Fourth Wing is a new adultfantasy romance novel written by the American author Rebecca Yarros. It is the first book in the Empyrean series, following the journey of Violet Sorrengail, who is forced by her mother, General Sorrengail, to join the Basgiath War College and become a dragon rider in the kingdom of Navarre. Even though she has been trained her entire life to enter the Scribe Quadrant, Violet must endure deadly quests and competitions that push her to her limits while trying to avoid being killed by one of the most powerful riders in the quadrant, Xaden Riorson.
The book was published in the United States on May 2, 2023, by Red Tower Books, an imprint of Entangled Publishing. Its viral success within TikTok's reader community, BookTok, significantly contributed to its No. 1 ranking on The New York Times bestseller list. It won The International Book of the Year 2024 at the annual TikTok Book Awards. The book sold over two million copies in its first six months and has been translated into approximately 30 languages.
Yarros has mentioned in interviews that the idea for Fourth Wing emerged when her publisher announced that they were going to start a romantic fantasy line, prompting her to submit five proposals. After several reviews, her publisher selected the third idea, which explored the Empyrean world. The inspiration for the story stems from her fascination with dragons, her husband's military experience, and her personal struggles. Violet's physical fragility, as described in the book, was influenced by Yarros's own experience living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic disorder affecting both her and her children. Yarros has expressed a desire to represent people with chronic illnesses, showcasing that they can also be heroic.
Plot summary
20-year old Violet Sorrengail is the youngest daughter of General Lilith Sorrengail, who leads the Basgiath War College in the kingdom of Navarre. While Violet was trained to be a scribe and has weak joints, her mother orders her to risk her life and become a dragon rider.
As punishment for a rebellion that General Sorrengail had put down years earlier, the rebels' children were branded with marks called relics and forced to enter Basgiath's Riders Quadrant. Violet learns that these 'marked ones' may seek revenge on her because of her family. Upon entering the War College, Violet is nearly thrown to her death by violent cadet Jack Barlowe, who vows to kill her. She meets the infamous Xaden Riorson, a third-year student with a rebellion relic whose father was executed by General Sorrengail. In Basgiath, Violet reunites with her childhood friend and longtime crush Dain Aetos, a second-year cadet. Violet joins Fourth Wing under Xaden's command, with Dain as their squad leader.
When cadet training starts, Violet struggles with sparring because of her frailty. She is targeted by marked ones, who blame her for General Sorrengail's actions. She begins learning her sparring partners' names in advance and poisoning them to give herself an advantage. One night, she overhears the marked ones having a secret meeting and is caught by Xaden, who asks her to stay quiet in exchange for a favor in the future. In a sparring match later, Xaden shows her how to improve her fighting skills.
Riders bond to a dragon which allows them to develop a magical power known as a signet, however, not every cadet is lucky enough to be picked by a dragon to be their rider. When Violet and her squad meet the dragons, they see a small, golden dragon, and Jack wants to kill it for appearing weak. Violet intervenes, but Jack and his friends attack her. Violet is saved by a large black dragon named Tairn, which takes her back to school. Violet also connects with the little dragon, Andarna, and becomes the first rider with two dragons. Dain kisses Violet, but finds that she no longer has feelings for him.
Violet struggles to maintain balance on Tairn during training. One night, Tairn wakes her when six cadets attempt to kill her. Xaden rescues her and kills the cadets, with his signet that can wield shadows. When Violet reveals a senior cadet let the attackers in, Xaden confronts them and has them executed. After the attack, Xaden arranges for Liam, his foster brother and a marked cadet, to protect Violet. During a meeting with their dragons, Violet learns she can communicate with Sgaeyl because of her bond with Tairn. She kisses Xaden due to Tairn's feelings for Sgaeyl, which influence their feelings as well. Jack tries to kill her during a sparring session, but she escapes by purposefully triggering his allergies.
Violet and Xaden find they can communicate telepathically through their dragons. Later, during a capture-the-flag game, Violet uses Andarna to freeze time, saving Liam from Jack, and manifests the rare and powerful signet to wield lightning, which she uses to cause a landslide which seemingly kills Jack. That night, Violet and Xaden have sex. She asks why he and his cousin Bodhi were out after curfew. Xaden shares they were at a nearby military base but does not explain further.
