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.
I went to Ya-day in Belgium (my home country) and met two internal authors
Lynn Painter (author of better than the movies)
And
S. F. Williamson (author of a language of dragons)
I made bookmarks, got a goody bag and did lots of fun activities. And got books signed. Next year I'll probably be back. I even got a hug from Lynn Painter!!! Best day of my life!!
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 an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.
With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die.
At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must decide: What war is she really fighting?
My thoughts:
As so often, I bought this book because it's incredibly beautiful. The cover has vivid colours I instantly fell in love, the sprayed edges are equally pretty and don't even get me started on the cover beneath the dust cover.
Thankfully, the story wasn't a disappointment. Viv was a great lead with actual personality who struggled to do the right thing, as doing so would compromise her families savety. Her cousin, Marquis, was a good character to challenge her ideals and believes, as was Atlas, the main love interest. I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked him! He was not an asshole (a nice, sweet, sensitive male lead - in this economy???) and I really, really hope to see him again in the next book, even though I'm not too sure about his fate.
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of dragons (I am that one annoying friend that won't shut up about things in my friendgroup, though, to be fair, the other two are the same about other stuff) and this book did not disappoint in that departmend. The dragons were great. They were strong and fierce and you can pray Chumana from my cold, dead hands. If she's not in the next book (assuming there is one) I will riot!
10/10, I will recommend this book to everyone who is (un)willing to listen!
Yes, this is a threat!
I bought this book when I was out with friends on january 31st, 2025, started reasing it on February 5th, 2025 and finished reading on the same day.
This evening I'm reviewing A LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS by S.F. Williamson.
"...full of cool ideas, an interesting historical fantasy setting, and tons of exciting subterfuge. Also, there were plenty of dragons." 3.75⭐
#bookblogger #bookreview 💙📚
Hello, everyone! I’ve been looking forward to reading A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson for quite some time. So, I was stoked when the audiobook became available at my library so quickly after publication. I was sold on the synopsis because it reminded me of the themes in Babel with the addition of dragons. Of course, I had to check it out! Read on to see if it lived up to my…
