This book has Fourth Wing vibes but is based more on the university, politics, and there’s less romance, more academia.

The book also centres on 4 characters POVs so it has depth and range, you’re able to get an underlying tone that’ there’s something going on that will be discovered.

The romance is definitely not the focus so if you’re looking for a romantasy you’re in the wrong place.

The Ellyrian Code is a high fantasy novel with a touch of dark academia. I began the book with high hopes, particularly as it was marketed as a fusion of Fourth Wing and The Atlas Six—two books I admire. Unfortunately, my reading experience didn’t quite live up to the promise. The storytelling felt clunky and overly verbose, which detracted from the flow. The pacing was uneven, making it hard to stay engaged, and at times I found myself genuinely confused by the sheer volume of ideas the author was attempting to juggle. It seemed as though they were trying to accomplish too much at once, leaving the world-building feeling unfocused and somewhat fragmented.

Nonetheless, there were elements of the story that held my attention. The idea of a class system and royal hierarchy provided an intriguing backdrop, and the inclusion of multiple main characters added some depth and variety to the narrative. These aspects showed promise, but I found the overall execution lacked cohesion, and I struggled to connect with the story as much as I’d have liked. There is, however, a vein of political intrigue running through the plot, which might resonate with readers who enjoy complex social dynamics and power plays.

While the concept of The Ellyrian Code had all the makings of a compelling fantasy, it fell short of delivering the immersive and gripping experience I was hoping for. That said, the book may still appeal to those looking for ambitious fantasy with multifaceted themes. It’s worth exploring if you’re intrigued by the blend of high fantasy and political drama, even if the execution isn’t entirely seamless.

Tropes:
Dark academia
Dragons
Politics
Multiple POV


I wouldn’t categorize this as romantasy but more high fantasy with a subplot of romance. I enjoyed getting everyone’s POV however you get more of certain characters than others. All the POVs start connecting by the end

I personally did not vibe with the book and it took me a long time to get through.

Thank you, Angry Robot Books and Netgalley, for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted this one to work for me. I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover and was even more excited when I saw that the description was claiming "Fourth Wing meets Atlas Six". But as I started reading, it was pretty clear that while the idea is there, the execution just wasn't happening.

I think the author was trying to do too many things at once. There were four main characters, but some had a lot more page time than others. And the characters didnt really interact with eachother all that much? Christina and Jadon were kind of on their own islands with Diar as the link between everyone. But because of that, there were four different friend groups and three different political factions to follow and learn about. I think this all got in the way of following the plot, which felt pretty aimless for most of the story. I think there was just far too much happening for either the plot or characters to be fully developed. It felt messy and underdeveloped. Stylistically, the writing felt repetitive at times and probably could have used another round of edits.

Thank you, Angry Robot Books and Netgalley, for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

B.F. Peterson's "The Ellyrian Code" is set in Eshtem University, a place where Ellyrian students are prepared to become part of the elite Edrei. Promised with epic fantasy and dragons, we're offered only a little. We follow four students (Jadon, Jenne, Diar and Christina) who all carry their own luggage to the university and have to undergo all kinds of challenging competitions.

Amidst their survival through these classes, there's also some political drama going on. This is also the story's strongest point.

On other aspects, there's much room for improvement:
- A lot is going on, which is fine if you explain it more in-depth. But now, all character arcs, world-building, politics, storylines, etc., felt too overwhelming. This also made it quite difficult for me to understand the different classes and the overall magic system of the world.
- I wish that we saw more of the dragons, dragon-riding, or the relation between the Ellyrians and the dragons. Now, I kinda missed that dynamic.
- The pacing throughout the story was rather off sometimes. Sometimes tit felt action-packed and other times real slow on the wrong moments. I would've understood it better if there were more conversations, rather than descriptive events.
- I missed the feeling of reading an 'epic-fantasy'. The overall setting was rather moody and grimly conveyed, creating a darker image of the epic fantasy. Now, if you like the more dark side of fantasy, and this is a great plus, but I thought it would be more light and magical.

Besides all the fuss and confusion, some other things were really strong in this book:
- Originality! Though it blends classic elements such a different houses and their political drama, and where the kids have to clean up their mess, the book still manages to make it original.
- The characters were well-written and had thought-out backgrounds. Also, how they operated individually and collectively was well crafted.
- As I mentioned, the political intrigue is definitely its strongest point. With spectacle battles, competitions, and thrilling adventures, the book will give you an adrenaline kick!

All together, the story didn't entirely meet my expectations, but I do see some potential for further writing. With a few changes in the technicalities, the story itself can become magically fantastical.

