My Thoughts on the Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros - aka Fourth Wing and Iron Flame

*note of the fanart, credit is attributed to @shauna_the_author on Instagram*

Ok, so maybe the caption was a little exaggerating. To simplify it, it's basically How to Train Your Dragon meets Hunger Games meets Divergent, except the dragons actually talk. Well, they don't exactly talk, per se. They telepathically communicate with their riders, aka. their "bonded". When the first novel, Fourth Wing, opens, we meet Violet Sorrengail, the youngest daughter of General Lilith Sorrengail and sister to Mira Sorrengail, who happens to be a lieutenant. We learn that Violet is being sent to Basgaith War College against her will, in order to learn how to be a dragon rider. We also learn that Violet grew up as a scribe, like her late father, and was supposed to enter into the Scribe Quadrant, but after her father passed away, General Sorrengail decides to toss Violet to the wolves and force her into Basgaith. Might I add, Violet's basically a stick-thin kid who breaks multiple bones constantly. She's not cut out for dragon riding by any means, and Mira points that out. What follows after that is a series of dangerous tests and trials that drive Violet's body to the very limit of what she can handle... and then some. Not to mention, she has a huge target on her back for being Lilith Sorrengail's daughter, and none wants her death more than the son of the late rebel leader Fen Riorson, who rebelled against the leadership of Basgaith several decades ago. Turns out General Sorrengail was responsible for Fen Riorson's death, and now the all-powerful third-year wingleader, Xaden Riorson, is out for blood.

Naturally, when he meets Violet, Xaden despises her on first sight, yet he doesn't kill her. Shockingly enough, she makes it through training, despite being the weakest of her unit, and bonding not one, but two dragons, named Tairneanach (or just Tairn) and Andarnurram (or Andarna). When her signet (power) emerges, it's both a rare and dangerous power and it puts an even bigger target on her back. The rest of the book, leading up to the final battle and eventual cliffhanger climax, sets Violet Sorrengail on a path she can't avoid - one that simultaneously causes her to get closer to Xaden Riorson and separates her from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos.

The next book opens with a surprise for Violet that seems cruel in nature, but it opens up to a much more complex journey than Violet previously anticipated - and opens up to the mysteries about Basgaith War College that seem to be far more sinister than anyone ever knew or anticipated. What follows next is a rather convoluted journey going back and forth between Basgaith and the stronghold of the rebellion, Aretia, which as it turns out used to be the home of the Riorson family before the original rebellion forced the leadership of Basgaith War College to "destroy" Aretia for good. After the supposed destruction of Aretia, they began silently rebuilding in order to attempt to overthrow the leadership of Basgaith once again. And the story gives us more twists and turns up until yet another cliffhanger ending - regarding our favourite shadow-wielding wingleader, Xaden Riorson.

My thoughts:

They're both good books, and Fourth Wing sucks you right into the story with the classic archetype of the hero's journey - the reluctant hero, or heroine, in Violet's case. The slow burn/enemies to lovers plot with Xaden and Violet is fantastic, and I for one enjoy having another "shadow daddy" to add to the collection. The last 200-or-so pages of Fourth Wing are pure agony, with enough emotional damage to rival the final 100-odd pages of A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOWAR) and A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOMAF) combined. That being said, my complaints about Violet Sorrengail as a character is one that I feel most readers who have read Fourth Wing share. Violet is perpetually weak throughout the first book, and the fact that she needs almost everyone in her squadron to save her from some unfortunate fate is almost an insult to her previous character growth to overcome those physical weaknesses and become a dragon rider. I feel it's also kind of strange to say that, quote unquote, "everyone wants to kill her", and then have pretty much everyone, except for a select minority, start liking her and wanting to be friends with her.

Does the first book display how much of a threat she is with not one, but two dragons? Yes. Does it give her a decent character arc? Also, yes. But her arc doesn't really get substantially better until the second book.

Iron Flame sees her helping the rebellion and developing her budding relationship with Xaden, leading to a very specific chair scene in Aretia. Book girlies, if you know, you know - it's very spicy, though. The book also sees her juggling her power, and having the might of two dragons at her back, especially a dragon that no one wants to mess with, aka. Tairn. Altogether, I loved Iron Flame, and it all led to a very emotional cliffhanger, but it's a very messy ride getting there. Like, very messy. Almost nothing makes sense until the final act. Like, there's supposed long-dead siblings coming back to life, battles, and powers, and fighting with former enemies, and more training in Violet's second year, and a really mean officer/major guy who specialises in torture tactics. It's a mess, and I think the entire plot of Iron Flame wasn't given very much thought by Rebecca Yarros.

The spice is neat, though, and it doesn't take up too much of the plot, thankfully. And the dragons are sassy. Really, really sassy. Tairn almost takes on the voice of Liam Neeson in my mind, and Andarna is by far the more bold of the two, with Tairn taking on an almost "tired dad" role, with Xaden's dragon Sgaeyl taking on the effective "mom" role. Andarna and Tairn very much feel like Eddie Brock and Venom at times, and it's hilarious to read.

All of that being said, I am very much looking forward to the next book and I do really hope that the next few books in the Empyrean Series aren't as messy as Iron Flame was. For the record, cliffhangers in both books and movies suck.

Also, for the record - my new book, Alchemy of Humanity and Divinity, just released for pre-order, and you can get your e-book copy on Amazon today for only $10 AUD. The paperback version will be releasing soon, and both versions will be fully available on New Year's Day. I hope you enjoy Luna and Kayden's story just as much as I enjoyed writing it (even though I struggled with writing the ending in the latter months of this year). The link for Alchemy of Humanity and Divinity is down below:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CPJT42RQ

I'm also beginning work on my next book, King of Blood, which is a vampire romance heavily inspired by Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker. King of Blood is also available to pre-order for $10 AUD and will be releasing on my 21st birthday, which is February 21st, 2024. I am so thrilled to give you all Jack and Mia's story. The link for King of Blood is down below:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CPJSF2FS

Also, I'm on the lookout for beta readers to help make my work that much better, so if you or someone you know would be willing to help, feel free to DM me on Facebook on my author profile, T.H. Bitz - Author, with your name and email so I can send you a draft of my next book. I need some extra eyes and ears to improve the quality in an ever-saturated market of books for the BookTok community, as that's my target demographic.

After King of Blood is written, you might see me tackling writing non-fiction, as I've been particularly interested in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy lately, namely the oft-held theory that the CIA was directly responsible for his death via Lee Harvey Oswald. I may be writing a book in mid to late 2024 regarding this theory and I'm so excited to dive into it. I've been listening to a great podcast lately on Spotify, called Who Killed JFK?, which is hosted by Rob Reiner and Soledad O'Brien, from iHeart Radio, but you can get this podcast either on the iHeart app/website or from wherever you get your podcasts on the regular. It's a fantastic break-down on the Kennedy assassination and they're still releasing regular weekly episodes. I highly recommend it.

I'm not yet sure what I'll be reviewing next, perhaps The Boy and the Heron (the new Studio Ghibli) film when I finally go watch it in cinemas. There may also be another book review in store pretty soon, when I have Crescent City 3: House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas shipped to my door in early February. I may also write an article about the Kennedy assassination, which I briefly wrote about in the paragraph above, as I might potentially be writing a book on it.

Happy reading, book lovers!! And Merry Christmas!!