#sf williamson

[teartra]

Maaaan I would crash out so bad if I were Vivien

[teartra]

IM SCARED WHY IS EVERYTHING SO STRESSFUL HERE AND I’M AROUND 35%

[janchei-reads]

A War of Wyverns by S. F. Williamson

Synopsis:

Who is Vivien Featherswallow?

It’s the question on the lips of every human and dragon in Britannia, and even she doesn’t know the answer. Is she the Swallow, the face of the rebellion against the corrupt government and invading Bulgarian dragons? Is she a brasstongue, a translator on the cusp of discovering a new dragon language? Or is she just Viv, the girl who lost the love of her life after playing spy?

Viv isn’t sure, but she knows she has to fight back.

Armed with a machine that allows her to listen to dragons’ thoughts, a diary with the clues of a never-before translated dragon tongue, and her own need to avenge her lost love, Viv seeks out the elusive Hebridean Wyverns. If she can find them and convince them to join the war, the rebellion might have a chance.

Viv will soon realize that while translation is a weapon, it might not help her on her journey to victory—or to finding herself.

My thoughts:

After I surprisingly fell in live with the first volume, I preordered the second book as limited edition, too. I already own the first one and they will look so pretty on my shelves! (That is, if they ever make their way to one of them. It's rather cozy in there...)

The Cover was designed by Ivan Belikov, but while I really liked the Cover of the first book, this one isn't really it for me. The wings are horrible, sorry. The whole thing actually looks rather off - and I can't find it in his Portfolio, but maybe I didn't search hard enough for it, idk.

The book started in a bit of a weird place, far from where the first one let off (both in actual placement and timewise) and I'm not sure how to feel about that. I would have loved to see Viv interact with both her cousin Marquis and her sister Ursa, but no: instead we get Chumana (who might just have been the best part of the first book, I love her so much) and the Leader of the rebellion, whom I won't name in case people are like me and read spoilers for the second book without having read the first. While I'm fine with Chumana, I wasn't a fan of the sidecharacters that got introduced. They were kind of pointless. One of them we see again later in the book, but I had to stare at their name for several seconds while trying to remember who that was again (no one important, that's who ut was).

The way Viv gets thrown into the plot feels alao a bit out of place, but oh well. I guess at least there waa plot - even if it wasn't that good, if I'm being honest. Lots of characters from the first book return, among them Atlas, who, for all that's fair, should have stayed dead. I loved him so dearly in the first book because he really waa a good person, a genuinely good male lead, only to now be an ass. And him being a traitor was written so badly, it was hard to read. They butchered my boy :(

Viv is also returned to her mid-book one self: she's a brat, plain and simple. There's supposed to be some character growth I guess, but I think I liked her selfish self of the first book much better. Her whole identity crisis of things getting lost when translated and how all translation was stupid and pointless unless you live the culture of the language felt very forced. While in the first book I loved her enthusiasm for languages, I was now very annoyed by her just giving up on it.

While the first book had a bit of a unique touch to it, the second ons os blatantly copied from the Tributes of Panem: the male love interest following his own agenda, the actually not that good rebellion leader - Viv is called the Swallow, is the face of the rebellion and she foes this all to save her sister, for god's sake!

Other books of the Series:

I know that second books in a series are always hard and never as good as the first, so I am trying to be a bit nicer about it. I did love the Wyvern, they are really cool. Their language, their culture, it was all so interesting - it just sucks that "their" part of the book, the most interesting part, was kind of the wirst part character wise.

I really disliked the end of the book - Chumana dead, Marquis stolen by the bulgarian dragons, that's both just a cheap way to keep the reader engaged. I would have happily pretended that the series is over. I might still do. Also, after Atlas' supposed death in book one I'm not sure if I really believe Chumana is dead, not with the Wyverns special call around. If she really is gone I don't think I will ever reread the series lil

I finished this book on January 18th, 2026.

A Language of Dragons

A War of Wyverns

[godzilla-reads]

FairyLoot edition of A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson 😍

[godzilla-reads]

The difference in cover design is insane.

The top one is from Waterstones UK (before the whole tariffs thing), and the bottom one is the US edition.

📚A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson

[h1234yt]

Tell her chumana!!! Vivien pissed me off sometimes 😭😭 clearly she doesn't care cause she has privilege.

[godzilla-reads]

Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson

[janchei-reads]

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson

Synopsis:

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.