Okay, is it a little early to be posting this review? Maybe. Am I going to do it anyway? Yes, with the intention that it encourages you to add this book to your TBR 👏🏻 so here is my spoiler-free review of The Ellyrian Code by B.F. Peterson

Genre:
Epic High Fantasy with a dash of Dark Academia

Fav Quote:
Redacted for now 😉 will update upon publication

What I Loved:
* What hooked me initially was the comparison to Fourth Wing AND The Atlas Six, two books that I sincerely enjoyed/devoured. How could I not read something that was the love child of my favourite genres?? However, what kept me going was the Game of Thrones vibes, which was a pleasant surprise.
* In essence: elevated Fourth Wing, accessible Game of Thrones, smattering of dark academia with compelling POVs
* The characters!!! I think I’m in love with Jadon 🤭 and Christina, the princess you are 🙌🏻 Each of the main characters were unique and compelling in their own right. I’m truly excited to see how their stories coalesce.
* Keep in mind, this is only book one. Which I am actually thrilled about because we’re in it for the long haul! With how much I enjoyed the story and character development in this one, I know the later books in the series are going to deliver. Plus I’ve been itching for a new high fantasy series with an epic scope and I think this might just fill that slot.
* This stopped my reading slump in its tracks and I feel like that speaks for itself.

For Fans of:
* George RR Martin
* VE Schwab
* Samantha Shannon

Thank you so much to Angry Robot Books and Netgalley for this eARC! The Ellyrian Code releases on 24 June 2025.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

DNF @ 9%.

I should now better than to let the publisher recommendations influence me to read a book. This book starts very slow and I'm not interested enough in the characters to keep going. There was also a very unnecessary rape story at the beginning that left a bad taste in my mouth. You can't compare this book to one with strong female characters and then throw that in there and treat it so inconsequentialy. I won't be picking this back up.

Rated 2 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

3.5 stars

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

I was really excited to read this ARC. The premise is super interesting but I was soooooo confused the entire time. I really wish there was more background with the different Houses and the magic system. I kept on thinking I missed something, but then after I reread some parts I realized that nothing was actually explained? I’m really hoping that either the finished published copy had a glossary of some sort or there’s A LOT more explained in book two.

The characters were kind of difficult to really connect to, but I enjoyed Christine’s POV the most. I felt like her character was the most flushed out, but by the end you see why the other POVs were important.

I really enjoyed the school setting, and the high fantasy elements the story had. There was enough adventure, political intrigue, and mystery to keep me reading. Upon release, I would like to reread to see if things click a little more. I am looking forward to the rest of the series to see how things conclude.

I really wanted to like this the concept sounded really amazing but the story plot and writing was lacking I had to push through

I really enjoyed the story in this book. It was a bit confusing at times only because some of the sentence structure was a bit muddled. I couldn’t help but feel that I was missing something at the beginning as each character was introduced. The story of JENNE was especially missing considering her memory loss. I would have liked to have explored that a bit more so that I could get attached to that character. The world building in this is especially well done. And it’s totality I really did enjoy this book and I will continue the series..

This has such good potential for a great fantasy series!
There are a lot of academic and political vibes with a splash of romance.
It kind of reminds me of Fourth Wing but better and less romance-heavy.
I will say it's a bit hard for me to care about the characters. I feel like I just couldn't get invested in them and just didn't know anything about them. It was also pretty slow-paced at the beginning with the world-building, but after you get past that, it becomes easy to be immersed in.
I will definitely be following this series because i am curious where the plot is going to go and what is going to happen.


I want to thank Angry Robot Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There were too many continuity and issues to have a smooth reading experience for this one. Unnecessarily wordy at times littered with plot holes.

I want to thank Angry Robot Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Now this a new Fantasy world to dive into. As advertised, the story does stick to the Eshtem University and the lives of first-year students for the first book, but the snippets of information the reader gleans from the four students' perspectives make big hints of something much larger at play. Peterson paints a beautifully complex world for us with geopolitical issues, social classes and a system of magic the next instalment is sure to dive deeper into. I do love interesting ideas for Fantasy Universities and the book sure as hell delivered those.

I enjoyed the characters, though this is where the book gets a "demerit" from me, as none of them are really characters to write home about. You have the naive lovesick boy who is into the "angry girl" whose memory has been wiped - and their whole story screams "can't just give the readers the romance early". I'm not a romance girly myself, but I dislike the whole they're-suddenly-just-kinda-in-love and the issues that come with that without any real romantic foundation in my opinion. I found the other two POV characters much more interesting to read in general: the arrogant prince and the smart girl who is trying to solve a mystery bigger than herself. Part of me thinks the book would have benefitted from less POV characters, but as can be seen by my rating it was still a very rewarding experience of reading!

Overall I do think this is one of the better Fantasy University-type books and I see much potential for future instalments!

I really enjoyed this! I thought it was reminiscent of what I loved about the atlas six and fourth wing while still feeling fresh and intellectual!

If you love fantasy books that take place at universities, here ya go!

Dragons, magic, political drama, royalty, religious turmoil, rebels, weekly competitions, invading wizards, mysteries and conspiracies, and a magical university!

I thought this was decent, I just didn't find myself getting invested in the characters all that much. Maybe because it read slightly on the denser side (but not that much, so I don't know). It also wasn't super fast-paced, so that could be why I couldn't fully connect. I love action-packed fantasies, I want to be on the edge of my seat.

