Jerry Cooke
4⭐️ - A fantastic fantasy reimagining of British wartime history, with many powerful parallels to the current political state of the world.
Vivienne Featherswallow’s Parents are both dragon experts and she has the same aims for her own academic life. In the rigid hierarchy of this society, she is fortunate enough to be in the second class and be able to pursue a degree of draconic linguistics, with desires to be a translator eventually.
When their role in the ongoing anti-government sentiment causes her parents to be taken away, Vivienne wants nothing more than to clear their name and destroy any evidence, but when she enlists the aid of an imprisoned dragon, she unwittingly ignites a new dragon versus human civil war. Pulled in by the government and told that she can essentially be tried for treason or accept a place in a mysterious program that aims to aid the war effort, she's really only got one choice if she wants to help her family.
This is such a great fantasy reimagining of this period in British history. The way in which this rigid system is in place that separates the classes really highlights the way that the government are disadvantaging and trying to push away the lower classes and it's immensely political. There's so many parallels in there in terms of social injustice that resonate with a lot of the things we're seeing in the world right now and that contributes to making it a really powerful read.
Vivian is at times really annoying character but you have to make allowances for the fact that she is essentially a teenager and ask yourself, placed in those situations where the only real thing you can think of to find your way back to feeling normality is to free your parents, what choices would you make that might be deemed cruel by other people?
There’s a diverse cast of characters with her in this Bletchley Park environment and so much lore about the dragons established - it makes for a really well-rounded world. I was so excited to go onto the second book after reading this - the hype is justified for this one
4⭐️ - A fantastic fantasy reimagining of British wartime history, with many powerful parallels to the current political state of the world.
Vivienne Featherswallow’s Parents are both dragon experts and she has the same aims for her own academic life. In the rigid hierarchy of this society, she is fortunate enough to be in the second class and be able to pursue a degree of draconic linguistics, with desires to be a translator eventually.
When their role in the ongoing anti-government sentiment causes her parents to be taken away, Vivienne wants nothing more than to clear their name and destroy any evidence, but when she enlists the aid of an imprisoned dragon, she unwittingly ignites a new dragon versus human civil war. Pulled in by the government and told that she can essentially be tried for treason or accept a place in a mysterious program that aims to aid the war effort, she's really only got one choice if she wants to help her family.
This is such a great fantasy reimagining of this period in British history. The way in which this rigid system is in place that separates the classes really highlights the way that the government are disadvantaging and trying to push away the lower classes and it's immensely political. There's so many parallels in there in terms of social injustice that resonate with a lot of the things we're seeing in the world right now and that contributes to making it a really powerful read.
Vivian is at times really annoying character but you have to make allowances for the fact that she is essentially a teenager and ask yourself, placed in those situations where the only real thing you can think of to find your way back to feeling normality is to free your parents, what choices would you make that might be deemed cruel by other people?
There’s a diverse cast of characters with her in this Bletchley Park environment and so much lore about the dragons established - it makes for a really well-rounded world. I was so excited to go onto the second book after reading this - the hype is justified for this one