Fourth Wing

Rebecca Yarros

May 2023 · The Empyrean Book 1 · Sold by Entangled: Red Tower Books

About this ebook

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

"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 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

Ratings and reviews

interesting premises. School / trials are fun story tools/clichés that I always enjoy, but I expect characters to evolve and develop from their challenges. the magic is a delight. The characters are 100% written as tell not show. the characters are 1-dimensional clichés, maybe mentally deficient... we are TOLD fragile, best friend, struggling, etc. but not shown. for as many pages as this book has, it's a lot of nothing. it's a quick, simple read that enjoyable for what it is. I can enjoy a wide variety of genres through my visual media; however, when I choose to read, I like to be challenged, see intricate development, novel words, or clever prose. this book, is not for me🤷🏼‍♂️

I read probably to much fantasy and YA fantasy. There are a few times where I don't finish books because the writing loses me, this is one of those times. The premise of the book was so good, and the world building was so promising... But then I started to struggle, I wanted to skiped parts but stuck with it. For me the writing was all over the place and character growth was not there for me... Unfortunately this is one of those books that I didn't finish. It was hard to listen to descriptions and actions of beings that are supposed to be so intelligent, majestic and emotionally aware... I was frustrated that they didn't have any more depth than the children characters she was portraying. I'm glad many people enjoy this book. Writing is truely a challenging endeavor. Not every writer is for everyone.

the tale is ACTUALLY told, the world around them is not just left upon you to form from UR imagination but SPECIFICALLY detailed out--thats so refreshing in this "trendy" era of a speedy 200 page book with an obvious epilogue chapter in the ending. slight minus point was that the writing is more modern, even if designed to be in a more medieval setting--which was weird but like, good weird...kinda. 😂

About the author

Rebecca Yarros is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifteen novels, with multiple starred Publishers Weekly reviews and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. A second-generation army brat, Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for more than twenty years. She’s the mother of six children, and she and her family live in Colorado with their stubborn English bulldogs, two feisty chinchillas, and a cat named Artemis, who rules them all.

Having fostered, then adopted their youngest daughter, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October, which she cofounded with her husband in 2019. To learn more about their mission, visit oneoctober.org.

To catch up on Rebecca’s latest releases and upcoming novels, visit RebeccaYarros.com.