Fourth Wing Reading Order: The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros
April 6, 2026
Discussing the differences between books and their adaptations may reveal plot points for both.
Rebecca Yarros’s Fourth Wing arrived in May 2023 and within weeks was the most talked-about book on BookTok. It sold over a million copies in its first week, broke records across multiple bestseller lists, and introduced the Empyrean series — a military academy fantasy with dragons, morally complex love interests, and a deeply addictive plot.
The Empyrean Series Reading Order
Books 4 and 5 are announced; publication dates TBC.
The complete Empyrean reading order is on the series page.
Read in publication order. The series has a continuous plot arc — each book ends on significant revelations that the next book addresses. Starting anywhere but Book 1 will spoil major twists.
What Fourth Wing Is About
Violet Sorrengail was supposed to join the Scribes, the scholarly quadrant of Basgiath War College. Her mother, a general, forces her into the Riders instead — the most dangerous quadrant, where students bond with dragons and most don’t survive their first year.
The world-building is military-academy-meets-epic-fantasy: power structures, hierarchy, alliances, betrayal. The romance — enemies-to-lovers with morally ambiguous Xaden Riorson — drives the emotional arc alongside the dragon-bonding and magical development.
The tone is adult (explicit content) and the plotting is propulsive. Chapters end on revelations designed to make you start the next one immediately.
Why It Blew Up on BookTok
Fourth Wing has several elements that BookTok responds to intensely:
- A strong, underestimated female protagonist
- An enemies-to-lovers arc with genuine tension
- Dragons (always popular)
- Found family dynamics
- A military academy setting with high stakes
- Morally grey love interest
Iron Flame: What to Expect
Iron Flame (Book 2) is longer than Fourth Wing and darker in tone. The revelations at the end of Book 1 reshape everything in Book 2, and the war that was backdrop in the first book becomes central.
Warning: Iron Flame ends on a significant cliffhanger. Have Onyx Storm ready.
Content Notes
The Empyrean series is adult fiction. It contains explicit sexual content, significant violence, character deaths, and mature themes. It is not YA despite the college-age protagonists and the crossover appeal to younger readers via BookTok.