Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general — also known as her tough-as-talons mother — has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away ... because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
Rebecca Yarros has been a favorite author of mine for years, and I’ve read everything she has written. She is one of those authors that really pulls a lot of emotion from me with her intense stories. This new Empyrean series, is departure from Yarros’s usual genre into the fantasy realm. I read almost all genres but am a moody reader. It took me a few months to be ready for a fantasy read. I finally started the 20-hour audiobook on cloudLibrary and I WAS HOOKED.
Fourth Wing is the first book in the Empyrean series. The reader is thrust into the world of an elite war college teaching dragon riders all the tools of war. These riders bond with a dragon and defend their lands from evil beings attempting to overtake their kingdom of Navarre. Violet Sorrengail was trained as a scribe, not a dragon rider, however she has no choice but to do as she is told. No one thinks she will live past the first test, nevertheless Violet proves everyone wrong. Her enemy, Xaden Riorson is not the adversary she once thought. Violet and Xaden must battle together to stay alive.
When listening to audiobooks, the narrators play a large role in whether you enjoy the book. Rebecca Soler and Teddy Hamilton were phenomenal as the narrators of Fourth Wing. I was transported into the world of the story with their performances. I couldn’t wait to leave work, so I could continue with the book. This story is filled with intrigue, brutal battles of death, and a smidgen of a budding romance. I highly recommend Fourth Wing if you are a fantasy reader!
Fourth Wing is available at your library in print and on cloudLibrary in eBook and eAudiobook formats. Happy Reading!
- Dione, Area Librarian