Net Galley and the publishers, Harper Collins UK, for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

A YA book about dragons? Perfect for my Twixtmas read.
This is much more thought provoking than the description above would lead you to believe. Set in a parallel universe 1920s where dragons and humans co-exist thanks to an increasingly wobbly peace agreement, and humans are graded into classes according to how well they do in one Examination, this is a kind of Hunger Games meets dark academia read. Our hero Vivienne Featherswallow is a translation student, who speaks nine languages. When her parents are arrested for being part of a coalition trying to mount a rebellion against the system, Vivien takes some radical action and is offered a chance to save them if she goes to.Bletchley Park to try to work out dragon communication. Along with a group of other teens who have things to atone for, including her former best friend, her cousin, and a hot trainee priest, Vivien must crack the dragon code and then try to work out where her allegiance really lies.
There’s romance, violence, moral ambiguity and dragons! Including a pink one.Exactly the kind of book I would have absolutely loved as a teenager, and still very much enjoy as an adult. I really hope there’s a sequel. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I am speechless. it has been a while since I have devoured a book like this and wow it was fantastic.

this was a gripping, historical fantasy, filled with dragon lore, broken societal systems, corrupt leaders, scheming and academia. I don't know what my expectations were but it blew me away.

The dragon element of this story was fascinating, I loved the idea of deciphering a new dragon language, seeing where current dragon languages descended from and the whole arc of that story.

Seeing the injustices of the class systems, treatment of people and dragons and corruption of the government was one of my favourite parts. It's books like this that show reading is political. And I loved Vivian's character arc, the guilt she faces, going against everything she was told to believe by society, ooofff it was great.

The side characters were very strong & I cannot wait to see more of them. The reluctant teammates to friends planted a seed of hope for some found family later on down the line. The subplot of romance was so much fun, I loved their notes so much, atlas & viv >>

My heart did shatter towards the end there but boyyyy that ending. I need book 2 immediately.

S. F. Williamson’s A Language of Dragons is an enchanting epic fantasy. Though it technically falls under the YA fantasy umbrella (which I absolutely loved but I'm aware not everyone shares this love), it is rich with world-building, compelling characters, and a lyrical yet accessible prose style.
I was thoroughly impressed with the setting of the book and the way Williamson wielded the magic of world-building. The characters were interesting, flawed and imperfect in their own way, which made them that more relatable. I do wish some of the side character were slightly more flashed out, I could look past it and wasn't too bothered by it
The pacing lagged slightly in the middle, but this immersive tale brimmed with magic, dragon lore, and emotional depth, is a must-read for fans of the genre.

3.75⭐️

This book has a lot to love and is a different spin on classic dragon fantasy tales. I was intrigued by the 1920s Britain backdrop and how the dragon citizens were part of this society. I also liked that it focused on the linguistic aspect of the dragons rather than magic for a change.

The romance was a favourite part and Atlas was easily my favourite character. I would have liked to know more about the side characters however, as I felt we spent a bit too much time with Viv and her exceedingly naive views, which got a bit too much for me at times. I also think the historical and dragon elements didn’t always blend seamlessly, so felt jarring at times.

That said, overall I still had a lot of fun with this book and will be looking out for the second!