In the final round of the college War Games, Xaden leads a group of marked ones to an outpost in Athebyne, where they encounter gryphon fliers. Violet learns that Xaden has been secretly supplying weapons to them. Xaden reveals that Poromiel is under attack by the venin, creatures thought to be mythical. The leaders of Navarre are concealing this from their people. They arrive at the outpost but find it deserted. A nearby village is attacked by venin, and they realize they have been led into a trap by Colonel Aetos, who found out about their trips to Athebyne through Dain using his signet on Violet without her knowing.
Despite the danger, Violet and her crew help the gryphon fliers against the venin attack. Liam and his dragon are killed. Using her lightning powers, Violet defeats the last venin and briefly stops time with energy from Andarna, but she becomes seriously injured. Xaden and the survivors seek safety in Aretia, an abandoned city. After three days, Violet wakes up, finds out her brother Brennan is still alive, and Xaden vows to earn back her trust.
Violet Sorrengail: The protagonist and primary point-of-view character. Smaller and physically weaker than the other riders, she only joins the Riders Quadrant at the demand of her mother, General Lilith Sorrengail. She is assigned to Fourth Wing. In an unprecedented turn of events, she bonds to two dragons, Tairneanach, or "Tairn", a Black Morningstartail, behemoth of a dragon, and Andarnaurram, or "Andarna", a golden, feathertail dragon. Signets: Lightning Wielding (Through Tairn.)
Xaden Riorson: A marked one, and wing leader of Fourth Wing who, through his bond with his dragon Sgaeyl, has the ability to wield shadows. He is the son of Fen Riorson, a rebellion leader who killed Violet's brother and was later killed by Violet's mother. Because of this, Xaden and Violet are incredibly hostile towards one another. Xaden is described as an extremely attractive person and is a love interest for Violet. Bonded to Sgaeyl, a navy-Blue Daggertail dragon.
Dain Aetos: Violet's childhood best friend and son of Colonel Aetos. A second-year Rider, he is a squad leader in the Fourth Wing. Through his bond with his dragon Cath, he can read memories upon touching another person. He is a love interest for Violet. Bonded to Cath, a Red Swordtail; Signet: Retrocognition.
Rhiannon Matthias: A first-year member of the Riders Quadrant who is assigned to Fourth Wing. She becomes Violet's best friend. Bonded to Feirge, a green, daggertail; Signet: Retrieval.
Sawyer Henrick: A repeated first year, he and Rhiannon agree to help Violet with hand-to-hand combat if Violet tutors them in history. He becomes a good friend of Violet, Rhiannon, and Ridoc. Bonded to Sliseag, a red, swordtail dragon; Signet: Metallurgy.
Ridoc Gamlyn: A first-year member of the Riders Quadrant who is assigned to Fourth Wing. He is very humorous and becomes a good friend of Violet, Rhiannon, and Sawyer. Bonded to Aotrom, a brown swordtail; Signet: Ice-Wielding.
Liam Mairi: A first-year Rider who grew up with Xaden after their parents were killed for leading the rebellion. Bonded to Deigh, a red daggertail; Signet: Farsight.
Other Basgiath War College students
Jack Barlowe: A violent first-year Rider who is assigned to First Wing and makes it his mission to kill Violet.
Jesinia Neilwart: a first-year in the Scribe Quadrant and Violet's friend.
Oren Seifert: a jealous first-year Rider who is assigned to First Wing and like Jack makes it his mission to kill Violet.
Amber Mavis: a wing leader and a close friend of Dain.
Notable Navarre military officials
Lilith Sorrengail: She is the Commanding General of Basgiath War College. Her signet is Storm Wielding, and she is bound to the Brown Dragon Aimsir. Lilith is known as a ruthless, stern, and powerful rider, which makes her respected and feared by those within and outside the Kingdom of Navarre. Lilith is also Asher Sorrengail's wife and Violet Sorrengail's mother. In addition, Lilith plays an important role in the life of Xaden Riorson, as she is responsible for the death of Fen Riorson.
