A review by sassmistress
A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson

adventurous challenging emotional

2.0

I love dragons and linguistics, so this was somewhat fun. I see a lot of promising talent here still being developed. The writing style is good and the premise is interesting. However, I wasn't able to lose myself in this book and really enjoy it, for several reasons. 

1. I read for escapism, not to feel angry about injustice in this present world. This whole story is a thinly-veiled critique of systemic classism and cultural appropriation/erasure. I mean, there are even overt "because he's not white" comments. Regular brief insertion of misogyny ragebait. And on top of that, I felt like I was getting beaten over the head with the message/ideological agenda. 

e.g.:

A few weeks ago, I would have hought nothing of dragon tongues being banned among the Third Class because they can't study them at university anyway. Yet Atlas's Third Class cousins could speak Harpentesa before I even knew what it was. And it's only now, when the study of dragon tongues is being banned for the Second Class, for people like me, that I care.

I don't want to read about the political markers of a descent into tyrrany (like language control & "patriotism" talk). I've got more than enough of that in real life. 

"Inequality is so deeply entrenched in the foundations of our society that it's going to need to be dug out, rock by prejudiced rock." 

I've always done that, I realize now. Assumed that everyone thinks like me, that everyone experiences the world the same way I do, that I could never be wrong. Yet, despite my good grades and recommendation letters and university place, there are so many things I don't know.

2. Fundamental misalignment of worldview. 

A. Forgiveness. Another core message of the book is about how important is is to forgive yourself, even if you've done something horrible and "unforgivable" and have not obtained (or maybe even yet sought) forgiveness from the person you've wronged. That you're still a good person inside, really, if you feel guilty and try to make up for it with a bunch of "good" choices. 

Because if you feel guilty that's a sure sign there's more good than bad in you. 

"I don't deserve forgiveness," I say. "And neither do you." 
"Few of us deserve forgiveness, child," says Chumana. "But answer me this. Where would I be more useful: in that library, rotting into the mulch of my own guilt? Dead from a purposely exploded detonator? Or flying free, helping to bring victory to the rebels?" 

Why would I risk losing everything I love for the rebels? 

Because you're good, I imagine Atlas saying. 

Can that be true? In the face of everything I've done... can there still be goodness in me? 
 ... 
 Chumana isn't lying. These are not the choices and memories of a bad person, but of a good one who refuses to forgive herself for the things she has done. 

"He taught me that it's our choices--who we choose to become once we can see our mistakes clearly--that make us who we are." 

"I'll never ask you to forgive me, Soph. I would never expect that of you. But ... I'm going to start trying to forgive myself. I don't know if I'll ever be able to, but I'm going to try. And I promise you I'll return the friendship you've given me. I'll spend the rest of my life making yours happier, and the lives of all the other people who have suffered because of the Class System... "
 
B. Rebellion. The quandary is ultimately sideskirted, but there's a strong implication that there's a moral imperative to fully support an armed rebellion against an unjust government and avoid doing anything that would assist that government, even to save your own family.

C. Christianity. Scripture is only used to support sexism and segregation of humans and dragons, both implicitly condemned in this book. The only Christian-coded character, MC's love interest, is a priest-in-training. He:
 - takes the "right" side (
joins the rebellion
) 
 - does not quote any scripture but touts vague ideas about "different ways of loving", "forgiving yourself", the resilience of the Church, and "feeling guilty is a sign that there's some goodness in you",
 - says he's used to being labeled "angry",
 - usually does some good deeds at Christmas
 - says "Thank God" once or twice but never mentions Christ
 - flirts suggestively with MC and somehow manages to touch her waist a lot
 - backs off of a few steamy kisses because he's supposed to be celibate but ultimately decides
  *maybe God doesn't want me to pursue a priestly vocation like I thought but actually wants me to be with this girl I coincidentally really want to kiss on second base*.


It does not look like he actually follows Christ, and his succumbing to MC's pressure for physical intimacy is held up as a romantic thing. The whole character seems like Christianity-flavored spirituality, made palatable for atheists. 

"This is the way I see it," he says. "If you were all bad, if you didn't have any goodness in you, then how would you even know what badness is? Without goodness, there'd be nothing to measure badness against. Badness wouldn't be bad--it would just be a normal state of being. I think you have to have both good and bad inside you to know the difference, Featherswallow. To know which side you want to act on. So, if you feel guilty for what you did, that's a sure sign there's goodness in you." 

