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Fourth Wing (Standard Edition) (The Empyrean, 1)

A #1 New York Times bestseller • TV series in development at MGM Amazon Studios with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society • 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 Winner • Newsweek Staffers’ Favorite Books of 2023 • Paste Magazine's Best Books of 2023

"Suspenseful, sexy, and with incredibly entertaining storytelling, the first in Yarros' Empyrean series will delight fans of romantic, adventure-filled fantasy."Booklist, starred review

"Fourth Wing will have your heart pounding from beginning to end... A fantasy like you've never read before." ―#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout


Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from #1 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.

The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 Fourth Wing
Book #2 Iron Flame
Book #3 Onyx Storm

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Published May 2, 2023

528 pages

Average rating: 8.93

8,316 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Cyn's Workshop
Aug 20, 2025
10/10 stars
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop

An absolute must-read, Fourth Wing lives up to all the hype with deadly storytelling, dragons, and a steamy, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance that will keep you hooked.


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As you all know, I love dragons, which means that I will read anything and anything related to Dragons. But that also means I will be incredibly critical of the novel.

For me, Fourth Wing absolutely delivered on the hype.

Why Was It Worth It?

My friend Gina bullied me into reading this book. I had already planned to read the book and had every intention of reading it, but she made me move it up on my stack, so I was like, okay, let me just read it to get you off my back. I was a little hesitant because when it comes to books with a lot of hype behind them, which is probably why I wasn’t so eager to read Fourth Wing, I always wonder if they will live up to the hype.

I will say that, in my opinion, it did live up to the hype.

The opening of Fourth Wing follows Violet as she’s getting ready to enter the rider’s quadrant of the college. Now, Violet has a chronic illness that forces or causes a lot of people around her to treat her like a porcelain doll. She’s always been treated like she’s fragile.

So, for Violet, entering the rider’s quadrant was never in the plan. She was always going to go to the scribe quadrant; that’s what she grew up training to be part of; that’s what Violet grew up training for. So when this book begins, she’s only had a limited time to train when others have spent their lifetimes training for this.

The beginning is a little slow because this was when the Yarros decided to incorporate much of the world-building here. I like it, and I can also understand why it would deter some readers. It’s a lot, it’s a lot of world-building kind of all at once, it’s a lot of history all at once, but the way it’s presented to me is what really made it captivating.

Strong Character Dynamic

All the world-building and history is being delivered by Violet, and she’s recounting everything she learned as a scribe to ground herself so that she doesn’t slip and fall crossing this parapet and die. It adds some quirkiness to her, or it allows you as the reader to get to know Violet as a character because this is something she does not frequently throughout the book, but this is something she does at a couple different times throughout the book. Someone even teases her about it. This is part of her identity. Violet does this to ground herself in the moment to clear her mind and survive the deadly college.

And because it doesn’t lessen the tension, I could push through it.

I love that our main character has a chronic illness. I don’t think we see many main characters with an explicit chronic illness represented in novels. Her chronic illness doesn’t make her less than, a thought that forces Violet to push against throughout Fourth Wing, especially between the two love interests.

So, she has her childhood love interest, Dain, and her new love interest, Xaden. Dain, much like everyone else, treats her like glass, as if she is going to break at any moment. He coddles her and treats her less than what she is. Xaden, on the other hand, pushes her, challenges her, and is even a bit of a dick to her. But everything he does, he does so that she can prove not just to herself but to everyone that she is not less than and that she is not going to break. She has this chronic illness, but it’s not her sole identity. Does she forget she has limitations? No, but Violet does not let her illness define her and instead finds ways to work around it.

Final Thoughts
So yes, I believe Fourth Wing lived up to all the hype. It’s fast-paced, it has excellent character dynamics, it has incredible character growth, it has good rising tension, and it has lots of action-packed sequences.

This is a girl trying to survive a dragon college because the Dragons only pick the best. It has cool dragons, it has a nice slow-burn romance, and it does have some steamy scenes in there for those people who really do like romance. But this book is very much fantasy, and it is honestly no surprise why it took the book the world by storm.

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HelloTanyaLyn
Jul 10, 2025
8/10 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Can I give this 10 Stars?
My Fav 3 Quotes:
1 - “The weak don’t survive here, especially not in the Riders Quadrant. The dragons make sure of that.”
2 -"Just because you gained power today doesn't mean you lost agency."
3 -"But here's the thing... You don't get to dictate how I feel."

I'm in a total book hangover right now. I'm trying desperately to start my next book and I can't even function because I'm still suffering from the last 3 chapters of this one! I'm destroyed! Literally! The family dynamics, the friendship issues, the
Ashwe2011
Jul 06, 2025
10/10 stars
"I took a chance on reading this book, even though it's not my usual genre. I'm so glad I did, because it inspired me. The strength of Violet's character taught me that even when no one believes in you, you can prove them wrong. Xyden's character showed me that even those who come off as arrogant can still be trusted and have a kind heart. The sassy attitude of Violet's dragon brought a smile to my face and I'm excited to read more about Xyden's dragon in the next book. And that ending left me feeling motivated to take risks and see where they lead. This book has truly inspired me."
Oree
Jun 25, 2025
Argh Dain!!
JennyS
Jun 25, 2025
8/10 stars
4.5

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