Fourth Wing is a new adult fantasy 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 Book, 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 military experience with her husband, 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.
20-year old Violet Sorrengail is the youngest daughter of General Lilith Sorrengail, who leads the Basgiath War College in Navarre. Here, students choose to join one of four military branches: Infantry, Healer, Scribe, or Rider. Riders bond with a dragon, which allows them to develop a magical power known as a 'signet'. Despite having trained to be a scribe like her late father, and suffering from chronic pain and weak joints, Violet's mother orders her to join the Riders Quadrant - infamous for being deadly to new recruits. Many of the other Rider recruits' parents were involved in a rebellion years earlier, which was put down by General Sorrengail. As a sign of their parents' guilt, they are forever marked with a special sign. In Basgiath, Violet reunites with her childhood friend and longtime crush Dain Aetos, a second-year cadet. She also meets Xaden Riorson, a marked third-year whose father was executed by Violet's mother for his leading role in the rebellion. Violet joins Fourth Wing under the vengeful Xaden's command, with Dain as their squad leader. Against all odds, Violet manages to survive her training and bonds with two dragons, Tairn and Andarna. She even falls in love with Xaden and the two end up in a relationship. For their final challenge of the year, they are sent on a suicide mission designed by Dain's father to kill them. During this deployment, the truth about the rebellion of Xaden's father is revealed and Violet joins the re-emerging revolution.
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 âÂÂromantasyâ fans.
The sequel, Iron Flame, was released on November 7, 2023. The third book, Onyx Storm, was released on January 21, 2025.
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.