Book Club April 2026: Fourth Wing

"A dragon without it's rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead."

Fourth Wing is book one in the Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yaros. This romantasy series is the story of Violet Sorrengail, the youngest child of Lilith Sorrengail -- Commanding General of the Kingdom of Navarre. Violet has turned twenty, so it is now time for her to choose which Squadrant she will join to serve the kingdom. Her entire life has been preparing her for the Scribe Squadrant, but at the last minute her mother demands she join the Riders Quadrant - dragon rider, that is. Violet is basically unprepared, not to mention physically small and in constant pain, so no one really expects her to survive. But, Sorrengail's are riders, and her mother is making no exceptions.

Violet's older brother was a rider, but he was killed in battle. Her older sister is also a well-respected rider, and she gives Violet several tips on how to survive the vicious training and competitions to become a dragon rider. Cadets are regularly killed during the training, and even if they survive and complete all requirements, there is no gaurantee they will become riders. This is because the dragons themselves must choose to bond with the riders, and since dragons are fairly secretive, no one is completely certain what makes a dragon bond. Once a rider has a dragon, though, that rider is fueled by the dragon's strength and will recieve special powers called signets.

The thing about training to be a scribe all her life is that Violet ends up being able to offset her physical limitations with knowledge. For example, she trades off physical sparring lessons for history tutorials and study sessions. Riders train for three years, and as a first year, Violet's squad is Fourth Wing. Her lifelong best friend, Dain, is a year ahead of her, but he is a leader in Fourth Wing. There is a romantic attraction between them that they have never acted on, and since it is against the rules to be involved with someone not in your year -- and Dain is all about the rules -- that attraction becomes a definite source of tension.

Violet not only has to navigate her woeful incompetence at so many of the tasks a rider must be able to complete, she is also collecting enemies as she goes along. Becoming a rider is competitive, so some of her enemies are simply a result of other cadets wanting to eliminate her as a competitor. But then there's Xaden Riorson and his friends. Not only did Violet's mother have their parents publically executed for participating in an uprising, it is Violet's belief that Xaden's father was responsible for her brother's death.

One of her sister's warnings is to stay away from Xaden. Mira believed Xaden would kill Violet on sight. Of course, Violet sees Xaden almost immediately, and she knows he has seen her, too. She believes he hates her, and she should hate him back. The only problem is, he might be despicable and keeping secrets, but she is also incredibly attracted to him. This mostly annoys her, right up to the moment that she bonds a dragon -- and it happens to be mated to Xaden's dragon. Since dragons cannot be apart from their mates for more than a few days at a time, this throws her an Xaden together. He is furious. She is weak, but now she is bonded to him through their dragon's connection. It is possible that her death would kill him, as well. He must now keep his enemy alive.

Like many first books in a series, there is a lot going on in Fourth Wing. It is action packed, paced quickly, and is an extremly fun read. The world of Navarre, with it's political and familial complications, feels extremely real. The dangers are imposing, and as the book progresses, the reader realizes that the tricky environment of the school has nothing on the political mechanitations going on behind the scenes. I was completely invested the entire time I was reading.

The book has a fair bit of death in it, and some is fairly gory. There are many betrayals along the way. Sex is taken casually by the cadets with the exception of Violet and Xaden, neither of whom participate in casual dalliances. Still, the overall feeling of this book is that you are reading a young adult novel. There is cursing, but it only really registerd on me twice, probably because the language seemed appropraite. Overall, though, I think the young adult vibe has to do with the age and lack of worldliness of the characters. The books is set at a school, after all. Plus, in places I could see the influences of other young adult stories - it felt reminiscent of the Divergent series in particular.

I think it is this general young adult novel tone that makes the sex scenes stand out with so much significance. They feel extremely graphic. I'd expect to find them in adult fiction, and even at that, some adult romance is far tamer than these scenes. They are detailed, and they are hot.

I very much enjoyed the development of the relationships in this story, from the friendships, to the romance, to the dragon-rider bond. The plot is well crafted and executed, the unknown is a real factor in the movement of the story. The one thing that really sold me on this series, though, was the humour. There are just these little moments where Violet expresses herself in this dry, female way that makes me snort out loud with laughter.

I've already purchased the next book and have started in. While some middle books in a series are a disappointment, this one is also compelling, The first book revealed several surprises and left several questions unanswered. I am excited to read on, and find out what happens next.