Overall, this book had a lot of potential and there were elements that I liked. But large parts didn't click for me. I'll caveat this review with the fact that this book is YA and so I'm not the intended audience.

I felt some of the world building was too much, overly convoluted and tenuous - enforced class systems, segregation of humans and dragons, The Examination, betrayal, geopolitics, the rebellion, warring factions, dragon linguistics, aviation, zoology, corrupt police and government - too much was crowbarred into the narrative for me and it didn't all make sense or hang together.

Think Fourth Wing, Hunger Games, Babel and HMRC. Paring back these themes would have improved the book considerably - less is more.

The dragons and linguistic elements were great. Although far too similar to Babel in parts, which forced a direct comparison and Babel is leagues better.

The relationships and actions of the Bletchley misfit were also too far fetched - I can get on board with dragons communicating in echolocation, but not teenagers building fighter war planes unfortunately.

I also struggled with the FMC. Her dialogue was ham fisted and repetitive. Again, cramming too much in and leaving little room for subtly or nuance. Too much of her bad behaviour was also too easily forgiven. But this is probably due to the book being YA. That said, the tender moments between the FMC and her sister and cousin, were probably the best, as they were genuine and realistic.

The last 30% of the book was the best part - largely due to the battle scenes and increased dragon cast but also the many disperate plot devices were attempted to be reconciled. However, the book didn't really have an ending.

I'm unsure if it's confirmed, but there's clearly room for a sequel, which I would read to see how the story progresses and improves.

So apparently I also read dragon fantasy now - this is my second this month!
Other early reviewers have drawn parallels between this book and Fourth Wing, which somehow I haven't yet managed to read (don't worry, it's on the list!) as well as Hunger Games. It's touted as having dark acadaemia, a slow burn enemies to lovers romance, and well, dragons at Bletchley Park in the 1920s - and to be honest, that sums it up excellently!
The political backdrop of this book is a little heavier than my usual, despite it being YA. But I love how the turmoil of the wider world is reflected back on a smaller scale through the main character Viv, who is an (accidentally) criminal linguist tasked with codebreaking to help the Prime Minister win the war. A pretty big task for a young person!
I LOVE the fact that this book centres around languages, particularly ones that, even in the world of the book, are very much unknown - this is kind of my world as a Latin and Ancient Greek graduate!
The romance isn't particularly heavy compared to others I've recently read, but is enough for a YA novel.
The character development is excellent, you can really feel and understand the changing to a different world view, struggling to accept it. There's also quite a lot about morality hidden in there - it's a book with several depths!

4.5⭐️
I really enjoyed this, the author has managed to tap into the magical element that makes a book compulsive and compelling reading. If I’d had the opportunity, I’d have probably read it in less time as it was so difficult to put down.
Set in an alternate history, instead of being at war with the Germans, we are facing a different enemy. As always the government hasn’t always got the best interests of its citizens in mind, especially as some of those citizens are dragons. The division between classes and species is portrayed really well, and really makes you think about the lies we are fed. But yes, dragons!
Viv, our main character, is very much lit in shades of grey and is of dubious moral character. But she makes some upsetting discoveries and realises that although she can’t change her past mistakes, she can make better choices going forward.
I’m excited to find out what happens next.
I have high hopes for this series. It’s YA and definitely aimed at a younger audience than Fourth Wing, but that just means little or no spice, the storytelling is still good enough to be enjoyable to adults as well.

A Language of Dragons was a thought-provoking and terrific debut that is sure to take the YA community by storm.

This was just such a great read. I mean Bletchley Park with dragons? Sign me up!

I initially read the first chapter in a sampler I picked up at BookFest this summer and was hooked. There was so much rich and imaginative world-building in the first few pages, as well as betrayal and tension. From there it becomes an even wilder ride. I absolutely adore the world Williamson has crafted here. The focus on linguistics and the ethics of translation is fascinating. Williamson includes these wonderful scenes where Vivien unpicks language and weaves this tapestry of meaning. It is beautiful but it is also sinister. The story is a strong reminder that translation can be a tool of empowerment or erasure in the wrong hands. Within this, I can certainly see the parallels drawn to Babel over the similar subject matter, though delivered in a different format. It is timely and impactful. Through Vivien’s journey, Williamson is delivering a message loud and clear. She is forced to make some impossible decisions as she is pulled further and further into this political game of chess. There are so many layers to this plot with real world inferences and implications that ring through to today.

