Fourth Wing, a fantasy romance novel by Rebecca Yarros, became one of the biggest books on BookTok in 2023. Its sequel, Iron Flame, also gained immense popularity the moment it hit the shelves. If you’re curious about what made these books so popular, you’ve come to the right place!
In this article, we’ll overview the already published books, discuss what’s coming, and take a look at some obscure facts about this smash-hit dragon-rider book series.
The First Fourth Wing Book
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros is the first book in the Empyrean series, where you meet Violet Sorrengail, who was supposed to be a scribe but becomes a dragon rider instead. She’s 20 years old, her mother is a Genal and the Commander of Basgiath War College, and both her sister Mira and brother Brennan are dragon riders. Violet is small and fragile, but she’s smart, fast, and determined. Over six months in college, she manages to bond with two dragons (Tairn and Andarna), navigates deadly tests, makes friends and enemies, and even starts a romance with the most inappropriate boy—Xaden, the son of a rebellion leader. The book is full of plot twists and turns and action-packed storytelling. And dragons, of course.
The Fourth Wing Book 2—Iron Flame
Iron Flame, the much-anticipated sequel, was published on November 7, 2023. In the second book, Violet’s story goes on as she learns more about herself and the people around her (and dragons). She has her relationship with Xaden tested; the air in the Basgiath War College becomes thick with tension, the stakes are rising, and conflicts are escalating. The book is full of action and is maybe even more fast-paced than the first one. No surprise that readers are spellbound and are already waiting for the Fourth Wing series book 3.
The Fourth Wing Series Book 3—Onyx Storm
Rebecca Yarros revealed the name and the release date of the third book in the Empyrean series.
Onyx Storm will be released on January 21, 2025.
She made an announcement on TikTok on March 28. What a fantastic piece of news for all Fourth Wing fans!
“I can’t tell you much yet, but I can tell you the title,” Rebecca Yarros said in her video. “There will be politics, new adventures, old enemies, and, of course, dragons.” You can preorder the book now by following the link provided on Yarros’s TikTok bio.
Also, multiple sources confirm that there will be a total of five books in this fantasy romance series. Their titles and release dates haven’t yet been revealed by the author or publisher. So, we have to wait and see.
The Fourth Wing TV Show Adaptation
With the first two books having been described by readers and reviewers as “unputdownable,” are we to expect a Fourth Wing movie soon? Another piece of good news is that we do!
According to IMDb, a Fourth Wing TV show adaptation is now being developed by Amazon MGM Studios. It looks like they secured the rights not just for the first two published books but for the entire planned five-book series.
Rebecca Yarros wrote in her Instagram post from October 2023 that she’s very much excited about the news: “I’m so humbled and thrilled to announce that FOURTH WING has been optioned and is currently in development for a TV series by Amazon MGM Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society producing!!! They’re an ABSOLUTELY incredible team, and I can’t wait to see their adaptation of Fourth Wing brought to life!” It’s also expected that she herself will serve as an executive producer on the show.
So now, we can only wait and see the brutal world of Basgiath War College and dragon rider Violet Sorrengail’s story brought to life. At the moment, however, it’s too early to get any details about the casting, writers, or projected timeline yet, but we can definitely expect a blend of suspense, action, romance, and dragons in this adventure where the only rule is “graduate or die.”
Some Facts about Rebecca Yarros and The Fourth Wing Series
The Series Inspiration
In one of her interviews, Rebecca Yaroos said, “I read fantasy growing up and I never saw that, I saw these powerful heroines,” she said. “I wanted to tell a story about a girl who should not succeed, and who should not be able to endure an overly brutal environment.“
Similarities
In the series, Violet isn’t supposed to succeed because of her unnamed physical condition that causes her to get injured easily, her bones to break, and gives her dizzy spells—similar to Rebecca Yarros’ experience with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Besides, the military academy/war college setting of the Empyrean series can be explained by the fact that Rebecca Yarros knows a lot about the topic: she grew up with dual-military parents, and her husband had a 22-year military career.
Dragons
According to the Fourth Wing’s Colonel Kaort’s Field Guide to Dragonkind, “Blue dragons descend from the extraordinary Gormfaileas line. Known for their formidable size, they are the most ruthless, especially in the case of the rare Blue Daggertail, whose knifelike spikes at the tip of their tail can disembowel an enemy with one flick.”
Dragons are central to the book. Apart from the blue ones, there are several other colors of dragons in the series: Red dragons (quick-tempered), Black dragons (smart, good strategists, and extremely rare), Orange dragons (quite unpredictable), and Green dragons (the most reasonable of all). They can also be one of the following: Morningstartail, Feathertail, Daggertail, Swordtail, Clubtail, or Scorpiontail (depending on the tail). Each dragon bonds with a rider. In Forth Wing, Tairn, Black Morningstartail and Andarna, Golden Feathertail, bonded with Violet. (More details about dragons can be found on the Empyrean Wiki.)
To name the dragons, Rebecca Yarros decided to use names that originate from Scottish Gaelic. And you can check how to pronounce them correctly by watching this video.
Stunning Book Cover Art
One of the reasons why the books were quickly taken off the shelves is because their first editions had gorgeous book cover art. The Fourth Wing US edition first printings (hardbacks) had dragons stenciled on black sprayed page edges, but some US hardbacks had even more elaborate designs.
Fourth Wing (US Special ‘Holiday’ Edition), for instance, was published with a revamped cover design (red colorway), new endpapers, black sprayed edges, and two bonus chapters from Xaden’s point of view.
Some Iron Flame (US Standard Edition, Hardback) first editions have special features, too: solid black sprayed page edges and mapped endpapers, stenciled page edges, or digital stenciled fore-edges. There are also some UK editions with hand-painted page edges and editions with custom dust jackets and stenciled page edges.
Popularity
It’s been a while since the success of The Hunger Games, Twilight, or Harry Potter. However, Rebecca Yarros has created a story that has all the chances to become a part of this list. Fourth Wing became a viral phenomenon on BookTok and sold over two million copies. Iron Flamesold half a million copies in the first week it was out, with over 200 Barnes & Noble stores holding midnight release parties to celebrate the release.
Other Books
Before the Empyrean series, Rebecca Yarros wrote over 15 romance novels. She’s the author of The Things We Leave Unfinished and 5 more standalone novels, the Legacy series, the Fight & Glory series, and the Renegades series.
One October
Rebecca Yarros and her husband fostered and adopted their youngest daughter, who is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum. In 2019, they also launched a nonprofit One October to help children in foster care.
Conclusion
All in all, we can’t judge whether The Fourth Wing series deserves all the hype it gets, but one thing is sure: Rebecca Yarros managed to create a world enchanting enough to capture the hearts and imaginations of a great number of readers. She crafted the story with passion and care, and she brought a new type of heroine to the genre. Otherwise, fans wouldn’t be so impatient to get to the next chapter in Violet’s enthralling journey.
We hope that we’ve shed some light on the Fourth Wing series and that our article was interesting to you, even if you’ve already gone through the two books (several times). If you haven’t, BooksRun can help you add them to your collection, from a standard US edition to a beautiful first edition with solid black sprayed or stenciled page edges; we can help you find any copy at a good price.
