Gods, I wasn’t quite prepared for the intense, addictive trip that Fourth Wing was! As the fantasy genre is not a go-to one for me, Fourth Wing has never been on my TBR but I was intrigued by the hype with the recent release of the 3rd book in the series, Onyx Storm – and always up for trying new things – I downloaded the audiobook.
And yes, Fourth Wing got its hooks into me! Who knew the goings-on in a war college for dragon riders would have such an appeal to me? Or, let’s be honest, it’s Xaden Riorson that has such an appeal to me.
Opening sentence: A dragon without its rider is a tragedy, a rider without their dragon is dead.
Welcome to Fourth Wing
And welcome to the heady, dystopian fantasy land of Navarre. Specifically Basgaith War College, more specifically, the dragon riders quadrant where most of the action takes place. A hugely detailed world has been imagined and built in these pages, with history and depth. Framed by war (dragons vs griffins) and protecting Navarre.
People train to be dragon riders and bond with their dragons who can then transfer power and magic to them. Trust me, go with it, it’s all brilliantly done and highly entertaining.
But for me, the war and dragons were second in my attentions, taking prime spot was the insanely sexual-tension filled relationship between our lead heroine, Violet Sorrengail and her nemesis/destiny, exceptionally hot (Violet’s words, not mine, literally every time she sees him) wingleader (aka boss), Xaden Riorson…
The love/hate situ between them is maxed out and we all know there’s only one direction that can go in, leading to some very sexy chapters.
‘Not all strength is physical, Violet.’
I listened to Fourth Wing on audiobook and narrator, Rebecca Soler was EXCELLENT (even when pretending to be a dragon, yes the dragons talk). It was like listening to a movie, I could picture everything so clearly. She was even crying at one point in a highly dramatic (and obviously sad) scene, which in turn made me cry – on a bus!
Also, having now seen some of the character names written down, I never would have been able to pronounce them correctly if not for the audiobook.
Sometimes we all need pure escapism
The last (only other) fantasy series I read was Harry Potter when it was originally released so we’re going back quite some time there. Fourth Wing triggered a nostalgic feeling when reading due to that and I did watch Game of Thrones so saw echoes of that in these pages too.
Violet’s character is 20 years-old but had a young inner voice and her way of speaking felt very YA to me but Fourth Wing is not classed as YA due to all the violence and sex. It’s essentially so much fun to read – it’s pure escapism to throw yourself into a series like this.
Fast-paced, so twisty, so sexy, so high-drama and brimming with secrets and lies. I couldn’t have stopped listening to this if I tried. It’s the first book in The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros so obviously it ends on a cliff-hanger and WHAT a cliff-hanger, my jaw was literally on the floor.
Fourth Wing is a wild ride and I’m here for it. Literally downloading the audiobook of book two in the series, Iron Flame as I type this.
- Get your copy of Fourth Wing here;
- Audiobook narrated by Rebecca Soler and Teddy Hamilton;
- Running time: 21 hours 22 minutes;
- Published by Piatkus 2023;
- 576 pages;
- Book review rating:
