If you love Young Adult Reads, then you absolutely have to get into the Empyrean Series. There is a lot of hype about this series and there should be, these are great reads. These are great big books that are absolutely packed with fast and furious adventure. There is literally not a moment to breath, they are go go go from the start and end on a massive cliffhanger.
I listened to both of these on Audible… Fourth Wing was my last “listen” of 2023 and Iron Flame my first “listen” of 2024… and now I am hanging on for the third book in the series… out later this year.
This series is the coming of age story of Violet Sorrengail, a young scribe that heads to college and becomes a dragon rider. Violet is part of elite team that engages in brutal battles and heady adventures. In a world where family counts for everything (or does it), because love seems to defy all boundaries… Violet finds herself working harder than ever to reach her goals and achieve her dreams.
Fourth Wing
Violet Sorrengail, is a somewhat fragile twenty year old, she has been raised in academia, to become a scribe. Literally, her entire life has been immersed in history books, learning the mythology and culture of her forefathers, comfortably in the library. Little did she know that her mother had very different plans for her and that dragon riding and hand to hand combat would be a very big part of her future.
This is a “high school story” set in the Basgiath War College that teaches their students all about war and challenges are set and the bar raised continuously, to weed the weak out from the strong. Students continuously train and fight to survive. They graduate through a series of gruelling tests and only the very fittest survive. It is a graduate or die environment and there are not enough dragons for every rider, so an intense selection process is really the culmination of their first year. Violet is called to over-achieve again and again, you will find yourself holding your breath through task after task… the writing is rapid fire and gripping… not to mention a feisty love that is not allowed, and a cliff hanger of note.
Iron Flame
On to book two in the series, and you have to realise a spoiler alert: Violet who was never expected to make it, has graduated from first year and we find ourselves flung into the second year of college. Only this year, the complications of her feisty relationship, and a nation in such peril that even second year students are called on to fight their battles. Violet has a lot to learn in this book, and she has one teacher who is not prepared to treat her like a regular student, but always pushes her to breaking point and beyond. She has a relationship that is more often than not on shaky ground and at the same time she is learning all the tools of dragon rider trade… Violet goes through a lot, more than your regular coming of age, and in her favour, she never gives up. She hurts in unimaginable ways, she is bullied, she is abused and her indomitable spirit will just not give up. I love Violet, she has flaws, but she is a great and feisty kid, who is loyal and just and prepared to fight for what is right. And of course we are left, hanging on the edge of our seats, waiting for Book 3.
This series has it’s very own website… The Empyrean Riders
These books are available from Penguin Random House South Africa. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are entirely my own.