Vivien herself is incredibly smart and determined, placing her loved ones above everything else. Over the course of the story, she begins to question her faith in what she has been taught and that prioritisation from an ethical perspective. Events around her becomes more dubious and certain dynamics change, planting seeds in her mindset that may yet bear fruit. That kind of character development is interesting to watch unfold. There is a danger in blind faith and naivety that Williamson is spotlighting here. It can easily allow you to convince yourself that you are a neutral cog in a machine, an innocent bystander. This conviction may have shifted by the final page. Without spoilers, I am very much looking forward to where Williamson moves the story next.

A Language of Dragons is a layered and wonderfully imagined story that combines politics, power and reconsidering your position in the world.

4 stars

As someone who enjoyed Babel quite a lot, learning that A Language of Dragons has been compared to it made me very eager to pick it up. And from the get go, it was quite easy to see the Babel comparisons. I think the book's done its own version of what Babel did, just on a scale for young adults (though this could easily be read as an adult fantasy). The academic texts included within the pages feel very real, like they would be textbooks you could find in a library.

I really enjoyed the world building for this one. Intertwined with a fictionalized 1920s setting, but with dragons involved, the story is centered in Britannia who is on the cusp of total war. By grounding it in that setting and including the class system, the book delivers one of what I think is the best world building/creation in a historical fantasy, at least the ones that I have read. The writing is also pretty good - it is sharp, succinct and clearly conveys the message that this story is trying to tell.

Unfortunately, the only reason that I am not giving this a full five stars is because of the main characters Viv. While I did end up liking her towards the end, for most of the book, her actions were naive and selfish (but there were reasons to why that is). I wold say for about 70% of the book, Viv was deadset in her beliefs refusing to agree that things could be much different. And yeah, she has the motivation to be like that, but it can be a tad bit frustrating to see her not understand this for a huge chunk of the book.

I will not lie, overall, I really really enjoyed this book. I think it is quite unique and really stands up as a YA book, even when compared to the books it has been compared too. And the way it ended too...no spoilers, but it was wild. Like really wild. But the way things ended leaves room for more, so I hoping there's a sequel too.

Wow! What a book! This novel had me at the blurb.. and was all I hoped it would be.

Set in London in 1923, protagonist Viv is an exemplary scholar and polyglot specialising in dragon languages, hoping for a prestigious internship. Her world flips when her parents are arrested and she unintentionally sets in motion a series of events which will change the political landscape.

Bletchley Park is the location for much of the book where Viv is stationed upon taking a role in translation, and where we meet the main cast of characters. This clever play on the role that Bletchley Park took in UK history is brilliant.

The setting, story and characters are great, but the language in this book is super clever throughout. I love the wordplay, the characters names, the use of translation and dialect. There’s too many nice touches to list but the whoop I gave when I saw that the Welsh dragon has a Welsh name, and is read, gained me a few amused looks on the train!

This truly is a superb book, I know it will be widely praised and will very likely be a bestseller- I’ll be preordering a special edition so I can read again. Many thanks Netgalley, HarperCollins and S.F. Williamson for allowing me to read and review this advance copy. I’m dreaming in Draconic again.

What an amazing adventure! I was fascinated by the idea of being a polyglot and using this knowledge to decipher other languages. From the very beginning, I was gripped by the word choices and detailed description. I was invested in the characters - both human and animal- and whether they would be able to rise to the challenges posed to them. I do hope there will be a book 2.

I want to start by saying I really enjoyed this book, but there are some details that need some adjustments to turn A Language of Dragons into what we all hoped it would be.

The premise is really good, I loved the setting, the politics, the dystopian aspects, the class system, the languages and the echolocation decoding; it's such an interesting concept and a breath of fresh air when it comes to dragons in fantasy books. It was a quick read for me and fast-paced for the most part, especially after the early episodes, when the plot finally starts developing. The twists and turns are quite predictable, and the book did not have an ending, but was rather setting up for a sequel.

