This book was described to me as Fourth Wing meets The Atlas Six and you know what, I get it. I'm a sucker for dragon books done well and this was for sure done well.

Between the dynamics of the dragon riding elements and the tension and conflicts between our main characters, this book has me turning pages so fast.

I would absolutely read more work by this author, the writing style really worked for me!

Not my new favorite, but I would read the sequel, especially if we get more dragon training, slow burn pining, and backstabbing. This very much gave a fourth wing, so if you enjoyed that book like I did, this is worth checking out!

There’s a definite slow unfurl here, the plot kind of simmers while all the characters circle each other, sometimes I wished the pacing was a bit faster and plot points bicked up a bit quicker, but the intrigue and power dynamics kept me flipping. The twists don’t come flying at you like in Fourth Wing, but the tension builds more like The Atlas Six, quietly, until suddenly you're invested and vaguely stressed.

I enjoyed the characters, specifically Christina, and how bossy she was. Overall, I think the book wanted to be a bit more philosophical than it fully earned. But I was entertained, and that is arguably the main thing you can ask for.

I received an ARC for this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

4 Stars

The Ellyrian Code is an intriguing entry in the world of fantasy with magic, dragons, and an academic setting that is engaging. Taking place at Eshtem University, it follows the lives of four students of different backgrounds—Jadon, Christina, Diar, and Jenne—who all hope to become an Order of Edrei, the guardians of peace and magic in the world.

One of the strengths of the book lies in the world-building. The plot is set in a world with a complex political and social structure filled with social norms that mirror so-called real-world issues like classism and sexism. This was one of the most interesting aspects of the book, as it helped give another dimension to the story.

The character writing is another high point. Jadon and Christina are the standout characters, each with their own issues of identity and expectations. Jadon, the charming but flawed prince, provides a fascinating take on the weight of nobility, whereas Christina’s idealism is tested beautifully throughout the book. Diar and Jenne, while less prominent, provide fascinating takes on the lives of characters who come from backgrounds different than those of the protagonists. All of the characters add a lot of depth to the story.

The slow pace of the book allows for a very deep dive into motivations and world-building. Tension is slowly built, and there is a satisfying conclusion which makes you want to see what comes next.

Overall, The Ellyrian Code is a beautiful fantasy full of rich, flawed characters that will keep you engaged as they grapple with a tale of nobles and morals. If you are looking for a fantasy full of magic, machinations, and a well-built world, Fourth Wing is for you. I can’t wait to see where these characters and this world are headed.

3.75 stars⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book. I did like this book but I didn't really connect with the characters in this book. I did like the plot of it but it was a bit too slow for me

3.75/5 Stars

This was a great set up for an epic fantasy series (at least I hope it’s a series!). We follow four different characters from different backgrounds and upbringings, who entered Eshtem university for a chance to join the Edrei, an elite order of dragon riders.

The politics and world building in this book were really good. I loved the insight into history we got alongside the other Eshtem students in their classes. Despite this, I often felt a bit lost in the world building and politics, especially in the beginning. I would have liked a few more “lore dumps” earlier on in the book to help better understand the political history and the magic system. We did get some great lore on the history of the Edrei order and I wish we had gotten more insight into them and the dragons (we only see them about 3 times throughout the book), but I understand that this is probably only book 1 in a series.

Following four different students from different backgrounds was a great way to learn more about different philosophies, and the intricate political system. Diar, Jenne, Christina and Jardon were all interesting characters, but I think following four POVs together with the detailed world building didn’t allow for enough depth on all the characters and I didn’t find myself to be fully invested in them.

Overall, I think this is a solid first book in a series. After the ending of this book, I’m intrigued to see how the story develops and hopefully learn more about the dragons.

Let me be clear by saying advertising this as anything similar to Fourth Wing is completely incorrect. There’s dragons yes, but that’s where the similarities finish.

I did enjoy some aspects of this book and whilst I don’t think it was a bad book, it just wasn’t for me.

I think it should be advertised towards more high fantasy readers who enjoy less romance and more political drama.

I really enjoyed The Ellyrian Code. The story takes place in a prestigious academy where students from all backgrounds are meant to be treated as equals, but the reality is much more nuanced. The book explores complex themes like classism, sexism, and political power dynamics, which made the reading experience feel both relevant and thought-provoking.

