Best-selling author Rebecca Yarros is having a moment with the incredible success of her Empyrean series. Which is why we decided to create a series guide and review for the series. Keep reading to for the Empyrean book series guide and review!
The Empyrean Series Summary
Violet is a 20-year-girl who is forced to enter the Rider Quadrant even though she was supposed to become a scribe. Her mother forced her to join and now she must survive against all odds in the war college and become a dragon rider as other contestants try to kill her.
The novel takes place in the fictional kingdom of Navarre which is mostly made up of mountains and forests. Fourth Wing mostly takes place in the Basgiath War College where new riders are trained to become dragon riders.
The Empyrean Series Book Guide and Order
The Empyrean Series Release Dates
Fourth Wing was released in May 2023 and with the help of the Booktok community on TikTok, it went on to top the New York Times bestseller list. The second novel in the series, Iron Flame, was released ahead of schedule in November 2023 due to the success of Fourth Wing. It went on to become the fastest selling fantasy novel of all time in its first week.
The third novel in the series is called Onyx Storm and will be releasing in January 2025. So far, there haven’t been any spinoffs or prequels but I expect that to change in the next couple of years. We have mostly seen the kingdom of Navarre and have seen glimpses of the Kingdom of The Kingdom of Poromiel and have yet to see the Isles.
The Empyrean Series Review
If you didn’t already know, the Empyrean Series is a romantasy, a combination of romance and fantasy. The books do a good job of balancing the two in my opinion. I enjoyed Fourth Wing a lot and loved the world building aspect as well as the character building that Yarros is able to do as Violet navigates battle college life.
For me, Iron Flame didn’t have the same feeling of I can’t stop reading because I have to know what happens next. While the stakes increase, Yarros doesn’t do a great job of balancing the character development in the second novel. And that is because of the predictability factor.
After reading the first couple of chapters, you can easily predict what is going to happen. The reader has to let everything unfold in the book, knowing what the end of the book is going to look life. The best twists come too late and are left as cliffhangers for the third novel, making Iron Flame feel like a placeholder. We do get to see the kingdom of Poromiel as well as learn more about Griffins which is a plus. But the plot could have been a lot better.
Conclusion
The Empyrean Series has a total of five books, not including any spinoffs that Yarros might right in the future. With the third one releasing in January 2025, we can hope that the series will be completed before the end of the decade.
There is also a TV show being adapted based on the novels and Yarros will have an input. Let’s hope that all the books are completed before the show is or we may have another Game of Thrones disaster upon us. I am fully confident in Yarros’ plan and can’t wait to read the series in its entirety.
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I fully agree with your statements in regards to Iron Flame. To me, the dragons were the power source. Still, I was so fascinated by the series that I was unable to write my reviews. There are so many things to talk about (positive and some less positive, but good nonetheless). Because of this series I started toying with the idea of a bookish podcast.
I do hope we won’t see another Game of Thrones debacle. There are so many great books with not so great adaptations, I which the author good luck and good strength.
🙂
The series is very interesting and Yarros is a great writer. Iron Flame had some great reveals but I do think Fourth Wing had better moments. This series alone can be a long podcast
My first guest would be Tairn. Though he wouldn’t accept. Andarna would have a teenage crysis…. that leaves us with the human characters 🙈
Ok, I’ll leave you be now! Keep up the good work
🙂