***This review contains spoilers***
It may be a struggle to find books that contain that beautiful touch of fantasy in a mature setting, but Rebecca Yarros, the author of “Fourth Wing,” has supplied readers with that with the danger of the dragon world, the wit of the characters, and of course the romance that sets this book apart, and had driven its recent popularity.
“Fourth Wing” is a book about a “war college for dragon riders” and how the main character, Violet Sorrengail, navigates and finds her way through Basgiath War College, a dark and intimidating school whose main goal it seems, is to scare their students into being warriors.
The book itself seems a little intimidating at first, at 498 pages (~206,150 words) it isn’t exactly a walk in the park when the average romance/fantasy novel is around 50,000-125,000 words, give or take.
War is definitely a heavy topic to jump straight into even though it is a fantasy series and many fantasy books have war themes or have touched on war, but in the “Fourth Wing” you know that you are reading a book already in the throes of war.
The book is laid out well, although there is a lot of information being fed to the reader, so make sure to pay attention because it’s very possible to get lost when the story is being told. Yarros’s clever writing and comedy shines through the characters with their thoughts and quotes, making this a surprisingly vibrant, easy, and comfortable read.
Violet is the daughter of a commanding general, which immediately makes her a target in the eyes of the other students attending the college. Her intention was to join the scribe quadrant but her mother – the general – forced her to be a dragon rider.
Violet actually has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, or EDS. Yarros and four out of her six children have the disease as well and it’s something the author uses often in her writing, which is something similar to what Rick Rordain did with his book series “Percy Jackson.”
Rordain’s son has ADHD and Dyslexia, and was struggling to find “heros” that had the same conditions as him as a young boy, so Rordain created the “Percy Jackson” series, transforming his son’s ADHD into quick battle reflexes, and his sons Dyslexia into a common demigod problem of just being hardwired to read Ancient Greek.
Violet is described as being very petite with white hair (very Targaryen/High Valyrian if you ask me) and definitely not one of the strongest riders because of her condition, as well as the fact that she is learning how to ride a dragon. Riding a dragon is not the easiest, or safest thing to do, the book does focus on some of the deaths surrounding this as well (so if you’re uncomfortable with that topic I would recommend to stray away from this series).
Tarineanach (Tarin), the dragon that chose Violet, is described by Violet as “…an enormous, scarred black [dragon] I have ever seen…. I don’t even come close to reaching its ankle.” The story describes her first attempt at mounting Tarin, and it’s an odd mix of anxiety and comedy, with Tarin speaking to Violet telepathically throughout.
“‘You are a rider, are you not?’ ‘That seems up for debate at the moment.’ My heart thunders. Is he going to cook me alive for being too slow?”
Although as the story develops, so does her character, from her first shaky steps on the parapet and being wildly unprepared for what she will be facing, to riding one of the biggest dragons in history and discovering some shocking powers, she uses her intellect and wit to help her navigate some of the toughest challenges she faces, one of them being Xaden Riorson.
Xaden is introduced as one of the villains/antagonists in this story, but – surprise surprise – that changes. Violet’s inner monologue is distributed through the book, every-so-often providing comedic commentary such as a description of Xaden as “Flaming hot. Scorching hot. Gets-you-into-trouble-and-you-like-it level of hot.”
The tension between Xaden and Violet is electrifying (if you read or have read the book you’ll understand this joke) and the suspense keeps you hooked on their story within the story, with snarky comments thrown at each other and intimate glances when they think the other isn’t looking that keeps the reader on their toes.
The curveball that Yarros throws at the end, which happens to concern Violet’s brother, assumed MIA, is torturous. The book is fast paced and the danger keeps the adrenaline high, adding more and more tidbits of information as you read on. If you’re enjoying the book I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the second and third books in the series: “Iron Flame” and “Onyx Storm” (which just came out on Jan. 21) as soon as you possibly can.
However, this may not be the recommended book if you are looking for some astonishing, groundbreaking type of literature (maybe look at “Noctadia” by Keri Lake, which is another book I am going to review), or drift more toward classic literature if that’s your style. Another popular book series recommended by many would be “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas, which gives a similar feel, sans dragons.