A LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS

As war looms between dragons and humans in an alternate 1923, one girl is forced to work as a codebreaker to save her family.

Vivien Featherswallow loves languages: She’s studied “three human languages and six dragon tongues” and hopes to become a Draconic Translator. A Second Class resident of London’s Fitzrovia neighborhood, Viv wholeheartedly supports the Peace Agreement made by Prime Minister Wyvernmire and the British Dragon Queen as well as the Class System that stratifies people into three tiers. So, when the rest of her family is suddenly arrested for their resistance group activities, Viv struggles to understand what’s going on. She bargains with Chumana, a rebellious dragon imprisoned in a University of London library: her release in exchange for burning down the prime minister’s office (and any evidence of her family’s wrongdoing that it contains). But in the process, she inadvertently sparks a civil war. The Featherswallows’ only hope of redemption lies at Bletchley Park, where Viv is recruited to decipher rebel dragons’ communications alongside the former friend she once betrayed. Everyone at Bletchley is desperate, and if she wants to succeed, Viv must work quickly to support a cause she’s losing faith in. Williamson’s debut layers a fascinating fantastical world over pre-World War II tensions. Viv’s translation skills become the window through which she begins to understand a larger world, and readers will root for her growth. Most characters present white.

Alt-history fans will devour this high-concept reimagining of the interwar period—with dragons.