Mira Sorrengail: Violet's older sister and a graduate of Basgiath War College. She strongly opposes her mother's decision to force Violet into the Riders Quadrant. Bonded with Teine, a green, clubtail dragon; signet: ward extension.
Augustine Melgren: General of all of Navarre's armies. His bonded black swordtail dragon, Codagh, gave rebellion relics to all of the rebels' children, or "the marked ones", offering some protection to them from Melgren's signet. Melgren is able to see the outcome of any battle, except when three or more marked ones are gathered.
Colonel Aetos: Dain's father. Dragon and signet are unknown.
Additional notable characters
Brennan Sorrengail: Violet's brother. Believed to be dead in Book One. Signet: mending. Bonded to an orange daggertail dragon named Marbh.
Asher Sorrengail: Violet's father. He was a curator of the Scribe quadrant and a pivotal character in Violet's life. He dies from a heart attack shortly after Brennan's death.
Fen Riorson: Xaden's father, Fen, was an infantryman and leader of the Tyrrish rebellion against the government of Navarre. Fen was a man of values who wanted Xaden to follow his footsteps. As a result of his actions against the government, as well as the death of Brennan Sorrengail, Fen Riorson was sentenced to death, with Lilith Sorrengail in charge of carrying out the execution.
Imogen Cardulo: A second-year rider at Basgiath War College as a supportive friend to Xaden and a potential ally for Violet.
Garrick Tavis: Xaden's best friend since childhood, Garrick is characterized by his loyalty and steadfast nature.
Professor Carr: A knowledgeable instructor at Basgiath War College.
Reception
The book had a mostly positive critical reception. Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review, praising its worldbuilding, characters, and "sexy dark academia aesthetic". Alana Joli Abbott, in a review for Paste, praised its use of familiar tropes and compared it favorably to fantasy series like Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. The book was one of the most borrowed titles in American public libraries during 2023 and 2024.
Fourth Wing became a viral phenomenon on BookTok, where the hashtags "#FourthWing" and "#RebeccaYarros" have more than a billion views combined. Its popularity led it to reach No. 1 on Amazon's bestseller list as well as the No. 1 spot on The New York Times Bestseller list, where it stayed for 18 weeks. It has been credited as helping to popularize the "romantasy" genre, which blends elements of romance and fantasy genres.
Kimberly Terasaki of The Mary Sue wrote about a phenomenon within the fandom of portraying Xaden, a primary love interest of the protagonist, as white in fan art despite the fact that he is described as dark-skinned in the book. Yarros also commented on the phenomenon and asserted that the character is not intended to be white.
There is a review available by Tamara Saarinen from the School Library Journal, who approached Fourth Wing from the perspective of a school library. She noted that the use of modern profanity and sexual scenes make this book more appropriate for older teen audiences. That said, she did give an overall positive verdict for school libraries, claiming it would attract “romantasy” fans.
The sequel, Iron Flame, was released on November 7, 2023. The third book, Onyx Storm, was released on January 21, 2025.
Adaptations
Television series
In October 2023, Variety reported that a television adaptation of the series was in the works at Amazon MGM Studios. It was also revealed that Amazon and Outlier Society had acquired rights to all books in the series, with Rebecca Yarros and Liz Pelletier announced as executive producers of the series. In July 2024, Moira Walley-Beckett was announced to be the showrunner, but would later leave. Jac Schaeffer was in talks to replace her before Meredith Averill was announced to be the new showrunner.
In March 2025, Yarros announced graphic-novel adaptations are in the works for all three of books of The Empyrean series (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm). Yarros has stated she will be adapting the text herself along with a team of comic creators. A total of six graphic-novels are planned to span all three books. This project is in partnership with Ten Speed Graphic, Piatkus, and Entangled Publishing. Release dates have not been announced.
A series of dramatised audiobooks was produced by American audiobook company GraphicAudio and released in 2023.
References
↑"The Empyrean". Rebecca Yarros | #1 New York Times Bestselling Author. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
