Intricate, thoughtful, and refreshingly different.
The Ellyrian Code isn’t your typical magic school story—it’s layered, political, and character-driven in a way that pulled me in slowly but deeply. The story follows four students at Eshtem University, where the stakes are higher than exams, and peacekeeping is taught alongside dragon-riding and diplomacy.

Each POV character brought something unique to the table, and I really appreciated how their choices were shaped by personal values, background, and the gray areas of morality. The world is complex, and while the magic system wasn’t always fully explained, I didn’t mind—the focus on ethics and power struggles kept me hooked.

It’s a slower-paced read, especially in the beginning, but it’s worth the investment if you like your fantasy thoughtful and a little more grounded. I’m curious to see where the series goes next!

Thank you to Angry Robot and NetGalley for the ARC!

This was a complex but really interesting read. I loved the slow reveal of the characters and how their personalities grew with the story, several belong a lot more interesting than they first seem. The world is complicated and the story takes focus but I enjoyed the read.

thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for this eArc!
I reeeaallly wanted to love this! I liked it, but not loved… it definitely felt like fourth wings vibes, but maybe too much. It was much more focused on politics which I enjoyed but I feel like the story overall fell a bit flat to me. I just wanted more in every aspect. Again, I liked it, didn’t love.

This book has all the ingredients I usually love: magic, dragons, an academic setting, and a morally grey fantasy world, but it didn’t quite come together for me the way I’d hoped.

The world-building is rich and ambitious, and the multiple POVs give the story depth, but I struggled to connect with the characters and felt a bit lost in the beginning. The pacing is definitely a slow burn, and while I can appreciate a more patient storytelling style, it left me feeling detached at times.

That said, I liked the ending and the potential the story sets up for future books. If you enjoy intricate world-building and character-driven fantasy that leans more intellectual than action-packed, this might be worth a try. Just be ready to work for it a little.

3 stars.

This is a story with a vast fantasy world while also being extremely character driven.

And while I love character driven stories, I tend to have problems with them when I can't burn for at least one of them. In this way, the book lived up to the Atlas Six comp for me personally.

However, this is purely subjective, so let's get into the rest of it:
The worldbuilding is immense - with regions, religions, politics and even dragons (though don't expect much dragons in book 1 - this might get more in the subsequent books hopefully).
Everything is extremely slow burn, building up characters, the world and the magic system.
And while I like working for my stories and not being spoon-fed everything, this time I felt lost and completely failed to get a good grip on the story. I'd have loved to be taken by the hand a bit more.

When I was about 50% in, I still felt lost, and so it was hard to stay interested.

I really liked the ending though, when I could finally get a feeling for where the story as a whole is headed. I appreciate everything it tries to do and the path it chooses.

3,5/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @angryrobots for the eARC!

#TheEllyrianCode #Netgalley #Bookstagram

I'm going to soft DNF this as I may come back to it however at this time it came across a bit overwhelming in regards to all the characters and plotlines. Definitely more fantasy than romance.

I’m obsessed! This book got me out of my reading slump!

The world building in this book is beautiful. The story building is even better! The way it’s told from multiple perspectives only to link up is exactly what I look for in a fantasy book!

This book was advertised as “Fourth Wing meets Atlas Six”, and I think that doesn’t even begin to cover how good this book is! If you enjoyed Brandon Sanderson but felt it too overwhelming, definitely give this book a try! This book is also definitely for the Throne of Glass lovers🤩

Thank you NetGalley and Angry Robot for granting me access to this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Angry Robot for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley all opinions are my own.

Four students Diar, Christina, Jenne and Jadon all have a place at the prestigious Eshtem university, where they are have a chance to fight for the chance to become Edrei, members of a dragon riding magic wielding order of peacekeepers. Their backgrounds matter not, as all are equal once they step through the doors, many will fail and few will succeed in their bid to become Edrei. However there is evidence of rot and corruption in the order and the students find themselves questioning everything.

What a trip this book was, Christina and Jadon soon became fast favourites, the Easter eggs at the beginnings of the chapters hinted that these two have a big part to play. My advice is to read the Easter eggs at the beginning of the chapters carefully as there is information contained that is crucial to the story. I love anything with magic and dragons so I was keen to read this book, I loved this book as it was really well written, characters were fleshed out really well and the world building was very rich. I did also like Diar and Jenne, Diar more so then Jenne as I was not sure what to make of her but Diar was steadfast and honourable. In the next book I hope we get to see all four main characters interacting more on the pages, might be a pipe dream but I hope for a Christina and Jadon romance as they would be so perfect together. Overall 5+ stars from me highly recommended.

Thank you Angry Robot and NetGalley for the ARC!