There was also just a lot going on. But I could also see that being useful for expanding the worldbuilding in future books in this series, so I that was definitely intentional.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

An epic fantasy with deeply intricate and intense worldbuilding. So much history to take in and I was so immersed. The story is unique and the characters are well written and fleshed out, the mystery keeps you engaged. But where were the dragons? We saw them once?!

Fourth Wing, but more academic, political, and less romance. However, this seems better plotted with great potential.

Eshtem University is where initiates are trained to join the Order of the Edrei, to become guardians of magic and dragons, keepers of peace, and servants of justice.

We follow a range of firsts year students who are trying to graduate amidst gruelling challenges and competitions to eliminate the weak.
We also have rebels, worries of invading wizards with no elves to help, and a haunch that turns into a mystery and conspiracy theory which could get those looking into it expelled or killed.

<b>“Just the idea that people respect the law because they actually weighed their alternatives,” said Jadon, not even bothering to sit up properly. “Always seemed to me such respect was more a culturally indoctrinated reflex.” 
</b>
There is a strict class structure where people are sworn to different royal Houses and House honour is a huge deciding factor in socialising and favouritism in the school - despite the ideal that everyone should be held equal in learning.

This wasn’t necessarily fast-paced, but I was riveted to all of the different characters and their own arcs.

This book has a lot in it which can teeter on overwhelming but manages to pull it off.

I do wish there were more deception and a better explanations of the magic system and the abilities. However, I am sure this will be built on in future instalments.

Be warned, this goes for the dragons too - we don’t get much of them as they are reserved for graduates in only certain circumstances.

To me, this means there is a lot of promise and so much more to come.

Arc gifted by Angry Robot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book and am DNFing this book at 34%.
If you are not a fan of info dumps then avoid this book. In the nicest most diplomatic way I can put it this book was poorly written and not compelling at all. I’m very disappointed to DNF this book as I have been looking forward to this book for quite a while but I cannot make myself read anymore.

Thank you to Angry Robot Books and Netgalley for my very first ARC!! I'd give this book 3.75 stars.

The Ellyrian Code is a new fantasy series, and when I say fantasy, I mean FANTASY. This book is perfect for fans of intense and intricate worldbuilding. If you like Samantha Shannon's worldbuilding, this is much the same. Fleshed out religions, regions, languages, and cultures. Way too much history to keep up with. I hope the print versions have maps, because I feel like the book would've benefitted from one. The countries/territories were mentioned a lot, but I felt disoriented a bit while reading the book.

The good: The story is unique. I've never read anything like this before, and I appreciate the breath of fresh air. I felt like the characters, (Jadon, Christina, Jenne, and Diar) were well written, different from each other, and didn't fit into a stereotypical box. Christina was a noble but not snotty, Jadon was a noble, snotty (sometimes), and yet intelligent and caring, Diar was frustrating, lawful good, but also loveable, Jenne was hard-headed, determined, smart. (I'm over-simplfying them, I promise.)

I liked the idea of Edrei being general peacekeepers for the land. One would think of police officers, but they're more like advisers to the rulers of the land. The author could've easily gone for a Divergent-Dauntless-Hunger Games-Peacekeeper copycat but this manages to be completely different. I got some Fourth Wing Basigiath vibes.

I appreciate the classism that was rampant in this book. Eshtem is supposed to be class-less, but I think that if the commoners and nobles just dropped their class divides and were happy best friends, it would be super unrealistic. The nobles and commoners tension was very accurate.

The not-so-good: I won't say bad, because nothing in this book was truly BAD. The pacing was a bit off. The book starts off extremely slow to build up the characters, world, etc. But it was a bit of a slog to get through and I almost DNF'd because I was so stuck in trying to understand everything. I think the author would benefit from infusing the worldbuilding throughout the action and conversation rather than exposition or a lot of little events. The last half was more interesting as Christina broke the mystery open. However, for a book with a synopsis about dragons...where were the dragons? We only saw them once!

I also don't understand the magic system and I think that the author meant for it to be that way as the main characters also don't understand the magic system. But for the record, I am lost on what Dreamers, Imagers, Intuiters, etc. are. I will say that the magic doesn't play a HUGE part in this book, so it's not critical.

Also, I don't feel like Eshtem had any true learning or structure to it. It's supposed to be a university with a curfew, but for being a peacekeeper school, none of the students learned any kind of discipline or military skills. If you were good at swordplay (Jadon) you didn't learn anything new. If you were bad at swordplay (Christina) you didn't learn any basic skills. All of the students are just basically at Bible college (required uniform and curfew).

I would absolutely read book 2!

This story follows multiple students who are initiates at Eshtem university, who are one day destined to become Edrei or peace Knights if they can make the cut.

Our young students all long to become Edrei, as they are the keepers of dragons, and who doesn’t love a dragon.

As or young students navigate the day to day life at Eshtem they start to uncover secrets. This leaves them wondering what is the truth and how far will they go to find out?

This book was rich in world building and effortlessly pulled you in. The characters are sharp, witty and go through a huge amount of growth.

Thanks to Angryrobot Publishing and B.F. Peterson for my early copy. Looking forward to where the world and characters go next.

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7470645997