January 2025 marked a huge occasion in the book loving world. On the 21st, book three in The Empyrean series was released and Fourth Wing fans rushed the shelves for their copy, making it the fastest-selling adult book in twenty years. As the Editorial Director of She Reads, I was given the opportunity to attend the launch event at Barnes & Noble at The Groves and it truly was a spectacle to behold. Fans poured down the streets anxious to be in the same room as the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling author. There were photo booths, temporary dragon tattoos, cosplay and an overall energy that buzzed about the bookshelves.
I was fortunate enough to get into the first “Q & A” round where Rebecca strode in in a dazzling black, glittering gown, her violet-dyed hair bouncing off her shoulders as she beamed with delight at her eager fans. Her joy at the moment matched our joy as we all collectively held our breath waiting in the three-hour window before Onyx Storm was released.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
After eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail faces the ultimate test as the battle begins in earnest, with enemies threatening both from within and beyond Navarre. To save her dragons, her family, and her home, she must venture into unknown lands to forge alliances, uncover the truth, and secure the power needed to prevail—all while guarding a devastating secret. With a storm brewing, survival is far from guaranteed.
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This life-changing publication has not only landed in the hands of millions of readers, it has created an entirely new world for this veteran author and mom of six. Skyrocketing her to superstardom that almost no one can fully prepare for she has faced both love and adoration as well as harsh criticism and invasion of her privacy. As we pour over the tidbits about the latest novel (tidbits I think you’ll enjoy whether you’ve read Onyx Storm already or not), it can’t be ignored that who we are as readers and how we interact with authors also needs to be addressed. While Rebecca was in constant awe and gratitude, it’s clear that this process has had an effect on her and that she’s trying to balance the life she knew with this emerging A-list reality. As we read her creation and dissect her work, it seems important to also reflect on the human behind it.
She writes as a mother and wife to a twenty-two year Army veteran. She writes as a woman who has spent her life suffering from chronic illness. She writes as a fan of both romance and fantasy. The world we’ve come to love is truly her world. The characters we’ve grown so attached to are bits and pieces of her family. And as a result, the roller coaster ride she has been on has been deeply personal. As an author and mother of five myself, as well as someone who holds this position in the reading media world, I feel duty bound to not only spill the tea on the insider access I got on the eve of her release, but to also encourage empathy amongst the community for the very real, very heart-centered person behind the book. So bear with me when I break the fourth wall occasionally as it seems of vital importance in an age where we’re granted the opportunity to pour out our opinion on literally anything to the world. There are real people on the other side of these reviews who have been brave enough to share their art with us, but they aren’t bullet proof.
The Leap Into Fantasy and the Contemporary Career that Keeps Heating Up
Prior to the explosive arrival of Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros had been a successful contemporary romance author penning twenty books in the genre. Though an internationally bestselling fantasy novel may appear to come out of left field, the truth is, Rebecca was a fantasy fangirl first. A through and through Anne McCaffrey fan, it seems as if she was destined to top the romantasy charts with a steamy dragon series.
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With the success of Fourth Wing, her expanded fanbase have journeyed into her backlist and become fans of hers in both genres. With a hint of horror, she revealed to the crowd that there seems to be a ” pipeline that has you guys going from Fourth Wing to the saddest book I’ve ever written.” That book being The Last Letter, an absolutely devastating story about a best friend being asked to take care of his fallen comrade’s sister. For the record, it has nearly 60,000 reviews with a 4.7 rating on Amazon.
But Yarros has a different recommendation for those looking to jump to her contemporary reads.
“I really love The Things We Leave Unfinished. It is probably one of my absolute favorite books I’ve ever written and I talk a lot about it. But if I hadn’t written Variation, I probably wouldn’t have written Onyx. A lot of Iron Flame shook my confidence and shook who I was as a writer and I think going back to romance and being able to really dig in with those characters took me back to character-based plots where there’s no dragons who can come in and save the day or change your plot. It really made it possible for me to go write Onyx.”
Her novel In the Likely Event is also being adapted by Netflix while she is concurrently seeing the development of Fourth Wing by Amazon/MGM take shape. During the event, one of the first questions was about the forthcoming adaptation of Fourth Wing and she had this to say:
“I’ve read two versions of the script and it is ‘oh my god’. I was scared, I was super scared to read it because when you hand someone your baby and they’re like ‘Tell me what’s important’ you’re like ‘it’s all important!’ I kicked my feet the entire time. I love it. Moira has done such an amazing job capturing everyone’s voice and the dialogue–you guys–love. And just the energy and spirit of the book… I could not be any happier. She’s amazing. If you get a chance give Moira some love, do, because it’s amazing.”
As casting rumors (and debate) flood the online community, we’re all left hanging on bated breath. The frontrunner of the rumor mill is Josh Heuston (who we also fan cast) as Xaden Riorson has been floating around since the Australia-born, Dune: Prophecy actor followed Rebecca on Instagram and put a dragon in his bio.