4.75/5

The Ellyrian Code, which I assume is the first book of The Treaty of Edriendor, is a well written and entertaining university-based political high fantasy thriller. Bluntly put, it is actually a novel of manners set in a scholarly and political environment.

However, before diving into my review of the novel, I want to address something rather important to me personally — I believe that the marketing of this book is poorly executed. In no way whatsoever I found this similar to Fourth Wing or The Atlas Six. I wanted to read this because of its politics, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was very well-executed in regards to world building, lore, and despite the fact that it is mentioned the ARC I received was not fully edited, I have found the prose perfectly nice and fluid, perfect for a thriller. Consequently, I would actually recommend this book to fans of The Aurelian Cycle by Rosaria Munda, as it is much more similar in setting to that series, to the Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (I would like to add that the writing style between the two authors is quite similar and therefore fans of the Grishaverse would enjoy this a lot), the works of James Islington (main characters with amnesia having a powerful narrative, and a similar political school setting), and lastly for fans of Brandon Sanderson’s works — the magic system and the religions in this book are very Sanderson-esque, and it awes me that these are not mentioned in the marketing at all. You have powerful high/epic fantasy series with which you can obviously find similarities, yet the chosen ones have (to me) almost nothing in common with The Ellyrian Code. I would strongly advise to encourage the promotion of this book to the side of fantasy fans I have mentioned.

That being said, this novel is very good for the first book of a series. The prose, as mentioned before, is quite fluid and suits the thriller style of the plot. The book is actually character driven for the most part, but one cannot complain about that since it is clearly the first book of a longer series. The entire point of a first book in the high/epic fantasy genre is to introduce the world; which we are more than thoroughly introduced to through our main characters.

The main points of view are four individuals, all from different backgrounds, which gives us as readers a very large scope of understanding of the university, the politics, the degree of corruption, and the power dynamics between students, teachers, and the outside environment.

First of all, we have Jadon, who comes from a royal background but has a clear mind, seeing the good, the bad, the truth, the complexities of life. His character was most insightful to me as a reader, because it was clearer in his chapters more than the others of the societal stratification depending on class, gender and power, because Jadon himself is very objective, and regards issues very detached. He has a great academic mind, and his polemic was extremely fun to read.

Contrasting the cynical Jadon, we have Christina, a foreign princess who is an inquisitive idealist. Sadly, her view of the life she envisioned for herself is shattered by the corruption surrounding her, and she’s challenged herself with discovering the truth, her curious mind breaking walls imposed by the very rules she idealised. She was my favourite point of view character, because one could sense the tenderness of her heart, and I genuinely felt bad for her realising she’s not living in the ideal world she’d envisioned for years.

Diar represents the middle class citizen perspective, coming from an in-between background; he has a specific ethnicity and religion which makes him stand out from others, and I enjoyed the dedication he has for his faith and origins, despite the challenges he faces in his new environment. He has an iron spine, and noble character, the outside world not managing to dirty his White core.

There is little we know of Jenne due to her circumstances, but if we were to believe her (I do not) she is from the lower class, the unknown commoners; she begins by being an anarchist, and throughout the story she goes so far into the left spectrum of politics that she ends up making a full circle and establishing herself in a far right mentality in which only her opinion is fact, if others do not agree with her vision, then they are wrong and not worthy of even being in the same environment as her. The fact that she is shrouded with mystery is what kept her interesting, otherwise her character wasn’t that enticing to me; she has a lot of potential moving forwards, and I am curious how she will develop.

I deducted a bit because I would’ve personally preferred a less abrupt ending, or perhaps another small snippet at the end as to leave more of a mysterious cliff hanger. Nonetheless, I am looking forward to the second volume, which I really hope will be published!

This is a mature and character driven fantasy with several POVs and an academic setting. The pacing unfolds organically, allowing us to get to know the four distinct characters as they eventually come together by the end of the book.

Story: Two nobles and two commoners have come to Eshtem to learn to be Edrei - the protectors of the realm. Some may even get the opportunity to bond with a dragon or practice magic. A high prince's heir, a princess, a woman with her memory missing, and a scholar. When one finds oddities in the strict Edrei code, she will bring the others slowly into her orbit as they each find anomalies in what should be the most honorable and sacrosanct code in the land.

First - the only similarities with Fourth Wing is a training school setting: there is no smut, no dragons except maybe 2 pages, no snarky banter, no action. It's not that kind of novel. What we have is four people with good moral compasses trying to survive in a dangerous world. Christina, the princess, is the first in her line in a hundred years to be accepted as a candidate for the school. Jarod, the high prince's son, wants only to survive long enough to outlast his father and bring true justice. Jenne has no memory before the school but has an inexplicable intense dislike of authority and the nobility. Diar, in love with Jenne, is a quiet scholarly type better suited to priesthood than the school of protectors.

