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Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
16 books like Rebecca Yarros' 'Fourth Wing' to read while you wait for the next 'Empyrean' novel
Rebecca Yarros released the third book in the "Empyrean" series in January 2025. Yarros hasn't announced when she'll publish the next book in the "Fourth Wing" universe. Her fans can read romantasy and fantasy books that are similar to Yarros' work while they wait. " Fourth Wing" fans are in a bit of a dry spell. Rebecca Yarros introduced readers to Violet Sorrengail, a student at Basgiath War College training to be a dragon rider as war looms outside the school, in her 2023 bestseller. Yarros' popularity exploded with "Fourth Wing" and the two other installments in the "Empyrean" series. After it was published in January 2025, " Onyx Storm," the third book in the series, became the fastest-selling adult novel published in the past 20 years, with over 2.7 million copies sold in just a week, The New York Times reported. The "Empyrean" series is set to have five books in total, and the fourth will hopefully provide answers to the cliffhangers Yarros left in the latest installment. However, Yarros is working on a contemporary novel before continuing Violet's journey, so it could be months or years before a new "Empyrean" novel is published. In the meantime, "Fourth Wing" fans can read books with similar themes or enemies-to-lovers romances. Check out some of Business Insider's favorites. "A Court of Mist and Fury" by Sarah J. Maas If you discovered "Fourth Wing" on BookTok, you're probably already familiar with Sarah J. Maas' "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series about faeries. The second book in the series feels most similar in tone to the "Empyrean" series. In "A Court of Mist and Fury," Feyre Archeron is adjusting to her newfound life as a faerie after she almost died under the mountain — as well as coming to terms with the deal she made with Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court, to spend a week with him every month. Despite it all, she got what she wanted: an immortal life with Tamlin, the High Lord of the Spring Court. But Feyre's life in the Spring Court starts feeling more claustrophobic by the second, especially when Tamlin forbids her from leaving the house. To her shock, she finds refuge with Rhysand, where she uncovers truths about the Night Court, Rhys, and herself that will change everything she thought she knew. "A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire" by Jennifer L. Armentrout "A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire" is the second book in Jennifer L. Armentrout's ongoing "Blood and Ash" series, and protagonist Poppy is reckoning with the realization that nothing in her world is what she thought it would be in the sequel to "From Blood and Ash." Poppy was raised as the Maiden, believing it was her divine duty to sacrifice herself to the Ascended, the immortal beings that rule over her world. After falling in love with her new guard, Hawke, and running away with him, she realizes she's been betrayed by the Ascended — and Hawke. Poppy doesn't know who to trust, but Hawke is determined to protect her — especially as Poppy develops powers that could change their world. "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman If you're a fan of the magical school setting in Yarros' series, you will love "The Magicians" by Lev Grossman (which was also turned into a Syfy series of the same name). At the top of the trilogy, Quentin Coldwater feels apathetic about the future, even though his aptitude for math could get him into any college he wants. Instead, he still longs for the simplicity of his favorite fantasy series, taking comfort in the magical world of Fillory whenever he can. When he gets accepted into a secret magical college, Quentin feels like his dreams are coming true. Then, he accidentally taps into a darker side of his power and starts a chain of events that puts him and his classmates in danger — and opens the doors to Fillory. "Divine Rivals" by Rebecca Ross " Divine Rivals" has the enemies-to-lovers fun and secrecy of Yarros' series, though Rebecca Ross sets her fantasy story against the backdrop of a newsroom instead of a war college. Iris Winnow is desperate to get promoted to columnist at the Oath Gazette. Her mother has fallen into alcoholism since her brother left to fight in a war of the gods, and Iris feels like she is one missed paycheck away from falling into ruin. She's competing for the promotion against Roman Kitt, her infuriatingly handsome coworker who makes her feel small every time she sees him. As Roman continues to succeed, her chances of success feel slimmer and slimmer with each passing day. Iris' only comfort is writing letters to her brother on her grandmother's old typewriter. She doesn't know where he is, so she slips the letters under her wardrobe, where they disappear. Iris is hopeful her letters are somehow reaching her brother — until a stranger writes back. Ross' story evolves into a fantasy full of romance and longing, which continues in its sequel, "Ruthless Vows." "The Serpent and the Wings of Night" by Carissa Broadbent You'll love the first book in Carissa Broadbent's "Crowns of Nyaxia" series, "The Serpent and the Wings of Night," if Violet's perseverance drew you to the "Empyrean" series as much as her romance with Xaden did. Oraya has spent every moment of her life fighting to stay alive since her father, the Nightborn vampire king, adopted her after his forces killed her entire human family when she was a child. Oraya is sick of being mortal in a world of vampires ready to kill her, so she decides to enter the Kejari, a tournament where the winner gets a wish granted to them by the goddess it's named for. She plans to avoid the vampires competing against her at all costs, but when she is forced into an alliance with Rhain, a handsome vampire she knows nothing about, Oraya will have to trust someone besides her father for the first time in years. The competition is deadly, especially as war looms beyond the arena, but Oraya's attraction to Rhain may be an even bigger danger. "Divergent" by Veronica Roth If you somehow missed the "Divergent" craze when Veronica Roth's books or the films based on them were released, it's the perfect series to binge while you wait for the fourth "Empyrean" book. In the first installment of the series, readers are introduced to 16-year-old Beatrice Prior, a girl on the precipice of changing her life forever. Beatrice lives in a society divided into factions based on people's aptitudes, and it's her turn to take a test that will tell her which