Format: Hardcover, 432 pages
Release Date: January 7, 2025
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Historical
In an alternate London in 1923, one girl accidentally breaks the tenuous truce between dragons and humans, in this sweeping debut and epic retelling of Bletchley Park steeped in language, class, and forbidden romance. Perfect for teen fans of Fourth Wing and Babel.
London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies, and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class. She just has to free one dragon.
By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
With her parents and cousin arrested and her sister missing, Viv is brought to Bletchley Park as a codebreaker—if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.
As Viv begins to discover the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it.
Set in an alternative 1920s with a rigid class system and dragons on every corner, A Language of Dragons is a rich fantasy about language, loyalty, love, and redemption.
S.F. Williamson's A Language of Dragons is loosely inspired by the events of the codebreakers at Bletchley Park during World War II, with a fantasy twist, where instead of breaking the German code, a group of teenagers must learn the secret language of dragons. S. F. Williamson was inspired by her work as a literary translator. The story mixes dragons with politics and action with linguistic studies and academia. A Language of Dragons is a love letter to dialects, language, and how something is always lost in translation.
Early twentieth-century England is rendered unflinchingly, with reflections on the arbitrary distinctions between classes—as Viv goes from risking it all to avoid falling into Third Class to realizing that the whole system must be torn down. London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies, and protests erupt on the streets, but 17-year-old Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get a summer internship studying dragon languages, be smart, be sweet, and make sure her little sister never, ever has to risk growing up Third Class.
Except Viv is not a good person. She's selfish. She lets a boy intentionally feel her up to enhance her goals of not falling into Third Class, and she betrays her best friend Sophie to pass an examination that determines her class status and future as a dragonic translator. Now, that former best friend is missing. After her parents and her cousin Marquis are arrested for being suspected rebels and conspiring with the dragons. She is intent on keeping her little sister Ursa safe and freeing her family, no matter the cost. Viv intentionally releases a chained dragon named Chumana, which destroys the peace treaty between humans and dragons.
After meeting with the villainous Prime Minister Wyvernmire, she receives a lifeline in the form of a job offer; she seizes it. Living at Bletchley Park, she soon discovers that she is recruited as a codebreaker aiding in the war effort. If she succeeds, her family goes home; if she fails, they die, and her sister disappears. Initially, she believes that uncovering the hidden dragon language is achievable, but the more she learns, the more she realizes nothing is as it seems. Viv's attraction to Atlas, the rakish young priest in training from Third Class, sparks a forbidden and morally fraught romance, intertwined with the fantastical war, perfect for romantasy readers.
As the dragons rise and Viv is swept into a war she knows little about, she quickly learns that no one can be trusted—not even her own family who may have unlocked a key secret they've tried to reveal, only to be destroyed by powerful politicians. As Viv discovers the secrets of a hidden dragon language, she realizes that the fragile peace treaty that holds human and dragon societies together is corrupt, and the dangerous work Viv is doing could be the thread that unravels it.
*Conclusion* Here is the reason for my rating: Perhaps is was my misunderstanding, but I thought this was a standalone novel. However, the ending leaves questions, and no answers as to what happens next. It would benefit the author to write a sequel to this novel so that the answers left behind could be wrapped up. As I said, Viv is not a nice person until she opens her eyes. She's insufferable most of the time. 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 ending is also very emotional. I would also say this leans more towards the upper YA genre due to some gory and violent scenes in the book.
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