The plot unfolds organically and is a slow burn. Each character is very distinct and you'll be able to tell their POVs immediately. I am not a fan of multiple POVs, especially in the beginning when it can be very confusing to remember the backstory of each beyond the personalities. But the mystery unfolded nicely and made a lot of sense. This first book does not end on a cliff hanger but culminates in a natural arc.

This wasn't a 5-star read for me for the simple reason that there were several instances of wording or situations that felt too much like racism by the author. I don't think it was intentional but it was very distracting and greatly took away from my enjoyment of the story. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Many thanks to Angry Robot and Netgalley for the opportunity to be an ARC reader for The Ellyrian Code.

My honest review is that this is a very unique book. Far more high fantasy than I am used to but not in a bad way.
The setting of the world was really different to anything I've read.

I liked having different characters points of view but did struggle to follow all of the characters in the beginning because I didn't know them. Perhaps it would have been good to set the world and magic system and then break down more about characters once the scene was set. it was just a lot to understand and take it from the start.

Saying that, once I passed that the story picked up nicely and kept me reading! I am excited to see where this could go.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I just couldn’t get into the story. I think there is a lot of world building and a lot of characters. I don’t think this is a bad book, it’s just not for me personally. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book, all opinions are my own.

DNF.

This is NOT a bad book. It's just not my vibe. I don't think the marketing is quite there for it, but again, well written.

If you like highly political, multiple perspectives high fantasy, you will devour this. Unfortunately, that's not really my vibe at this point.

"The Ellyrian Code: The Treaty of Edriendor" is a character-driven fantasy novel set in the world of Ellyria, where dragon-riding, magic-wielding peacekeepers known as the Edrei maintain order. The story follows a cast of complex characters, including High Prince Jadon, Jenne, Diar, and Princess Christina, as they navigate the intricate world of Eshtem University and confront corruption within the Edrei.

While the world-building and magical system are strong points, the multitude of characters and plotlines sometimes felt overwhelming. A reference guide or info pages at the front might have helped clarify the complex details.

Overall, "The Ellyrian Code" is an engaging, if not entirely captivating, read. With a rating of 3 stars, it's a solid start to the series, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations based on the summary and cover.

Thank you to B. F. Peterson, #NetGalley and #AngryRobot for allowing me to have an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 12%.
This has been a real struggle to get into and unclear why we need so many POVs. I felt very uncomfortable that the topic of guards raping ppl is just seen as too much work to punish them. Perhaps later the character that was dismissive of the situation has a redemption but I had a huge ick right there. It was jumping around so much I have no sense of the world building or powers. I was hoping for dragon school but didn't even make it to the school part.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me at 'Atlas Six' because I am.a sucker for morals and ethics and philosophy bundles in a fantasy book, however thats not quite what I got. The Ellyrian Code is a magical-school book following four characters on their own separate trials through the school to hopefully graduate and become a Drei Master. Cocky prince Jadon, eloquent princess Christina, stubborn Jenne and bashful Diar.

Firstly, I got a good gist of the world slowly through drips and drabs. The magic system is a strange one- not everyone is gifted and those that are are highly sought after regardless of power. The world seems to be split into three houses/clans which only drives tension inside the university as prior houses aren't to be recognised. There's a sense of general worldly unrest due to 'terrorists' in some parts of the world, who are leaders to others and anti-heroes to many. Couple this with how certain teachers got to where they are, does make you wonder who's really corrupt in all of this. The people, the power, or the students? The story kept going on and on, not pausing for breath and I enjoy fast paced books, but at times there was a lot of exposition via dialogue/a conversation which was very on the nose and I would have preferred to discover this another way like a puzzle.

I adored Jadon and Diar in this. Foils of each other and unlikely friendships, opposite families, opposite mentalities yet somehow they pull through for each other. Seeing Jadon have all this pressure on his back and dealing with his corrupt city (yes, fantasy politics!!! love them!!) while also unintentionally abusing his power as a prince was quite an intriguing journey to watch. Jenne I can't stand on my own (she's written great, I simply don't like her haha- very Atlas Six), however she provides wonderful insight into being a woman in a patriarchy, and how there's other way to win a fight than physically slamming the competition. Christina felt like a breath of fresh air to read as if Peterson took both traits of several FMC's in other books and put them into two different people instead of one almighty person. I liked reading about teachers' opinions on students and even their struggles with each other (Tamar intrigues me greatly. As if she knows more than she lets on but still wants what's best for all). The anecdotes at the start of the chapter I loved, but many of them gave away the entire chapter, and then the ending of the book (namely the prophecy one in Jadon's last chapter- this really spoilt the ending for me). Our characters are all very fun and playful with each other, and thy don't take the school/world/each other too seriously unlike other books.

