S. F. Williamson Audiobooks

A Language of Dragons: young adult fantasy where dragons come with a grammar

1 audiobook reviewed

★ 4.3/5 average

1 listener rating

Who is S. F. Williamson?

Dragons have been many things in fiction: weapons, gods, weather. Giving them a language is a different proposition altogether, because language implies negotiation, mistranslation and the possibility of being lied to. A Language of Dragons stakes its premise on that idea, and the book lends its name to the sequence it opens.

S. F. Williamson writes for the teen and young adult shelf, where our catalogue files this one, though the framing suggests the kind of story that travels well beyond its intended age bracket. Nearly thirteen hours is substantial for the category, which points to worldbuilding taken seriously rather than sketched in behind the plot.

S. F. Williamson in audiobooks

Kristin Atherton narrates, and a first-person young adult voice asks for one particular trick: sounding convincingly young without ever sounding performed.

This one is a scheduled arrival rather than a title already sitting on our shelves, so the listing below carries the live position on availability. The ratings we hold come from far too small a sample to draw any conclusion from.

Since this volume opens the sequence, it is the only sensible place to start, and it assumes no prior knowledge of the world. Listeners who like their fantasy built on an idea rather than a map, and who do not mind a young protagonist doing the discovering, should keep an eye on it. Details are below.