However, I wish the side characters were a little more fleshed out. The main character, Viv, gets all the attention and she's insufferable most of the times. It's really hard to root for a self-centered, ignorant, absolutely blind character; literally most characters all but yell at her about the pain and suffering that goes on in the world, and she couldn't care less about anyone else but herself and her family. The romance is there, but it didn't really make me feel anything. It's definitely not a slow burn, and I didn't feel the chemistry.

I wish there was more interaction with dragons, we only get some of that towards the end. Since I mentioned the dragons, I would also like to add that this book is nothing like Fourth Wing except that it has dragons. It actually reminds me more of Hunger Games/Divergent with its government, politics, and rebel movement, but with dragons. I did not read Babel, but there is dragon language studying and decoding, which is probably the best part of the book.

Overall, I think this is a very solid YA debut that has dragons but is more academic focused.

I really loved this book! It was fast-paced, had a lot of surprising turns and I really loved many of the characters. I will happily sell it here in Germany and I hope we will be getting a german translation as well.

Babel meets Fourth Wing.

In an alternate 1923 London, there are protests against the Peace Agreement that enforces harmony between dragons and humans and setting up a Class system for humans.
Vivien Featherswallow is focused on gaining an internship studying dragon languages, but after her parents are arrested for aiding the rebellion, Viv sets a dragon free and starts a civil war with the government and the Dragon Queen on one side, and the rebels on the other.

To save her family, Viv agrees to work as a top secret code breaker for the government alongside other criminal misfits - a chance at a new life.
Vivian learns that the world she’s grown up in isn’t as idyllic, fair, and meritocratic that her Second Class bubble had led her believe.

I loved how the author wrote about language. How it connects people, reveals the world, portrays emotion. This is where the VERY SIMILAR connections to Babel emerges.

<b>Every act of translation requires sacrifice–it is this harsh truth that made me fall in love. There exists no direct correlation between the words of one language and another, and no translation can be entirely faithful to its original. So, while a person can more or less bridge the gap between languages using words, there is always some deeper meaning left unsaid, a secret invisible to those who only have one language with which to navigate the world. A translator, on the other hand, is a creature that flies with several pairs of wings.
</b>
Reading this book in the current political climate was crazy. How the control of media, propaganda, education, separation, knowledge and brainwashing work to keep a population docile.

<b>People shouldn’t fear their prime ministers. Prime ministers should fear their people.
</b>
Vivian is a hard character to root for or even like at times. She constantly makes selfish decisions and puts herself and her family first regardless of the consequences for others or the majority. She is a coward and would rather continue in her destructive ways than change them.

This book really forces you to question how can we choose a good life for ourselves and not for everyone else? <b>Peace isn’t peace if it’s only given to some.</b>

This is strong in some areas, but is definitely very YA with extreme binary good vs evil. The romance was also a weak point with me (he’s a priest in training) and whilst I liked how the depictions of faith was handled, I didn’t like how the love interest was used a mouth piece and the perfect example of someone doing good.

The ending also ramped up the action and I did find it predictable with a hint towards the fallout of book two.

Overall, I think this is a great book for Young Adults looking for more politically nuanced book that has dragons but is more academic focused. I REPEAT - academia rather than dragon riding.
A strong debut.

Thank you to HarperCollins for providing the arc in exchange for a review.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I picked it up because I wanted some fantastic worldbuilding and memorable characters and after hearing that it was compared to Babel, I knew I wanted to pick it up asap.

We follow Viv, a girl who lives in London where your position in society is decided by being first, second or third class. After her parents are arrested and her sister taken away after being accused of being rebels, she is recruited by the government to attend a special programme for misfits. Releasing a dragon from her prison, she is tasked with others to help translate for dragons.

I found this book to have a great start, packed with action and intensity. However, around 30% in, I got a little bored and had to put it down. I was initially thinking about dnfing it, but something made me want to pick it up again. So about 2 weeks later I resumed and started enjoying it much more.

