Bestselling Books
Iron Flame (Standard Edition) (The Empyrean, 2)
Iron Flame is the second book in Rebecca Yarros's The Empyrean series, the direct sequel to Fourth Wing. The story continues with Violet Sorrengail, who survived her first year at Basgiath War College and now faces a more demanding second year with higher stakes and deeper political complexity. Yarros writes military fantasy with a romance backbone — the world-building is more developed here than in the first book, and the plot stakes escalate significantly by the final act. The book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and maintained strong word-of-mouth through 2024. At 870 pages it is a dense commitment; readers who moved quickly through Fourth Wing will find Iron Flame equally propulsive in the final third, though the early pacing is slower than its predecessor. The ending sets up the third book, Onyx Storm, with a clear cliffhanger. For readers who completed Fourth Wing, Iron Flame is the required continuation — the character threads from the first book do not resolve here.
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What we like
- + Continues from Fourth Wing with significantly higher political and personal stakes
- + World-building expands meaningfully in the second book — the war college setting opens up considerably
- + #1 New York Times bestseller with strong word-of-mouth through 2024
- + The final third is as propulsive as Fourth Wing's best sections
Watch out for
- - Requires reading Fourth Wing first — this is a direct continuation, not a standalone
- - Ends on a cliffhanger that requires committing to the third book
Our verdict
Required reading for anyone who finished Fourth Wing. The stakes and world-building expand meaningfully from the first book, and the ending sets up Onyx Storm with a clear direction.