I was particularly drawn to the four main characters. Jadon and Christina stood out to me the most. Jadon is a prince who challenges tradition, while Christina is an idealist who is forced to reevaluate everything she believes in. Diar and Jenne also brought strong perspectives, especially through their moral convictions and backgrounds rooted in the lower social classes.

The world-building is ambitious and immersive, filled with dragons, magic, and academic rivalries. The pacing started off a bit slow for me, but the story gradually pulled me in and kept me engaged.

I’m giving it 4 out of 5 stars and I’m excited to see where the next book takes us.

The Ellyrian Code is an amazing introduction into a brand new fantasy world. Perfect for fantasy lovers, it has dragons, an interesting magic system and a school setting. The different POV’s keep you engaged and each character has an interesting storyline.

It has very rich world building from the start, mentions of dragons, political intrigue and an elite university left me wanting to not put this book down.

We get introduced to each character in their own POV’s, each of them in situations that make you gleam some of their unique characteristics. I loved getting to know each character in different settings that correlated to them specifically, as it made it easier for me to understand them as characters. It also built up suspense for the university as each character talked about heading there soon. Overall an amazing and interesting way to start the story.

Did I mention this book has DRAGONS!!! I loved how the dragons were described, it made me picture these giant beasts in the sky perfectly. I also loved the backstory of how this world came to be one that has dragons, as a reader you weren’t just expected to accept that dragons exist, they had a story and a purpose. I do have to mention though, that dragons play a minimal role in this first book (I don't know how much they'll be mentioned in future books), so I wouldn't pick this book up just for the dragons.

Again I have to mention, the world building!!! So detailed and interesting. I loved learning something new with every chapter, and seeing as all the characters had different backgrounds you learned about the world in such a natural, organic way it didn’t feel confusing or overwhelming at all.

I really enjoyed all the different POV's and found myself liking all the characters we got to read from. It is note worthy that this book has a large cast of characters, so if you're someone who gets confused easily, I'd take notes on who is who early on.

I think it's good to know before jumping into this book, that it isn't an action packed book. The heart of the plot, in my opinion, was all the secrets, the suspicious happenings, and all the mysteries in this world that made me keep turning the pages. I found myself wanting to know more with every piece of information we got, or with every added question one of the characters found themselves with.

TLDR, I really enjoyed this story. A world filled with secrets and intriguing happenings in the background, it kept me engaged throughout the whole book. I liked the characters and found myself enjoying all the POV's, I'm very intrigued to see were the story goes!!

I'll 100% stay on the look out for more books in this world.

Thank you to netgalley and Angry Robot for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sets the stage for what promises to be a deeply layered and politically charged epic fantasy trilogy.

Four students at Eshtem University compete for a spot in an exclusive Order of dragon riders and magic-wielding peacekeepers. Jadon, a reckless prince, seeks escape from his father’s politics; Christina, a princess from a rival House, sees the Order as the world’s greatest force for good; Jenne, who despises nobles, relishes the chance to compete as an equal; and Diar, torn between his loyalty to his friends and his sworn duties, finds himself caught in their rivalry. As the students train and uncover dark secrets about the Order’s corruption, they must confront their own beliefs and fight for their futures—if they don’t get expelled first.

With a richly detailed world filled with Houses, hierarchy, and rebellion, the book paints a clear picture of an unjust society desperately clinging to tradition. Eshtem, the prestigious academy meant to level the playing field, becomes a microcosm of systemic favoritism, classism, and political hypocrisy—laying bare the novel’s core theme: that meritocracy is a myth when institutions are inherently biased.

At the center are four compelling protagonists—Christina, Jadon, Jenne, and Diar—each navigating their own complex web of duty, belief, and identity. Their distinct perspectives bring emotional weight and much-needed clarity to a story otherwise overwhelmed by a sprawling cast and political intricacies. The characters' development is thoughtful and rewarding, especially as they begin to unravel the deeper truths about Eshtem and the world beyond.

However, the novel often buckles under the weight of its own ambition. With so many characters, Houses, and backstories, it’s difficult to keep track of who’s who and how they relate to the broader conflict. The reminders and contextual clues help, but the constant mental juggling can become exhausting and occasionally dampens the momentum.

Readers drawn in by comparisons to Fourth Wing and the promise of dragons may come away disappointed. The dragon element is minimal, with brief glimpses rather than full interactions, which might leave fans of more action-heavy fantasy feeling shortchanged.