My biggest problem with the book however isn't necessarily the writing, but rather marketing and the parallels it misses- there are absolutely ZERO stakes in this entire book. I could tell this early on from the demerit system (10 = expulsion)If you were to get 10 demerits from the riders quadrant, you'd probably have wound up dead because that how it goes. If you were to get the same demerits in The Atlas Six, you wouldn't have been asked to join anyway, and you'd also end up killing everyone in your cohort for not meeting the prophecy. If you get 10 demerits in The Ellyrian Code, absolutely nothing happens and you go home as soon as possible. I will say, I laughed when that was the case because I was totally drawn in and expecting som major trial or punishment (because Fourth Wing/Atlas Six) and there was nothing. I would compare this more to Naomi Noviks' 'The Scholomance' trilogy. There are also hardly any dragons in this, and they (two of them) make an appearance three times. There are also a lot of characters that don't do a whole lot, so it was confusing trying to remember names and surnames without having to a list to refer to or anything, and then we didnt see most of them for half of the book anyway? Some of the fights were confusing to read and see who's attacking who, however it was naturally fast paced so that could've been a thing on my part.

I'm unsure what any of the characters outside of Jadon actually want? What happens when you graduate? Who are your families? There's not a big force we need to be fighting before it destroys the world, just a mysteriously vague prophecy that doesn't mean anything currently. I don't understand why Christina goes against everything she has ever learnt and ever been told for one man, going so far as to jeopardise everything she's worked for in the span of one week- it is super unclear what she wants out of all of this.

Ultimately, 'Fourth Wing meets The Atlas Six' are absolutely massive shoes to fill, and as someone who's a fan of both (TA6 being my favourite series of all time) this meets neither and doesn't come close. Having these two are the forefront of marketing does this book a massive disservice because it's so different to the two in its own way, and thats a good thing! I was expecting massive, huge defying things and didn't get any of that so there was a constant nagging disappointment in the back of my mind since I wouldn't use either to compare The Ellyrian Code to, so I can't give it five stars as it didn't meet my expectations at all. I recommend this if you want a very young adult magic school book, as thats what this is and I love that. I am looking forward to the next book- 4 stars because I can tell this is building up to something big (and I like that), but good things start out slowly and I can sort of see where the story is going. It was an enjoyable read, but manage your expectations from a YA book (Fourth Wing and TA6 are both adult series).

Thanks AngryRobot for sending me a copy in the post, and giving me an eARC!

Thank you Angry Robots and NetGalley for the ARC !

Hugely character driven story, The Ellyrian Code will appeal to readers who love a strong world building and magical system. I really enjoyed the academic setting and the different types of magic. And also, dragons !!

But for a character heavy story, I didn't care for them at all. I found them lacking and one dimensional, sometime even cliché.
The pacing is very slow, which doesn't bother me usually, but it felt like dragging sometimes here.

I am very split about this book unfortunately !

I really liked the concept of this book, however, unfortunately it fell flat for me.

There was a plot hook set up right at the very beginning, which then seemed to have so little to do with the rest of this book that when it then did crop up in various places it felt difficult to be invested in learning more about it. I appreciate that there are likely other books planned in the series, but the pacing and set up of that particular part of the story felt off to me.

Given the multiple POVs through the book, I also found it really difficult to engage well with any of the narratives or characters, because so much was introduced so quickly that it was difficult to keep up. For me, the beginning third of the book felt too piecemeal and rushed.

As a result, I didn't feel as though I connected with any of the characters in a way that made me want to continue following their stories.

Having said that, I did persevere, because it was a fictional world that did have some potential. I felt as though the book did pick up at about 80% of the way through. For me, that was where I finally felt as though there was good pacing, relationships between characters that felt believable, and plot points that existed outside of being told things in lectures or by teachers.

Overall, I found this book very disappointing (especially because I was so excited by the concept).

I have not finished this book but I will give my feedback now as I don't think I will finish it in time.
This book has the potential to be a good read, unfortunately for me, life has gotten in the way and I'll have to revisit it at a later date, past the publishing date.
It's has all the elements I love in a fantasy book so I have high hopes.
When life settles down for me, I'll revisit and give a fuller review. But so far, I have liked it.
I thank netgalley and the author for this opportunity and apologies for the half review.

This one’s definitely a slow burn, but once you settle into the world, it really starts to click. It’s giving dark academia meets high fantasy — full of secrets, scheming, and political drama. There’s magic (and dragons!), but it’s more about the tension and mind games than action-packed battles.

The multiple POVs take a bit to get used to, but I actually loved how layered the story became once I was in. Not much romance, but if you’re in the mood for something smart and twisty with “fantasy but make it morally grey academia,” it’s worth the read!