Linguistics? Dark Academia? Dragons? Yes please! These are without a doubt some of my favourite topics, so I could hardly contain my excitement when I discovered A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson in my Fairyloot Young Adult Fantasy book box!

Attention:  I will be reviewing all books of the series in this post (gradually), but everything apart from the first book will be hidden so that you will not see any spoilers for the rest of the series (unless you want to, of course).

A Language of Dragons

A Language of Dragons is the tale of Vivian Featherwswallow, a young woman who dreams of becoming a dragon translator. In a world governed by a strict class-system and clear rules separating humans from dragons, Viv has become used to obeying all the rules. But when her parents get arrested, she finds herself in the centre of a civil war – which she might have accidentally caused. Desperate to reunite her family, Viv accepts a mysterious job offer at Bletchley Park.

A fantasy take on our history

I love, love, LOVE the concept of this book. A fantasy take on Bletchley Park (the centre of the allied code-breaking during WWII) is such a fascinating idea. Furthermore, being a linguist myself, I adored the central position of language in this story. How often is the main heroine a translator? Right, not very often at all! I also really appreciated the document excerpts that were integrated into the story. This focus on languages, combined with my own passionate interest in (super)natural history, ensured that I was spellbound from start to finish.

I’m sometimes a bit hesitant when it comes to Dark Academia as these novels tend to be a bit slow. However, that was not at all the case with this book. The first line in my reading journal reads: “Well, that escalated rather quickly”. You wouldn’t guess this was a debut novel at all.

I also loved the way in which Vivian is portrayed. She could easily have been made into another “better than thou” heroine. However, this is not the case with Vivian. She’s flawed and makes frequent mistakes and dubious decisions. All of this seems very realistic behaviour for an indoctrinated teenager who is forced into a horrible situation and who starts to realise that things aren’t as clear cut as she’s always been made to believe. I cannot express enough how much I loved reading her moral conundrums.

Last but certainly not least, I would like to applaud the author for her attention to detail. For example, Romania is spelled as “Rumania” as it would have been during WWII as well.

Without a doubt, a very well-deserved four out of five gemstones:

Recap book 1

In the following section, you’ll find a recap that you can use to prepare for the next book. Of course, this is by definition full of spoilers, so it is hidden behind a spoiler tag. Enter at your own risk!

Want a recap before starting the next part? (click here, contains spoilers)

World: Alternative version of early 20th century Britain. A peace treaty between humans and dragons ensures safety of both species. Humans are split into three different classes (1 to 3), resulting in different opportunities and circumstances for those in lower classes. Rebels of both species are planning to overthrown the establishment.

Main characters: (non-exhaustive list):

Vivien Featherswallow: FMC. Young woman (second class) who dreams of an internship as a dragon translator

Ursa : Vivien’s little sister (second class)

Marquis: Vivien’s cousin (second class)

Sophie: Vivien’s former best friend who was recently demoted to third class.

Atlas King: A priest in training who is also recruited to join the team Bletchley Park.

Chumana: A “criminal” dragon set free by Viv

Wyvermire: Prime minister

Plot: Vivien’s parents are having a linguistics professor over at their house, hoping that her mother would be able to present her theories on dragon dialects to her. Unfortunately, however, things get heated up and her parents and uncle are arrested as traitors to the establishment. Vivien wants to destroy the evidence, so she releases a captured dragon who then burns down the Prime minister’s office (and the evidence with it), thereby starting the civil war. Vivien is captured at the scene, however, and is forced into joining a team of specialists (i.e. young people with various talents) that will help the prime minister. Her little sister is kept hostage to ensure her cooperation. Viv is able to negotiate in order to get her cousin to join the team as well. There are three sub teams, one working on breaking “the dragon code”, one on raising dragon eggs, and one on creating a plane that flies like a dragon. Viv is shocked to discover that Sophie is part of the team as well. Sophie used to be her best friend, but Viv betrayed her by adapting her exam results so that she would be demoted to third class (in return, she would get into university). And then there’s Atlas King, a young priest in training. Atlas and Viv soon get romantically involved. He tries to open her eyes to the truth of the peace treaty, which is quite difficult as Viv has been indoctrinated all her life. In the end, the team secretly joins the cause of the rebels, they are re-united with Ursa and flee. Unfortunately, Atlas is killed during the escape and battle.

Book 2: Title to be announced

Review to follow shortly

Notes on the series

Age Category: Young adult, but very suitable for an adult audience

Representation: LGBTQ+ supporting characters, mental health

Trigger warnings (click here, contains spoilers)

Very mild. Warnings for assault, classism, sexism, misogyny, endoctrination

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the first book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores:

Amazon.nl: Hardcover Edition

Special editions

Fairyloot included A Language of Dragons in their December 2024 Young Adult Fantasy subscription. Their edition is so very beautiful, with its exclusive cover, reversible dustjacket, character art on the endpapers, digitally sprayed edges (stunning), inbound author letter, and foiling on the hard cover. It was also digitally signed by the author. Strangely enough, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of demand for this edition on the second-hand market, so you should be able to find one for about € 25.

Similar to this

If you are looking for more Academia inspired books about supernatural history, I have several to recommend. First of all, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan. This is the fictional autobiography of Lady Trend, a famous dragon connoisseur. My review can be found here. Second, I’d like to recommend a book by one of my favourite authors, namely Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. This series follows professor Emily Wilde on her journey to study faerie folklore. Life goals!

Are you more interested in books in which language is key? Then you should definitely check out Babel by R.F. Kuang, an historical fantasy that explores the way in which language and translation are used within processes of colonisation.

If it’s dragon books you’re after, THE dragon hype of the moment remains of course Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This series tells the tale of Violet (or Violence), who is training to become a dragon rider. I absolutely loved this series and will hopefully get round to reviewing it soon.

Last but not least, if you are like me and you appreciate main characters who are facing moral dilemmas, you should definitely check out Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat. I cannot elaborate to much on this, as this would ruin one of the best plot twists I’ve ever read, so you’ll just have to take my word for it or read my review.