The Empyrean, Book 1
From the publisher:
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
A #1 New York Times bestseller • Optioned for TV by Amazon Studios • Amazon Best Books of the Year, #4 • Apple Best Books of the Year 2023 • Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023 • NPR “Books We Love” 2023 • Audible Best Books of 2023 • Hudson Book of the Year • Google Play Best Books of 2023 • Indigo Best Books of 2023 • Waterstones Book of the Year finalist • Goodreads Choice Award, semi-finalist • Newsweek Staffers’ Favorite Books of 2023 • Paste Magazine’s Best Books of 2023
The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order.
https://amzn.to/49OqVWN
Reading Order:
Book #1 Fourth Wing
Book #2 Iron Flame
I rarely read fantasy novels, and even though this one hit a lot of the best books of the year lists, I was happily ignoring it until my friend Judy recommended it. We don’t always love the same books, but neither of us reads much fantasy, so when she gave it a rave review, I decided to give it a try.
Yarros wrote romances for years before this book, but I never read any. This book falls into the “romantasy” genre, a mashup of romance and fantasy and her publisher loved it so much, they actually created a new imprint for this book, Red Tower Books. Entangled Publishing is a female-owned publisher and was strictly romance, and I’m pretty sure this is the biggest bestseller they’ve ever had – and I’m just thrilled for them.
I never read The Hunger Games or Twilight, but I did see some of the movies so I had an idea about this genre. Fourth Wing is set in a school for dragon riders, and the students either die or graduate. Our heroine, Violet, is one of three children. Her brother died fighting, her sister is a fierce dragon rider, and their mother is one of the top generals. It was her mother’s decision to place Violet in this school.
Violet’s father was a scribe, a kind of historian, and she had been planning to follow in his footsteps until her mother ended that dream. Her childhood best friend is around to keep an eye on her, but Violet has some physical issues that impede her progress. She’s tiny, for one thing, and has a disease that causes her bones and joints to break easily. She is seen as weak, but smart, and it’s her smarts that save her.
The head of her section is Xaden, whose parents were killed by Violet’s mother, and Violet’s brother was killed by Xaden’s family. Let’s just say there is no love lost between these two, except instead of killing Violet, Xaden keeps helping her. And much to Violet’s surprise, she finds herself strongly attracted to the dark and brooding warrior.
Yarros has created a harsh world for these young people to maneuver through, and the action moves the story along at a breakneck pace. I must admit to skimming some of the battles, but for the most part, I did enjoy this book. That said, I’m not sure if I’ll read the rest of the series. I really have to be in the mood for something like this. I can see book groups (who aren’t afraid of 500+ page tomes) having a lot of fun with this, and I’m hoping that Amazon Prime Video does it justice. I will watch, probably hiding from a lot of it. Readers who loved Twilight and The Hunger Games will devour this.
2/2024 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros. Entangled: Red Tower Books (May 2, 2023). ISBN: 978-1649374042. 528p.
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