"Priests don't ... they're not supposed to . ... "It's fine," I say, my face burning. "I know." 

How could I have been so stupid? Priests are celibate- everyone knows that.
 "So you can't even.. . kiss?" 

"And you truly believe that God's telling you to be a priest and to never fall in love?" I blurt without thinking. 

"You? Rebel leanings?" Atlas snorts. "You're the biggest rules follower I know. "Says the boy who won't even kiss a girl because of some rule" He falls silent and I bite my tongue. Why did I have to bring up that humiliating incident again? 

I let out a hollow laugh. "A false belief system? That's hilarious coming from someone whose faith is as prehistoric as the dragons he studies. You stand there, acting all pious, but you go around breaking Guardian's noses and . .. and-" 

 "And what? 

I dare myself to say it. I saw the way you looked at me when I wore that dress. You're a hotheaded, impulsive hypocritel!" 

"I don't think I want to be a priest anymore." 
 I go still. "But you've been religious your whole life. You believe in God, and you said He was calling you to the priesthood, so why wouldn't you-" 
 "But what if He's calling me to something else?" Atlas says. 
 My heart races, but it's not so much from the kissing as it is the hope that he's about to say the very words I realize I've been longing to hear. A car rolls up on the gravel outside and a tiny sliver of headlight slips through the crack between the blackout curtains just enough to give me a glimpse of Atlas's face. His eyes are wide and shining. 

"Viv," he says again. "What if God's calling me to you?"

Those are the main ones, and these are more minor execution issues but still irksome: 

3. Minor plot holes / inconsistencies / mixed metaphors. 

MC makes a deal with dragon -- if she does the dragon a favor right now, the dragon will do the thing she wants. There's this dramatic dialogue emphasizing that if she breaks the deal, the dragon will kill her. But... there is no deal if she just... doesn't do the favor in the first place? 

It feels like the author is trying to have it both ways with MC and her former best friend. She doesn't know what she did, but she needs to hate her because drama, so she's mad because MC didn't write to her? Then
she delivers the coldest most hateful line when MC confesses what she did, disappears for a few chapters, then saves her life and starts acting like she forgives her.


Next to me, Karim is locked in Marquis's embrace. 
 "Be careful," Karim tells him fiercely. 
 Marquis nods, his hands cupping Karim's face. "You too," 
 They kiss- one chaste kiss- and I stiffen. Marquis glances at me, as the secret we've guarded all these years finally emerges into the open. 

"Finally"? Just now? Even though he's had a plethora of boyfriends, and he's the "biggest flirt I have ever known", and on page 140 another character has already made a snide comment about the two boys being off somewhere together? 

Another plot hole--early in a conversation, we read: 
"Unless one of you recruits can translate echolocation, build me a squadron fit for fight ing dragons, or find a way to breed the blighters themselves, I will be forced to confirm my alliance with Bulgaria in five days' time." She sighs. "It wasn't my preferred plan of action, but you have left me no choice-" 

Indicating that she needs one of the three to succeed. Then, at the end of the conversation: 
"One dialect is all I'Il ask of you. Give me one, and you'll have won your category." 
 "And what about the other recruits?" I say. "If I give you a dialect, will you pardon them, too?" 
 "Don't be ridiculous," she snaps. "The rules apply to all. Besides, any progress they make will only be a bonus now. It is the echolo- cation I need. Only echolocation might make me reconsider this alliance. So don't leave it too long, Vivien.' 
 So.... She doesn't need any of the three categories, just this one is mandatory?

Viv tricks a guard and then says:
"The Bulgarian dragons speak Slavidraneishá, not Bulgarian," I say, shaking my head. "How does nobody know that?" 

 ... She literally spoke in Bulgarian with the Bulgarian dragon earlier in the book. So... they do speak Bulgarian, right? Or if it was only that one high-ranking official, maybe don't act like everyone is dumb for thinking so. 

She successfully spooks a professor she's had virtually no interaction with and immediately convinces him that
her parents (prominent scholars) would be disappointed in him, basically. Gets him to bail on his job; he takes her word for it that war is coming. He's concerned about the baby dragons but doesn't ask any questions when the two teenagers say they'll "deal with them".


Just a bit awkward: 

"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."
 (mixed metaphor?) 

And a few moments where the drama was a bit overblown for the actual impact of the words/writing. 

4. The long drag-on teasing about what exactly MC did that was so horrible. We don't even get the full story until the book is almost over, but it keeps coming up again and again! 
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