Well, I needed a genuine moment to process when finishing Iron Flame. Good Gods! Iron Flame picked up where book one in the series, Fourth Wing left off and as mentioned, ramped up to a heart-racing, jaw-drop moment that surpassed even the shock of book one’s ending. And that’s saying something!
Xaden and Violet forever
Iron Flame is part of the Empyrean series, it’s a fantasy / romantasy book, the love story of Xaden and Violet set to the backdrop of a war college for dragon riders, revolution, magic, power struggles, secrets and lies. For a more detailed intro into the world of the book, see my review of Fourth Wing. You really do need to read that before delving into Iron Flame.
While the beginning of Iron Flame feels a little slow compared to the high-octane end of Fourth Wing, sit through a few battle briefs and cadent training moments as it’s back to a fast-pace.
There are few highly memorable scenes – both violent and sexy – but I almost feel detailing the plot here isn’t needed. You will either read this book or not based on your love (or not) of its predecessor.
I loved it but IMO…
In my humble opinion, Iron Flame could have benefitted from more chapters from other character’s POV throughout to really give it a little more scope. We get one chapter from Xaden’s POV at the end and it feels so refreshing to actually get his take on things.
I’d love to hear chapters from maybe Rhi or Imogen’s POV, even Dain to see how he’s feeling about things as he had a character shift early in the book then is kind of forgotten about.
Actually, what I really want is chapters from dragons Tairn and Andarna’s POV as they are truly my fave characters, their little relationship is a joy. Plus I do find myself being interested in the whole dragon world and community that’s referred to but never delved in to.
Overall, is Iron Flame brilliantly written? No (could have been at least 100 pages shorter). Do the secondary characters have enough (any) development? No. Did it leave me with so many questions about holes in the plot / things not explained? Yes (Although TBF these might be answered in Onyx Storm). BUT am I totally invested in Xaden and Violet’s relationship? Yes. Is this one of the most addictive books I’ve read (listened to) in a long time? Absolutely, yes!
Iron Flame is just one of those chose-to-overlook-the-flaws books and you’ll have the ride of your life. If you don’t like it, stop reading. Otherwise embrace it for what it is and enjoy the pure high-adrenaline escapism. It is fantasy after all. Bring on Onyx Storm.
- Get your copy of Iron Flame here;
- Audiobook narrated by Rebecca Soler and Teddy Hamilton;
- Running time: 28 hours 16 minutes;
- Published by Piatkus 2023;
- 623 pages;
- Book review rating:
