Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College, Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet's already wondering how she'll get through. It's not just that it's grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it's designed to stretch the riders' capacity for pain beyond endurance. It's the new vice commandant, who's made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is - unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet's body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else's, she still has her wits, and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won't be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College - and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
Iron Flame is a sequel that wants to be bigger, and whether that works depends on what you loved about Fourth Wing. The war-college survival story gives way to conspiracy, ward lore and a lot of people hiding things from each other. Fans call it unputdownable. Kirkus found it exhausting, with a bloated, repetitive plot and secondary characters shoved aside until the story needs them.
The relentless pace is either the point or the problem. Violet and Xaden keep having the same fight about trust, which some readers take as tension and others as stalling. The dragons are the safest bet. Andarna and Tairn get praised even by critics, for humour and real emotional weight. Expect a slower, talkier first half before the action takes off.
Kirkus found the sequel exhausting and repetitive despite its constant action. Common Sense Media called it fun for genre fans but unoriginal. Readers who loved book one often call it a fun but uneven middle book, strongest on dragon bonds and weakest at the ending.
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The Empyrean
11 books in catalog
Rebecca Yarros is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than fifteen novels, with multiple starred Publishers Weekly reviews and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. A second-generation army brat, Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for more than twenty years. She’s the mother of six children, and she and her family live in Colorado with their stubborn English bulldogs, two feisty chinchillas, and a cat named Artemis, who rules them all. Having fostered, then adopted their youngest daughter, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October, which she cofounded with her husband in 2019. To learn more about their mission, visit oneoctober.org. To catch up on Rebecca’s latest releases and upcoming novels, visit RebeccaYarros.com.