The characters weren’t memorable and I found the pacing to be slow, but the translations and dark academia vibes is definitely present. I immensely enjoyed all the scenes with dragons and linguistics, but I just wish there was more of it.

The writing was great, and the romance subplot was in the background but I definitely felt the chemistry through the pages by the end of it.

Overall, an enjoyable read! I would recommend if you enjoyed the linguistics and intricacies of Babel!

I don't really know what to make of this book. I think I'm hoping that writing this will clarify my thoughts.

The concept of this book is great, after all, who doesn't want Bletchley Park, codebreakers and dragons?! I love the ideas behind the echolocation, it's study and the meaning behind it, and how it could be used and abused - I thought that was inspired. But, that is where I run out of positives for this book.

The biggest shortcoming of this book for me is Viv. How anyone can be so blind, naive and spineless is just beyond me. Believing the lies at the beginning is understandable. After all, her entire world had just been turned upside down right in front of her. But, I am supposed to believe that Viv, a supposedly incredibly intelligent woman, is going to just take someone at their word, even when every shred of evidence suggests the opposite?

The ending of this book was where things started to pick up for me, with the battle being a high point, but I was dismayed to find that this 450+ page novel did not have an ending, but was rather setting up for a sequel. I can't say I'll be picking it up, unless someone assures me that she gets what is coming. Sophie's instant forgiveness for her life being destroyed was just one step too far for me.

Stellar concept, but the execution left a lot to be desired.

I found this fantasy quite difficult to get into. For me as a reader, it would have been better to learn about the early episodes in retrospect, as it were, for example, as flashbacks in the main protagonist’s mind during her linguistic adventures with dragons as she tries to help her family. However, once it got going, the plot was good, touching on political and social aspects which are relevant today, and the major characters are well drawn. . The more I read, the more difficult it was to put the book down. It is a promising start to a new series.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins and author S. F. Williamson for this eARC

A historical fantasy with dragons, dark academia and a rebellion? Sign me up!

A Language of Dragons is an amazing debut and great start to the series.

The setting, descriptions and world building were all great. The whole linguistic concept was such a unique idea and I loved it.
Our FMC Viv was infuriatingly selfish & naive and illustrated the effects of propaganda and indoctrination so wonderfully. I loved her journey of learning and breaking free.
There was a point around the middle of the book where it did drag a little for me, when it felt like we were kinda repeating the same stuff over and over, but the ending more than made up for that.

And I mean how could I not like a book with a giant pink dragon?!

Exciting fantasy story for older teenagers and up. The story is totally fictional, but has some undercurrent of the history of Bletchley Park, world war and political manoeuvring. Impetuous and self-centred, Vivian finds herself forced into solving how dragons communicate to protect her family. At Bletchley park she finds there is more going on than she knew. Suddenly danger is all around her. Which makes for a thrilling story. I found the first couple of chapters didn’t hint at the pace, and depth of story to come. Thank you to Harper Collins Uk, Children’s and Netgalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

“Tell me, Atlas… if God turned the dragons into swallows to make them light and carefree, do you think He’ll do something similar for us?”
What a gorgeous little book! Vivian is a fun character. A little immature, but as is expected for a YA novel, and she shows great character development throughout the book. So lovely and quick paced with some really decent twists and turns. I loved it!! ❤️

A Language of Dragons is a wonderful YA exploration of privilege, code breaking and rebellion. First off the academic historic setting was vivid and rich, I especially loved how dragons 🐉 are portrayed. I would love to have seen more about the times when people and dragons lived together in harmony, hopefully this is to come. The social injustices and rebellion are intriguing and how dragons are treated within this pulled on my heart strings.
I enjoyed the linguistic code breaking and this brought the academic vibes to the forefront.
In terms of characters, the book delivers on flawed humans and different relationship dynamics. For a YA I felt they were well fleshed out. The dragons also felt full of personality and I loved their secrets.
Overall a great dragon story that satisfied my soul.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

I had such a good time reading this book. It’s YA Fourth Wing meets The Imitation Game meet The Hunger Games. There’s dragons, code breaking and a lot of political intrigue and a rebellion!
The FMC is morally gray and will do anything for her family to keep them safe, even if that means f-ing up everyone else around her.
I liked (most of) the side characters, and felt like it was a good diverse group of Individuals.
(And also there’s a pink dragon, need I say more?).

