If you’ve stepped into a bookstore (or have been on any book side of TikTok), you’ll probably recognize the book Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This book, with its golden cover and dragons stenciled along the pages, has taken the world by storm since it was published in April 2023. Its sequel, Iron Flame, was published later that same year, and both books have been “romantasy” (romance + fantasy) readers’s favorites. The series truly has something for everyone — from a fantasy world with fierce dragons to a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers trope.
Fans have been anxiously awaiting for the release of the third book in the Empyrean series, Onyx Storm, which is set to come out on Jan. 21. Many have been gearing up for Onyx Storm’s release by re-reading the first two books in the series. If you don’t have time to re-read the full novels, don’t worry—here is a recap of all of the major plot points from both Fourth Wing and Iron Flame.
Fourth Wing Recap
Violet Sorrengail lives in a country called Navarre, and she’s forced by her military general mother to enroll in Basgiath War College to become a dragon rider. While crossing the tall parapet to enter the war college, Violet befriends a girl named Rhiannon Matthias and makes an enemy in an aggressive recruit named Jack Barlowe. Violet also reunites with her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, who’s determined to protect her from the dangers at Basgiath. While at college, Violet meets Xaden Riorson, a “marked one” (child of rebels), whose father was killed by Violet’s mother after he led an uprising that killed Violet’s brother, Brennan.
Violet is weaker than the other recruits, so when the college has the recruits compete in hand-to-hand matches, she begins poisoning her enemies so she can win without being injured. She catches Xaden and other marked ones meeting up in secret but promises she won’t tell anyone she saw them.
During the Threshing ceremony, Jack and a few others try to kill one of the dragons, a small golden one named Andarna. Violet saves her, and ultimately bonds with her and a large black dragon named Tairn, making her the only recruit to bond with two dragons. Violet learns that Tairn is mated to Xaden’s dragon, Sgaeyl, which means that if either of them dies, the other likely will as well. A group of unbonded recruits try to kill Violet in her sleep, but Xaden saves her and appoints his friend, Liam, to be her guard. As they spend more time together, Violet and Xaden begin to develop feelings for one another.
Violet learns that Andarna can freeze time, and she uses this power to save Liam when he falls off his dragon during training. She also develops her signet (power channeled from the dragons), which is the ability to wield lightning. She uses her power to hit a tower where Jack is standing during training, killing him.
Violet and Xaden have sex, and she tells him that she loves him. They join the same group for the War Games, the final test of the year at Basgiath. Their group runs into a group of gryphon riders, who Violet has been told are her enemies. She learns that the dragon riders and gryphon riders are to fight against venin, “dark wielders” that take their magic straight from the source. Navarre had always taught citizens that venin were a myth. Violet feels betrayed that Xaden and her dragons didn’t tell her that venin were real. Xaden realizes that Dain has betrayed Violet by reading her memories using his signet, and sent their group to the venin to be killed.
Since they want to defend the innocent citizens from the venin, Violet, Xaden, and their group start to battle. Liam’s dragon dies, and because a rider cannot live without their dragon, Liam dies as well. Violet defeats the venin and their creatures, wyvern, but is stabbed by a poisoned dagger.
Xaden rushes Violet to a place where she can be healed—a house where she learns that her brother Brennan is alive.
Iron Flame Recap
Violet is at Riorson house, where she processes the fact that her brother is alive and that her country has been lying to its citizens about venin. She’s also upset with Xaden for lying to her.
Violet, Xaden, and the others in their group return to Basgiath. Xaden graduates and leaves for his military post, but he and Violet get permission to visit each other every week because their dragons are mated. Violet meets some of the new recruits, including Liam’s younger sister, Sloane, and the king’s son, who uses the fake name Aaric so his father won’t know where he is.
Violet and the rest of the Basgiath recruits learn that Jack Barlow is actually alive, and has been healed by Nolon, a mender. Violet begins to do research to learn more about the first dragon riders — how they constructed the magical wards — so that she can learn how to create wards around Riorson House.
Violet tells Rhiannon and her other friends what the country has been hiding. They all agree to help her, and her Scribe friend Jesinia, break into the vault and steal the original dragon riders’s journals. Violet is soon caught with the journals by Major Varrish, and he tortures her for days to try and find out what she knows. Dain is brought in to read her memories and tell Varrish what she knows. Xaden and his friend, Garrick, show up to rescue Violet, who is badly injured, from Varrish. It’s here Xaden tells Violet that he loves her.
Tairn shares the information about the venin with all of the other dragons, and half of Basgiath decides to join the revolution. They then fly to Riorson House.
At Riorson House, Violet learns that Andarna has a weak wing and will never be able to bear a rider. Violet reads the journals and thinks she found how to build the wards — by using the six most powerful dragons — but her plan doesn’t work. She begins training to control her lightning-wielding signet.
Violet sneaks behind Xaden’s back to the nearby Viscount Tecarus to retrieve the luminary to help the riders intensify the dragons’s fire, but when she arrives, Xaden is already there. Violet then meets Xaden’s ex-fiancée, Catriona, a gryphon rider whose signet is the ability to intensify emotions. After Violet proves her abilities by fighting a venin, Tecarus trades the luminary for weapons and makes the dragon riders take the gryphon riders back to Riorson House with them.
Violet is still angry with Dain for betraying her, but she agrees to have him help her translate the journals to find a way to raise the wards. During training, she spars with Cat, who illegally uses her signet to make Violet angry and jealous. Xaden reassures Violet that he doesn’t have feelings for Cat.
The riders are separated into groups to look for hidden runes, and Violet, Cat, and Sloane are in the same group. They run into Varrish’s dragon, who kills one member of their group before Andarna arrives and kills him.
Violet learns that Xaden has a second signet (his first is the ability to wield shadows). He’s an inntinnsic (mind-reader), which is forbidden, so if anyone found out he would be killed.
One of the Generals in Navarre who has visions about the future has one that shows wyverns and venin attacking Navarre. Violet, Xaden, and some of the other riders return to Basgiath to defend it. Violet’s mother tells her the wards are safe, but when they go to check, they find Jack Barlowe, and it’s revealed that he has turned venin.
The riders all battle against venin and wyverns. During the battle, Jesinia and Violet realize that they actually need seven dragons for the ward stone, and Andarna is the seventh special dragon that isn’t like any of the others. She tells Violet she waited 650 years to hatch so she could bond with her. Violet goes to raise the wards, and tries to use all of her power, which would kill her. Violet’s mother takes her place, and the process drains and kills her.
Xaden can sense Violet weakening, and in a desperate attempt to save her, he begins to draw his power directly from the source. Iron Flameends with Xaden revealing to Violet that he turned venin in order to save her.
I don’t know about you, but I’m *so* ready to read Onyx Storm.