Though no one has been confirmed, there are plenty of opinions out there about who should play the hottest dragon rider in literary history. As for Rebecca, she has but one unflappable demand of the show: “Xaden isn’t white.”
Though we don’t know when we’ll get the show (or book four) at this point, she talked about plotting out all five novels in the series for the adaptation that was acquired before Fourth Wing was released. So we can rest assured knowing there are big plans ahead.
Rebecca Yarros on Onyx Storm
Whether you’ve finished book three or not, it’s always exciting to hear what the author has to say about their latest creation.
Straight out the gate, Rebecca declared Onyx Storm her favorite:
“It’s my favorite book in the series. It’s not a bad thing. Everyone’s like ‘oh she loves to torture people’. It’s my favorite book in the series. I think I’m more confident as a writer. I think I’m more confident in the world. I think Violet is more confident. I just love it and if you don’t that’s okay, just don’t tell me.”
When asked what she was most excited for fans to encounter, she spoke of expansion of the world.
“I’m excited for you guys to watch the world expand and to hear what you think. In a safe and moderated environment,” she adds. “I’m excited to see what you guys think about this one and about how the world kind of opens up and after that I’m just excited to start killing people.”
She gave few hints at what we could expect and made frequent quips about how she delights in the roller coaster she puts readers on. From claiming the lives of favorite characters to putting our beloved MCs in perilous position after perilous position, her eagerness to get this book into our hands was palpable (and a smidge terrifying).
When asked how emotionally unstable we were going to feel after reading the book, she responded:
“How many of you have therapists? No I’m just kidding.” Hands shot up across the room. “Good, excellent therapy is amazing. Stay, go. Medications amazing, better living through chemistry.
It was a very cathartic book for me. I love it. So I don’t think you’re going to be… I don’t know. I mean how unstable have you been before? Read with a friend.”
The audience giggled nervously as they waited for their copies.
When asked what her favorite part of Onyx Storm was, she gave an answer that might surprise readers.
“The last page.” The audience groaned and grumbled at this response and she adoringly admonished us with a “Stop it!” before continuing on. “The last page was in my head from the time I was going through Fourth Wing and going through Iron Flame. Like I knew where this was going so finally getting to write that last page was like ‘yeeeessss’.”
When asked what the best and most challenging part of writing Onyx Storm was, we got another glimpse into the wild ride she’s been on since 2023.
“Most challenging was the pace. I really wish I had longer from a perspective of mental health. It was just a really big year and a half and I don’t think anyone can prepare themselves for what would happen and how fast it happened and the scrutiny that came down on me and my family. And when you know that every line you write is going to be scrutinized and talked about and mocked or not mocked, it does things to your head that are not safe for public consumption. And so I think the most challenging was getting it done. Because I really didn’t think I was going to. I really thought this book was going to kill me.
And the best part was the moment my editor, Alice, text me and told me it had gone to print. I burst into tears because it was gone. And like, I love it, I love it so much and I’m so glad it’s done and it’s my favorite, but it was definitely just the process and trying to balance writing and escaping into my head in an environment that is not conducive right now to escaping.”
Despite her humility and abundant gratitude, it was apparent throughout that the publishing schedule and subsequent feedback on her books was taxing beyond belief. And need I remind you, this woman has raised six kids. It’s a moment, I think, for reflection as a reading community and for the publishing industry. Should we be this demanding of authors? Do we have a right to ask so much of a single person in the pursuit of capturing a moment (and, of course, capitalism)? And what are we robbing ourselves and authors of when we do?
And while we may intellectually understand this, a constant question will remain:
When will we get book four in The Empyrean series?
Though anxious readers who have been graced with a book a year are somewhat devastated to hear that Rebecca will be taking a bit of a (well-deserved) break from writing The Empyrean series, with plans of another contemporary release and no solid plans of when book four will begin, I hope we can all collectively agree that the mental (and physical) well-being of authors should supersede our desire for the next installment. That we can understand art has a tendency to get better when given time to ruminate. And though I love Iron Flame and am thoroughly enjoying Onyx Storm, the perfection of Fourth Wing is hard to deny. Perhaps the reason it has over 334,000 reviews on Amazon clocking in a nearly perfect 4.8 rating, is because it had room to breathe without demand or criticism cluttering her brain.
The very best thing we can do right now is be grateful for the world she created that we’ve fallen in love with. It’s truly rare. And rare things deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
The Person Behind the Parapet
When I walked away from the event, I felt such a tremendous appreciation for the woman behind the work. It’s one of my favorite things about working in the publishing sphere is discovering more about the humans who craft these wonderful worlds. It brings so much rich texture and context to the world.
On Chronic Illness
Rebecca is very upfront about her lived experience with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). The character of Violet suffers the same and we get to understand the limiting nature to this physical affliction. She has a very tender spot in her heart for those suffering, but also overcoming and that’s represented in so much of this series.
