Fantasy Aisle, a monthly column from Jackie Jennings, is about everything related to horny dragon books. This article contains spoilers for both Fourth Wing
and Iron Flame
. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
It’s a safe bet that the only good thing about the first full day of the second Trump administration (FUCK) will be the release of Onyx Storm, the third book in the Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros. The series—often referred to by the title of its first book, Fourth Wing—has been on the New York Times bestseller list for 72 weeks. Its incredible success has fueled the rise of the “romantasy” genre and inspired more than a few trend pieces (including by yours truly). The series has a fervent fan base that regularly spins out intricate theories, predictions, discourse, and controversies. It’s like The Real Housewives for nerds; engaging with the discourse is half the fun. So for the graduates and cadets alike, here is everything you need to know about the release of Onyx Storm.
I’m not going to be recapping here; other people have already done that incredibly well. (Here is a summary I recommend.) My tips for catching up are: Make sure you’ve read the bonus Fourth Wing content Yarros released a few months ago and, if you’re new to the world of Navarre and want to get up to speed ASAP, try the non-dramatized audiobooks.
Once you refamiliarize yourself with the on-the-page world of Violet Sorrengail and Xaden Riorson, dive into the fandom. Social media, most obviously BookTok, has been crucial to the success of the Empyrean series, so much so that Variety wondered what the TikTok ban might mean for Onyx Storm’s release. But after roughly 24 hours of confusion over the weekend, it appears that TikTok is back. So one way to start is searching the platform for your favorite accounts and theories.
From there, I’d continue my compulsive tab-opening spree by following Yarros on Instagram and then subscribing to her newsletter. Yarros frequently releases news related to the series via her website or in email blasts. I wouldn’t be shocked if she has some surprises for her fans surrounding the new book. Also, she’s a fun follow. She’s like the anti-Rowling: outspoken about diversity and inclusion and is, I say this with love, kind of a troll. She posts pictures of her laptop screen with winking messages, knowing fans will zoom in to get a glimpse of whatever she’s writing.
Yarros also posted Fourth Wing– and Iron Flame-themed Spotify playlists, featuring songs she “either listened to while writing” or gave her “the feels” for each book. She posted the Onyx Storm playlist Monday evening ahead of the release and you better believe fans are already analyzing what the choices mean.
Which brings us to my most important point: Analyzing literally everything is key to the Empyrean and wider romantasy fandoms. I am on a text thread (hello, shadow zaddies) wherein two of my good friends regularly share theories so intricate and detailed that they make me feel barely literate. If you don’t yet have a comparable text threat, that’s OK, because that’s what Reddit is for. And there are many, many topics about which Empyrean fans speculate.
If you want to cruise some hot speculation, start with the question of Violet’s second signet; there’s maybe no more closely studied question among fans. Signets are specific magical abilities that dragon riders “manifest” after they’ve bonded a dragon, and run the gamut in terms of usefulness—with Violet’s lightning-wielding being a particularly powerful one. However, Violet has not one but two bonded dragons, Tairn and Andarna. Yarros has confirmed that Violet does have a second signet and, absolute sadist that she is, has teased that “everything you need to know about her second signet is actually in Iron Flame.”
When I say that fans have absolutely torn that book apart looking for clues, I mean it. I’ve seen ordinary ladies with more sticky tabs in their copy of Iron Flame than I used in my entire four years of undergrad. The fans are dying to know what that second signet is and there are several competing theories, with my personal prediction being some form of communication with the dead or necromancy. Other theories that have been floated are that Violet is an amplifier; a truth-sayer; a distance wielder; some kind of inntinnsic (aka a mind-reader, which is deemed so dangerous in the ultra-secretive Navarre that it is a death sentence); a knowledge weaver; or, my personal favorite theory, that she possesses the ability to harness the power of the sun. (While I don’t think the sun-wielder theory is necessarily correct, the explanation features more visual aids than any other Empyrean fan theory I’ve seen, and therefore is very worthy of a read.) And since you’re already on Reddit, why not peruse this extremely fun thread of wild theories and ships.
For extra credit, you can read up on the controversies in the Empyrean. There’s been backlash over fan art of Xaden being whitewashed. (Yarros has specifically described him as a person of color.) Then Yarros herself received a little bit of heat for using—or misusing—the Gaelic language in naming certain parts of her fictional world. And then, if you feel like you need a truly thorough understanding of the discourse around the series, you can read the criticism. But you’d have more fun re-reading the throne room scene.
While the speculation and internet fandom is a good time, one of the most exciting things about these romantasy series are IRL interactions. Yarros has announced an already sold-out tour, with tickets on resale sites going for hundreds of dollars over face value. So you could do that! Entangled, which publishes the series, also put out a geographically sortable list of release events. Apps like Fable and websites like Goodreads have existing Fourth Wing groups that will be discussing Onyx Storm ad nauseam. There are cons like the ones run by Fantastique Collection which don’t explicitly name Fourth Wing, presumably for copyright reasons, but look at those graphics.
I jumped on the Empyrean bandwagon too late to attend the Iron Flame midnight release party in November 2023, but I’ve heard enough first-hand accounts to wholeheartedly recommend finding some kind of fan meetup/trivia night/book club you can join. I can guarantee you that you will find no safer space than an Onyx Storm event. Despite the brutal books, the largely female fandom has wide open arms.
There’s truly no shortage of content to get you hyped and informed for this series; when I tell you these fans read like their lives depend on it, I am barely exaggerating. It makes sense; Violet is a character who needs information to very literally steady herself. And in the coming weeks, we will all need a little steadying. So consider this your Conscription Day and give sexy dragon books a try. I can’t promise you will like them. But I can promise they are a lot more fun than the news.
GET JEZEBEL RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Still here. Still without airbrushing. Still with teeth.
