Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros
Rising to popularity from the BookTok frenzy, Fourth Wing is a thrilling adult fantasy novel by Rebecca Yarros. It marks the first in her series, The Empyrean, of which there will soon be three. Since its release on May 2nd 2023, it has reached number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list and has achieved critical acclaim.
Synopsis
Fourth Wing follows 20-year-old Violet Sonnengail. She spends her formative years comfortably immersed in literature, training to be a scribe while the war in Navarre (her home country) wages on.
While Violet is destined for the Scribe Quadrant, her mother, the commanding general of the Navarre Army, orders her to train as an elite dragon rider at Basgiath War College. She finds this new world a leap from what she’s used to, full of competitive characters with ulterior motives – who are even willing to kill her to better their success.
Even worse, Violet finds it difficult to bond with a dragon due to her weak stature. In Naverre, dragons are more interested in killing “fragile” people, than bonding with them.
Along the way, she meets her love interest, Xaden Riorson, a powerful “wingleader” of the riders Quadrant, with whom she shares a long and complex family feud. Their relationship slowly unravels from enemies to lovers.This novel follows the interpersonal relationship of everyone at Basgiath War College who soon realise that, once they enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.
“Throw in an enemies-to-lovers plotline, a love triangle, some life-threatening trials and the threat of war in the outside world, and you've got yourself a deliciously gripping dish, which I downed in one sitting”
- Stylist
Critical Response
While the hype for this novel was spurred on by TikTok & Instagram shares, it had mixed reviews from the wider literary sphere. Fourth Wing contains all the themes of a fantasy lover’s dream: dragons, war, passion, and power. Most notable is Yarros’ vast and incredible world-building, including her development of the dragon lore. Readers also loved the dark academic setting of Basgianth War College, and the thrilling plot twists that transpire there.
Some readers speculate that Violet’s physical condition in the novel is similar to that of sufferers of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a condition that Rebecca Yarros has; this adds an extra layer to our connection with Violet.
But something from the book is just missing…
The book’s biggest criticism has been with Yarros’ character building. Most found it difficult to understand certain characters’ motivations when their backstory was entangled with the long, incongruent exploration of other characters’ backstories. What’s more, readers found it difficult to grasp the reality of the modern-style dialogue between characters in an ostensibly mediaeval setting, often finding it “cringe”.
Just as jarring, for some readers, was the raunchy and palpitating romance between Xioden and Violet that erred the book into the young adult genre, instead of epic fantasy.
Despite the criticism, it’s clear that this novel’s popularity will prevail, with its sequel, Iron Flame, becoming an instant number-one Sunday Times bestseller. Keep a lookout for the release of the third book in The Empyrean series, Onyx Storm, available for pre-order on the 21st of January 2025.