Ultimately, The Ellyrian Code is less about magic and more about maneuvering. It offers a smart, if dense, introduction to a world ripe for upheaval. If you're in it for the long game and enjoy politically complex fantasy, this may be worth the investment—but don’t expect fire and fury just yet.

The Ellyrian Code had so much going for it conceptually — a layered magical world, a political backdrop, and the promise of intertwining destinies — but unfortunately, the execution didn’t quite land for me.

The opening felt ambitious, setting up what seemed to be a central mystery or narrative thread, but that thread quickly got lost amid a tangle of shifting POVs, heavy exposition, and a sprawling cast. I found myself struggling to connect to any one character or arc deeply enough to feel truly invested. The multiple perspectives, while promising in scope, made the first third feel disjointed and hard to settle into.

There were definitely glimmers of potential in the worldbuilding, especially once certain relationships and dynamics started to form. I appreciated some of the quieter character moments and hints of deeper intrigue beneath the surface — but those came too late for me to feel compelled to push through. At around the halfway mark, I decided to set the book aside. I may return to it in the future, especially if I hear positive things about where the series goes, but for now, it didn’t quite hold me.

For readers who enjoy a complex cast, slow-burn political machinations, and don't mind a bit of narrative ambiguity, this might still be worth exploring. It just wasn’t quite the right fit for me at this time.

The Ellyrian Code is set in the academy of Eshtem, where the best students train to become part of the Order of Edrei, who are powerful beings who protect the realm where the story is set. This school is open to people from all backgrounds, because in here, the students should be all equals. This, however, is hard to achieve. Because eventually, what counts to most students are the connections: they won't associate with someone they don't consider their equal. What matters the most in this school, and was the main focus of this book, were the politics.

This is a character driven story, and we get the pov of four main characters who come from different backgrounds.

There is Jadon, who is a prince who often disregards the rules but who also tries to be just. Then there is Christina, a princess who is an idealist. Once she comes to Eshtem, all her beliefs are shattered and she learns how life works the hard way. The third character, Diar, comes from a merchant class. He is very religious and strict, and an altruist. The last character, Jenne, comes form the humblest side of society. She values her freedom a lot and isn't afraid to stand up to those who hold the power, if she thinks they are wrong.

The school runs rampant with classism, sexism and racism, to cite a few. So there was wide ground for addressing them, since like I said, this book is about politics. And politics also include the relationship between people who have different beliefs.

There are quite a few instances when Christina says that she's from the sex who is less capable physically or things along these lines. Or instances where Diar mentions the beliefs of his religion and makes it clear that who doesn't believe in it, often belittles the believers. On the top of that, Diar is also a poc, and he believes is a god called... the WHITE? Even when Jenne and Christina fight, it is clear that the university considers women as weaker and not able to fight a man and win. Women also have to wear dresses at school. Then there's the not so subtle classism the highborn students have towards the lower born. There are several issues that could've been handled differently, but they were treated as an afterthought, which is a missing opportunity because it would have made this story better.

The style is something else I didn't enjoy. The grammar was good, though. The prose was formal and detached for my taste. It was also confusing even though things were repeated more than once. I was excited for the first 25% or so, then ended up being bored. It contributed to this mood that there are have four pov characters, yet they all have the same voice. I couldn't distinguish between them. Their povs lacked personality, and only Jenne's character stood out from the mass a bit.

I think the story has potential, but the execution was lackluster.

Thank you to AngryRobot for letting me read an ARC of this book. The opinions are my own.

I had to DNF this, which im very sorry about. It sounded like something right up my street, but for a book so short it felt slow to start, I also felt like I was missing key info and there wasn't much flow. Lots of telling you exactly what is happening in super simple language... this version felt like a first draft of the book.

I sadly had to DNF this book !
Though the synopsis sounded like something I would have liked I ended up being deeply bored....
It was low stake and none of the character presented to me nor the plot felt compelling enough for me to continue reading

I’ll be nice enough not to share my review for this book. I spent the entire first 25% just trying to figure out what was going on. Who is who and what is what. It finally got better ish but it was still long winded and boring. Most of this book was poorly written because there was just so much that was unnecessary. We could have started the book in the caravan and most of the prior information could have been filled in through dialogue that would have been more interesting. There’s just way too much going on to be able to keep up. I did not like this book at all. It just didn’t keep my attention and I had to force myself to finish it. At least the punctuation and grammar were good. I appreciate that

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing a complimentary copy of this book.

