A Review of ‘Fourth Wing’ and ‘Iron Flame’ by Rebecca Yarros
After I finished reading the first of the two books, ‘Fourth Wing,’ I went on to Reddit to check out what the other readers of this novel were feeling after they finished reading the book. The most common criticism of the book was that the characters in the book spoke in modern parlance. Although I agree that could be jarring to a few readers, I believe that overtly dwelling on this one aspect of the book significantly brings down our own enjoyment because nowhere does the author make grandiose claims to be this generation’s ‘Lord Of The Rings.’
The Empyrean series is a first-person narrative of Cadet Violet Sorrengail, daughter of the decorated general who crushed the Tyrrish rebellion. Unlike her siblings and her mother, who are known throughout the kingdom for their ruthlessness and physical prowess, our protagonist is fragile and instead of aspiring to be a dragon rider, is set on being a Scribe like her father. Her plans are foiled at the last moment by her mother, who forces her to join the Rider’s quadrant, and with some luck from her (presumed) dead brother’s journal, her sister’s instructions before she begins her training, the constant support from her friends, and some clever use of brains over brawn, Cadet Violet Sorrengail manages to survive her first year at the war college.
The world-building in this story, albeit with its own flaws, is extensive and stretches well beyond the current confines of the story, giving the current storyline a solid foundation to build on. We see some semblance of Hogwarts in the war college at Basgiath and to Voldemort, the Death Eaters, and the Dementors in Venin and Wyvern.
The weakest link in the entire series would be the on-and-off romance between the two lead characters of the book, Xaden and Violet. What starts out as the classic enemies-to-lovers trope, morphs briefly into a love triangle, and eventually settles into the star-crossed lovers who could not be more different from each other motif. The romance scenes do not evoke any emotion in you, and the fact that their two dragons have mated for life, intertwining their lives very tightly, makes it only that much more obvious that these characters are going to end up together.
Despite some obvious flaws, the author does manage to engage you throughout this lengthy novel and keeps you invested in the main plot of this story, which I have always held to be one of two defining traits of a good book. One might skip some portions of the novel, like I did with the borderline smut, but you are interested in the fascinating characters that are strewn across the plot. Each of them has layers of different depths to their personalities while still being true to their core beliefs.