The book revolves around language and translations a lot, especially in the middle part where it’s the main focus. If you think this is a boring subject, you might find parts of the book boring. I personally really liked this.

The ending made me cry, I’m both heartbroken and excited, and I can’t wait to see where this story goes from here.

This book was 5🌟
Now that’s over let me tell you why…I’m not normally a fan of fantasy but this story line had me hooked from the beginning.
The main part of the story takes place at Bletchley Park, 1923. A world full of corruption, rebels and dragons. Vivian (female MC) wants to follow the rules and take care of her sister. One night this changes in the blink of an eye, her parents are arrested and her sister placed with another family. A lifeline is thrown to Vivian by the prime minister to work as a code breaker - if she accepts and succeeds her family will be freed.
The more she learns, the more she begins to understand how corrupt the government really is. She has to make some tough choices and choose which side she is fighting for.
A sort of dark academia setting, slow burn romance, twists, turns and betrayals. I couldn’t put it down! I can’t wait to follow this author and see what else she writes.

I was immediatley grabbed by the premise of this one- languages *and* dragons! Two of my favourite things! I also just love books that throw fantasy elements into the real world so this premise really worked for me.
And yeah, I loved the dragons! They had personalities and society (though I wish we'd explored it a little more!) and were just super fun to read about. I would have liked a little more exploration of just what the world is like with dragons in it, but that's just personal taste really (I'm a worldbuilding lover at heart) and the book is already long enough so it could've just bogged it down. Williamson does do a really good job at setting up the world and its politics without anything feeling 'infodump-y' or like reading a history textbook!
In terms of the languages, what we got was super interesting! Linguistics is a bit of an interest of mine and I always love reading explorations of it in fantasy settings. The concept of the 'code' Viv is working to crack is really, really cool and unique. My one gripe would be that, despite being told that Viv speaks all of these languages, we don't actually hear a lot about them. I would've loved to see a bit more about how they're structured and some of the words and translations and how they're similar/different to English. I've seen this compared to Babel a lot, and I sort of wanted a similar depth in the exploration of language itself. There was some and I enjoyed that, but it felt a bit surface level.
The characters were a very key aspect of the story and I really loved Marquis, Sophie, Chumana and all of the side characters: each felt different and unique with their own set of motivations. I did, however, struggle a little bit with our protagonist, Viv. She was deliberately written to be a very flawed character and that is something very refreshing for a ya book. Her development throughout the book was very satisfying. But for the majority of the book, she was so unlikeable that it was really hard to get invested in the story. I do often like 'unlikeable' characters as they have more depth than most protagonists, but Viv was honestly just pretty frustrating to read about for most of the book. She was written to be so ignorant and so blind to the obvious that it was almost unrealistic at times and a little painful to read.
Despite this, I did enjoy the plot. It was fast-paced and the writing style was very easy to follow, meaning I only finished this in a couple of days. Everything about the dragons, human relationships with dragons and in Bletchley was super interesting and fun. I wasn't particularly convinced by some of the plot relating to the love interest- I honestly think the whole 'priest in training' subplot could have been cut and it would have had no impact on the story, though I did like how the relationship grew as a whole.
A final thing I noticed- though it didn't actually affect the story very much- is the repeated line "People shouldn't be afraid of their prime ministers, prime ministers should be afraid of their people". It's presented as a big, revolutionary thing but it's just nearly line-for-line the famous quote from V for Vendetta ("People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people"). I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but it's just something I noticed that I found interesting.
Overall, a fun concept and engaging story overall. I loved the dragons and the languages but wish both had been explored in a bit more depth. I also think the characterisation could have been handled a bit better. But, if you ignore this (and honestly some of my gripes are just because I'm typically an epic fantasy reader), then you're left with a really fun mash-up of dystopia, fantasy and alternate history with plenty of twists and turns. I'd reccommend this to anyone looking for a unique dragon story that's like a mix between The Secret Breakers and Temeraire (I think calling this "Babel meets Fourth Wing" is a bit of a mislabel).