This is a story of three students of Eshtem University, a school dedicated to training pupils to be dragon-riding, magic-wielding peacekeepers of the Order. Jadon, a reckless princeling who wants to become Edrei to escape his father's political plans for him. Christina, a princess dedicated to justice and bettering the Order. Diar, a young man who struggles with moral dilemmas during his first year of training.

I was unsure about this at first...I have to be in the mood for fantasy and there was a lot of world building at the beginning, but then it got good! It didn't take long for this story to ramp up. Starting off with a rebel escaping capture from the Order and is on the run for 4 years. A questionable crystal that the Order doesn't want in the wrong hands. A mystery that students at the university are trying to figure out - Is the Order just, or is it corrupt? What is the Order hiding from the rest of the citizens?

There wasn't a bunch of romance in this, which was a nice change of pace for the usual fantasy I read.

I was able to connect with these characters and see some character building along the way. I can tell this will continue on and I am curious to see where it goes. If you like Fourth Wing, Hunger Games, and the like, you will like this book!

DNF

I picked this due to the "Fourth Wing meets The Atlas Six" description but I just could not get into the story and I did not bond or cared about any character at all.
The book felt more like telling than showing and also the number of characters made it difficult to keep up!

𝐀 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰.

I found The Ellyrian Code to be an enjoyable, richly layered novel full of dark academia, intricate magic systems and intellectual intrigue. The world is well built and builds it's prose around the well loved trope of "knowledge being power and therefore, dangerous." The story unfolds slowly, allowing the reader to sink deeply into the details of the University and intimately get to know our group of main characters. Although it does feel like the story takes a long time to get where it's going, the pacing feels deliberate leaning more on thoughtful immersion rather than action packed high stakes. It's a thinker's read for sure. If you love an intelligent academic fantasy. If you love a bit of the arcane and a bit of politics. If you love a slow build. This is for you.

This is a fantasy academic novel with an intriguing plot and cast of characters. The novel follows four students, all from different backgrounds, as they navigate their journey to the school Eshtem to become part of the Edrei, the Order that seeks to protect the realm. The alternating points of view worked really well in this novel, as each character reveals important details about the world and its politics, and their interactions with each other and the other students shapes them through their stories. I really enjoyed the class politics raised by the novel, as the school is attended by commoners and nobles of different Houses who are meant to put their backgrounds aside and become equals at Eshtem, but it is very quickly revealed that social hierarchies prevail among students and their teachers, who reward and punish students differently depending on their background.

Some of the characters, particularly the Princess Cristina, increasingly start to question the honour and integrity of the Edrei as secrets and injustices become apparent, but this plays in the background of other trials faced by the students during their scholarly journeys. This novel is the first of a series, so the intrigue is a slow burn and none of these secrets are fully revealed, let alone resolved, by the end of the novel. The ending isn't gripping enough to be a cliffhanger, but it does set up the potential for a longer exploration of this plot and the futures of the four students. Overall, the book works well for setting up the series in terms of worldbuilding, the characters, and the mystery that will be unravelled throughout its sequels. My hope is that the following novels would be slightly faster paced, but I still found this first instalment compelling enough.

While I enjoyed the plot, the main issue I had with this book is the themes of racism and sexism that aren't dealt with particularly well - it is never explained why, in this fictional world, women and the darker skinned Risharan people are assumed to be less capable. It doesn't add anything to the plot, as the divide between the nobles and commonfolk already features as the main point of social hierarchy, and is far from a nuanced exploration of the roots of racial and gender injustice.

The Ellyrian Code is an epic fantasy set within an elite university.
We follow four students on their quest to make it into the order to become magicians and dragon riders. They are tested on their morals just as much as their power. The book covers lots of political intrigue and morality, which was interesting.
The characters are all distinct and highly competitive - so I can understand the comparison to The Atlas Six. There is also a nice romance subplot that I really enjoyed and got me invested into the characters more.
In terms of dragons this is clearly just the beginning and we only get a teaser of them. I loved how elusive they are and cannot wait to find out more about them as these characters progress.
The timeline is the first year and this really worked - bring on second year! I loved the epic feel of this book and just know this is going to be one of those series that develops into an immense and immersive world.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

this book was hard to get through. I couldn't get interested in the plot or the characters. after finishing the book I can't even tell you what happened honestly.