I wasn't familiar with Rebecca Yarros prior to receiving the first two books in her Empyrean Series, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, as a gift. (Note: links will take you to the audible product page versions of the book on Amazon and are affiliate links. You should be able to find links to physical copies of the books from there if you prefer).
It's been a long time that I've read a book that I don't want to put down after the time I have to read for the day is over.
These two books, which are not insignificant in size at 498 and 623 pages respectively are page turners from beginning to end (almost but I'll get to that later).
The story is set in a fantasy mythical world where dragons and magic are common place.
Fourth Wing opens as Violet, the younger, weaker daughter of a fairly infamous general in a dragon riders army, is pushed into the first year of dragon rider school, rather than her preferred, and prepared for, path of scribe school.
Both her mother (the aforementioned general) and her sister are dragon riders, and, while her sister sees Violet should be in scribe school, her mother is having none of it.
From there we follow her path through her first year (in Fourth Wing) and second year (in Iron Flame) as Violet and her contemporaries train for an ongoing war to protect their lands from an invading force, that may not be what they've been led to believe by the leadership.
If that wasn't enough, Violet's Mother's reputation precedes her and will put her in harms way even from those who are supposed to be on her side. Can she even make it through one of the toughest military schools around where death is a regular part of training?
My biggest criticism of these books is that I don't yet have the third book in the series, Onyx Storm. (Available for pre-order at the time of this review... I must know what happens next!).
I'm probably not the first person to think these books are basically Harry Potter for adults with Dragons (I don't actually know if there were dragons in Harry Potter, I only saw the first movie and never read the books).
It's a similar premise, except we're talking a very hardcore military school, where there are rules for when it is or isn't okay to kill another student, and there's lots more, kind of graphic, sex scenes. This isn't a book series for your preteens no matter how advanced their reading skills are.
Speaking of sex scenes. I never thought I'd say this but that's my least liked part of these books. Possibly because the majority of the series is written from Violet's point of view, which is completely fine until you get to a sex scene, particularly one that spans more than a few pages.
I have no problems with sex scenes in books, movies etc. but these are written from a female point of view (as they should be). I never imagined I could find a sex scene tedious to read. I guess what turns Rebecca Yarros on is very different to my taste. I was tempted to skip them when they happen but you also get key character moments during them too - so read them I did.
I think they just went on for too many pages at times.
Beyond that, there are plenty of supporting characters with interesting character arcs of their own. And definitely a few surprises and plot twists you don't see coming.
Apparently Amazon has bought the rights to this series (for which there are five books planned - damn you Rebecca! I'm not a fan of jumping on a book series that is still being written!) for a TV show. I'll be interested to see how that goes considering they're going to need to put a considerable number of dragons on screen. I'm also curious if they make the dragons talk because so much communication in these books is telepathic.
If you are a fan of the fantasy/dragons/magic genre and you liked the story of Harry Potter but have out grown it, this series is probably right in your wheelhouse. I found it easy to read (sex scenes excluded) and always had something going on to keep you engaged - hence finding it hard to put down.
It feels like a fully realized world that could be something you'd want to revisit with new stories and characters in the future.
Purchase the Fourth Wing and Iron Flame on Amazon.
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