The Empyrean Series: Book 2
Publication Date: November 7, 2023
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
The second book in the Fourth Wing series is Iron Flame by New York Times best-selling author, Rebecca Yarros. Readers again follow our heroine, Violet Sorrengail, as her world and everything she knew about it starts shattering around her.
Violet Sorrengail has now entered her Second Year at Basgiath War College. She has bonded not one but two dragons. One of them being the second strongest dragon in Navarre, Tairn. Violet’s other dragon, Andarna, a feathertail and only two years old, is a mystery to everyone at Basgiath.
Violet works tirelessly to keep details about Andarna a secret, much to the chagrin of the new vice commandment at Basgiath who makes it his mission to punish and torture Violet at every opportunity.
This year, Violet faces a whole new set of obstacles after learning that not only is her brother, Brennan, alive, but the rebel city of Aretia, believed to be destroyed, still exists. For the safety of her friends and everyone involved in the revolution, Violet must keep the city and her brother’s existence a secret from all of them, including her sister, Mira.
Violet is pushed to her breaking as she is forced to keep secrets from her friends, struggles with loving and trusting Xaden, trying to keep herself alive under the gruesome torture of the Vice Commandment, and tirelessly reaching a way to protect her friends and the city of Aretia.
Who can Violet trust? Will her friendships break or strengthen? And can she uncover the truth to save them all before it’s too late?
Yarros picks up right where she left off for book two of the Fourth Wing series. Immediately, we are thrown back into Violet’s action-packed, thrilling adventure. Yarros sets the story up perfectly as she reveals both Aretia’s and Brennan’s existence as well as the new threat of the Venim and Navarre’s refusal to acknowledge it. Due to the latest threats,cIron Flame takes on a darker plot with more dangerous threats and crushing revelations.
While I was hoping to give another 5-star rating, I, unfortunately, had to take one star away. My reason is Violet and Xaden’s constant and sometimes petty arguments. I understand Violet would feel betrayed and like she can’t trust Xaden after it’s revealed in book one that he was providing Navarre’s enemy with weapons. But everything was explained, and his reasoning for doing so made sense. Violet proved in the first book that she was smart enough to see reason and could understand Xaden’s reasons for not sharing certain information with her, especially when the lives of others were at stake. Again, I understand how Violet would be angry, but I felt like the argument went on too long and got a little too juvenile for my taste.
Aside from the Xaden of Violet of it all, Yarros did a great job introducing new characters, both allies and enemies as well as new threats Violet and her crew must now face. Yarros keeps readers hanging at the end of the book with a shocking revelation that will keep everyone on edge until the release of her third book in January.
From the weakest link to the strongest asset, Violet Sorrengail battles for the lives of those she loves in Iron Flame. Lightning wielder, dragon rider, silver one. 
Rebecca Yarros is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifteen novels, with multiple starred Publishers Weekly reviews and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. A second-generation army brat, Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for more than twenty years. She’s the mother of six children, and she and her family live in Colorado with their stubborn English bulldogs, two feisty chinchillas, and a cat named Artemis, who rules them all.
Having fostered, then adopted their youngest daughter, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October, which she cofounded with her husband in 2019.
