‘Fourth Wing’: Everything We Know About the Third Book, ‘Onyx Storm’

• Rebecca Yarros’ “Fourth Wing” and its sequel “Iron Flame” captivated readers.
• The third ebook within the collection, “Onyx Storm,” will hit bookshelves on January 21, 2025.
• It’ll discover Violet Sorrengail’s increasing energy and Xaden Riorson’s wrestle as a venin.

After over a yr of ready, it is nearly time for the discharge of “Onyx Storm,” the subsequent ebook in Rebecca Yarros’ “The Empyrean” collection.

Yarros turned an instantaneous New York Occasions bestseller with “Fourth Wing” in April 2023, her novel about Violet Sorrengail, a scholar coaching to be a dragon rider at Basgiath Warfare School in Navarre.

She printed its sequel, “Iron Flame,” in November of the identical yr, which additionally hit the bestseller checklist as quickly because it was launched.

Yarros plans for the collection to incorporate 5 installments. The third ebook, “Onyx Storm,” will probably be launched on January 21, 2025, selecting up the threads Yarros specified by “Iron Flame.”

This text incorporates heavy spoilers for “Fourth Wing” and “Iron Flame.”

‘The Empyrean’ collection follows Violet Sorrengail as she trains to be a dragon rider

“Fourth Wing” noticed Violet Sorrengail make her method into the Rider’s Quadrant at Basgiath, the place she shocked everybody by bonding with two dragons: Tairn, essentially the most highly effective dragon of her Threshing class, and Andarna, a child dragon.

Violet’s success was a shock each due to her unnamed bodily incapacity that causes her bones to interrupt simply and provides her dizzy spells — the signs match Yarros’ analysis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome — and since a lot of her classmates need her lifeless, as they’re the youngsters of insurgent fighters killed by her mom, Navarre’s common.

On the finish of the novel, Violet discovers that the legendary venin — people that quit components of their souls to steal magic from the land — are actual, as are the wyvern they create.

Her good friend and bodyguard, Liam, dies in a battle with the creatures, although Violet saves others round her along with her lightning-wielding energy and Andarna’s capacity to cease time. Violet additionally discovers her brother is alive and has been working with the resistance fighters towards Navarre.

The revelations imply that Violet’s authorities and her mom have been mendacity to her, as has her love curiosity, Xaden Riorson.

Xaden, the son of the late chief of the rise up, was her enemy, however they fell in love after Violet bonded with Tairn, who’s mated to Xaden’s dragon, Sgaeyl. However when Violet finds out Xaden has been secretly working to guard those that stay exterior Navarre’s wards, in addition to gryphon fliers — people who journey on half-lion, half-eagle creatures — from the venin with out telling her, she is not positive she will ever belief him.

At first of “Iron Flame,” Violet has to return to Basgiath along with her dragon Tairn and faux she does not know life-changing truths about her world, whereas Andarna falls right into a deep sleep as she grows into her adolescence.

As her coaching progresses, assassins and leaders at Basgiath attempt to kill Violet and her pals for what they know. Finally, Violet, Xaden, and half of the varsity flee to affix the rise up with their dragons (together with a now-awake Andarna), they usually’re quickly joined by members of Navarre’s military, together with Violet’s sister and gryphon fliers. The dragon riders and gryphon fliers have been skilled to hate one another for generations however should work collectively to defeat the venin.

The ebook’s climax happens simply after Violet figures out that Xaden, along with his shadow energy, has been protecting his capacity to learn folks’s intentions a secret, a taboo energy that would get him killed and makes Violet query their relationship. In the meantime, the wards in Navarre fall, which have been protecting the venin out, leaving the scholars and residents of Basgiath weak. The revolution fighters come to their support.

Violet figures out how one can elevate the wards after discovering that Andarna isn’t what she appears (extra on that in a second). The wards come up after Violet’s mom sacrifices herself for the sake of her kids’s lives.

Yarros’ third ebook could have loads to discover by way of Violet’s energy and her relationship with Xaden

The most important shock of “Iron Flame” comes within the final chapter when Xaden turns into one of many venin. He stole energy when he feared Violet was dying throughout the battle at Basgiath, sacrificing a part of his soul to save lots of her.

In “Iron Flame’s” epilogue, Violet’s nemesis, Jack Barlowe, tells Xaden there isn’t any recognized treatment to turning venin, so readers can assume Xaden will nonetheless be turning at the beginning of the third ebook. The outline of “Onyx Storm” says that Violet will enterprise exterior the wards within the rise up’s base in Aretia to seek out allies and magic that may assist Xaden, indicating his flip to venin will play an enormous position within the ebook’s plot.

It is unclear how Xaden’s relationship with Violet and his dragon Sgaeyl will change now that he’s venin, although his thirst for energy will possible develop. His position within the revolution will even possible shift, as Xaden has served on its Meeting and is inheritor to the throne in Tyrrendor, a southern province of Navarre.

Yarros additionally set the third ebook as much as dive deeper into Andarna’s energy and id. Andarna revealed throughout the battle at Basgiath that she isn’t a black dragon like Tairn, as Violet first believed. As an alternative, she is an unknown seventh sort of dragon — and she or he waited 650 years to hatch till she knew Violet was coming.

Violet informed Andarna she wished to know every part about her. Nonetheless, they did not talk about her lineage or character traits earlier than the ebook ended, so Yarros will most likely discover the implications of Andarna’s revelations in “Onyx Storm.” (When you’re questioning how a dragon can reveal all this data, the riders and dragons talk by means of their psychological bond.)

Likewise, Yarros laid the groundwork for Violet to additional discover her energy within the third “Empyrean” ebook. “Iron Flame” features a dialog about the potential for Violet manifesting a second signet energy as a result of she bonded with Tairn and Andarna. Nevertheless, she stops desirous about her signet when she realizes Xaden has a second he hasn’t informed her about.

In an interview with Selection, Yarros confirmed that Violet does have a second signet that will probably be explored within the third “Empyrean” ebook — however she additionally mentioned Violet’s second signet had already manifested in “Iron Flame” unbeknownst to her.

“Each single trace you would wish to know what her second signet is is in ‘Iron Flame,'” she informed Selection’s Jennifer Maas. “It is manifested. Learn it once more after which name me.”

Followers have speculated that Violet’s second signet might be distance-wielding as a result of that energy had not been seen in over 600 years, the identical period of time Andarna had been ready for her. Others surprise if she will talk with the lifeless primarily based on her interactions with what she believes to be a hallucination of her lifeless good friend Liam when she is held captive at Basgiath.

Yarros shared a sneak peek of ‘Onyx Storm’ on social media

Yarros has been pretty tight-lipped in regards to the content material of “Onyx Storm,” although she launched an excerpt of the ebook on Instagram on October 18.

The passage opens with a quote from the E book of Brennan, a information Violet’s brother made for surviving Basgiath.

“I can’t die at the moment. I’ll save him,” it says in a private addendum written by Violet.

The scene continues with Xaden demonstrating his powers to a bunch of cadets from Basgiath with Violet’s assist. When Violet is not in a position to make use of her lightning towards him earlier than he disappears in shadow, Xaden tells Violet she is going to should be higher ready for his or her subsequent lesson, telling her, “You are the one one able to killing me.”

His remark is in italics, indicating Xaden is chatting with Violet by means of the thoughts connection they share due to their dragons reasonably than aloud.

“Onyx Storm” is out there for preorder.