“I never saw anyone like me reading fantasy. Everyone was always already a badass or ready to do their training montage and then be awesome. Whereas I break constantly, my kids break constantly and I wanted to see someone with that particular chronic illness succeed by using her brain and I wanted to see the power dynamic flip the second she bonds the most powerful dragon. Because we are never the most powerful people in the room, but our brains can be.”
She goes on to further explain the dynamics of living with chronic illness through the character Dain, declaring herself “the number one Dain apologist.”
“I feel like he holds her back, but as someone with chronic illness there’s always people in our lives telling us you can’t do this and they have the best intentions and heart. They really want to keep us safe and keep us healthy and it’s up to us to define our limitations, but there are people who love us but constantly tell us you cannot do this. And he is just that for her and when it comes to the betrayal, his best friend stops speaking to him and he trusted his dad. When push came to shove, she stopped speaking to him and trusted his dad and horrible, horrible things happened that he cannot take back. So to me, he’s just a really flawed 21-year-old kid and I don’t know any perfect 21-year-old. So I give him a lot of grace. He’s not Jack for crying out loud.”
On Taylor Swift
That’s right, Rebecca is a Swiftie and she gave the fellow army of Taylor-loving, Fourth Wing-reading fans a gift. She paired music with her books. I know, I know. So brace yourselves, here’s what she had to say when asked what albums paired with which books.
“They’re almost all Rep (reputation). Then she put out TTPD (The Tortured Poets Department) and I’m like ‘Oh are you writing songs about my life?’ Onyx is Rep coded, there’s a lot of ‘I Did Something Bad’, there’s a lot of ‘So It Goes…’ in there. Fourth Wing is very–I don’t know that’s a really tough question–it’s probably Lover because I wrote a lot of it to ‘Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince.’ Iron Flame is probably Fearless, maybe a little bit of Speak Now.
‘So It Goes…’ is the song for Xaden and Violet’s love story.”
Reading playlist… engaged.
On Reviews and Social Media Posts
As we’ve mentioned, the online world has been in a flurry since the emergence of Fourth Wing. Is there even a #BookTok without it? (Don’t come for me, I know how many great books are out there.) But the intensity with which people loved and picked apart this series is maybe unlike any other book in this modern age of social reading. And the author has had to take to distancing herself.
“The only way to stay sane when something like this happens is you don’t read a thing. So I don’t read articles about myself, I don’t read posts about myself. I usually scroll, I usually try to block my name, block the hashtags. It is the only way to remain me in this. Otherwise I think I’ll start to become what other people say I am. It’s too much of a mirror. But sometimes my team will send me really funny ones. Or I’ll be halfway through a reel and realize it’s Fourth Wing-related, but usually I avoid myself like the plague.”
On Her Favorite Moments and Lines
Every author has their favorite moments in the books they’ve written. Are yours the same as Rebecca’s? We already covered that the last page is her favorite part of Onyx Storm, but we have more for you.
Favorite Character(s)
“I love Violet because I’m always in her head. But I’m like, ride or die for Imogen. I love Imgoen and I love how their relationship shifts from the time she wrenches her arm out to becoming this like ‘I don’t want to listen to you but I will because you just can’t get your shit together’ *sorry I swear* to where she’s one of her staunches allies in Onyx *spoiler* And Riddoc, I do love Ridoc.”
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Favorite Iron Flame Scene
“My favorite scene in Iron Flame is when Xaden shows up after she’s been tortured. And when… and I’m the number one Dain apologist so don’t start with me tonight… I knew where that arc was going and I knew what was going to happen with Dain and Varrish and I already knew where that was going when I wrote Fourth Wing. I love how that finally all comes together and I really love when Mira punches Brennan. That’s like one of those moments where I’m like ‘I get to write this scene today.'”
Favorite Tairn Quote
“I chose you not as my next, but my last.”
Favorite Xaden Quote
“There’s nowhere you could go in existence that I couldn’t find you.”
On the Spice
Though it’s undeniable that the level of heat in the series is part of its appeal, there have been plenty of complaints about the oh-so steamy scenes with Violet and Xaden. And to that, Rebecca has this to say:
“I just remind them there’s more murder. It perplexes me why people are so uncomforatable around sex when most people are having sex and not murdering. I just feel as though there’s more sex than murder between ages 20 – 25 and if there’s not, we should be speaking to our children.”
What’s Next for Rebecca Yarros?
Though we know that the immediate future holds a contemporary release and some time before book four in The Empyrean series, it doesn’t appear Rebecca has any intention of doing anything other than writing more books.
“I’ll always do both (contemporary and fantasy) because I will never not walk down the street and look at people and think ‘What’s the worst thing I could make happen to you?’ And then how could I pull you through that with some romance and some hot sex and some character movement. It’s just the way my brain works.”
And thank goodness for that. Because of that brain we have a series we adore, a show to look forward to, more books to bite our nails about and a book boyfriend who occupies a permanent space in our… minds. The least we can do for her is receive her work with open minds, excited anticipation and appreciate it for what it is, one of the greatest books of the 2020s.
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