faction she belongs to. Beatrice's results put her entire society's system at risk, and the only way she can survive is to keep her results a secret. She abandons her home faction of Abnegation to join Dauntless, hoping she can hide in the group that values bravery and strength above all else. But she's not the only one with secrets. "One Dark Window" by Rachel Gillig Those drawn to the romantic tension of the "Empyrean" series might want to put "One Dark Window" by Rachel Gillig at the top of their to-be-read list. The only thing keeping Elspeth Spindle safe in her home of Blunder, a land cursed with darkness, is the monster she calls Nightmare, a spirit trapped in her mind. A chance encounter with a highwayman leads Elspeth on a journey to free Blunder from the dark magic taking it over. However, the highwayman turns out to be the king's nephew and a captain in charge of enforcing the kingdom's rules, increasing the risk of their mission. Elspeth and the captain are on a time crunch to find a cure, and she has to deal with her attraction to him, even as the Nightmare threatens to take her mind over for good. "His Majesty's Dragon" by Naomi Novik If the dragons in Yarros' fictional world were the most exciting part of "Fourth Wing" and "Iron Flame" for you, you may want to give Naomi Novik's "His Majesty's Dragon" a try. The novel is set in the 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars. Will Laurence is a normal captain in the British forces until he captures a dragon egg. When it hatches, he bonds with Temeraire and becomes a rider, fighting in the skies. Laurence will have to learn how to fly and fight in the middle of the war — or risk his and Temeraire's lives. "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini "The Inheritance Cycle" series by Christopher Paolini may fall into the young-adult category, but the high-fantasy writing and emotional coming-of-age journey the hero goes on throughout the books will make it just as exciting for adults as it is for younger readers. In the series opener, Eragon is just a teenager living a simple life on a farm with his family until he stumbles upon a blue stone, which turns out to be the first dragon hatchling born in his country in a century. Eragon immediately becomes a Dragon Rider when his dragon, Seraphina, hatches. The only living rider is supposed to be king, setting Eragon on a path of magic and danger. Like Yarros' series, "The Inheritance Cycle" is an epic journey of dragons and their riders, full of magic, romance, and adventure. "A Promise of Fire" by Amanda Bouchet Amanda Bouchet's "The Kingmaker Chronicles" is a three-part series full of magic, gods, and romance that will appeal to Yarros fans drawn to Violet's powerful signet and Xaden's dedication to her. In the first installment, "A Promise of Fire," Cat Fisa has been on the run for years. She was born with the ability to tell when people are lying, a once-in-a-generation power that makes her the "Kingmaker." Cat wants nothing to do with her power — or her family in the North that would use her for it — so she stays hidden, pretending to be a soothsayer in a traveling circus in the South. When Griffin, the general of a newly established human kingdom, sees her, he knows what Cat is immediately and takes her in the hopes of protecting his family's throne. Cat won't go down without a fight, though, and Griffin's hostage becomes even harder to control when powerful family members come looking for her. As they make their way toward his family's castle, Griffin will have to convince Cat his family is worth working with — a task that becomes even more difficult when he realizes he doesn't want Cat to just work with him; he wants her to be his wife. "House of Earth and Blood" by Sarah J. Maas If you liked the modern flair in the "Empyrean" series, you'll love Sarah J. Maas' steamy "Crescent City" series. In "House of Earth and Blood," half-fae Bryce Quinlan thrives after graduating from Crescent City University, living with her best friend, the werewolf and alpha of the Pack of Devils, Danika Fendyr. Bryce has everything she wants — until she comes home to find Danika and the Pack of Devils murdered by a demon. She thinks the culprit was arrested, but a year later, similar murders start up again in the city. Because she's the only one who saw the demon that killed her friends, Bryce teams up with Hunt Athalar, a Fallen angel enslaved to work for the Archangels who run Crescent City, to solve the mystery. As the investigation progresses and Bryce and Hunt's attraction to each other grows, the unlikely pair will discover secrets about Crescent City that could upend their world as they know it. To date, Maas has published three books in the series, including "House of Flame and Shadow" in January 2024. "Neon Gods" by Katee Robert Just as Violet was raised to hate Xaden Riorson, Persephone Dimitriou's fear of Hades was instilled in her from childhood in "Neon Gods" by Katee Robert. Trusting Hades feels like Persephone's only option after her mother promises her hand in marriage to Zeus, the leader of the 13 houses in Olympus, whose wives mysteriously end up dead. Persephone decides to run away from the city instead of marrying Zeus, seeking refuge with Hades, a man she wasn't even certain existed until she winds up on his doorstep. Luckily, Hades wants revenge on Zeus, too, and they agree that making him jealous is the best way to do it. Hades and Persephone decide to put on a show, but neither expects the real, palpable attraction that develops between them. "Throne in the Dark" by A.K. Caggiano A.K. Caggiano's "Villains & Virtues" trilogy has all the magic and enemies-to-lovers fun of the world of "Fourth Wing" with a heap of slow-burn tension and a lighter tone than Yarros' work. In "Throne in the Dark," Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne is determined to free his demon father from his magical imprisonment and take over the world by his side. There's just one problem: a beautiful, sickeningly sweet human named Amma, who accidentally becomes one with the magical weapon he needs to bring down the mortal powers that be. Damien has no choice but to travel the realm with Amma to find a way to separate her from the weapon. He could just kill her, but Amma proves to be surprisingly helpful — and to his horror, she isn't the worst travel companion he could imagine. Amma has secrets of her own, though, and she and Damien must work together to get through their respective missions unscathed. And worst of all, as he spends more time with Amma, Damien starts to wonder if what he truly wants is the human by his side. "Bride" by Ali Hazelwood Ali Hazelwood is best known for her New York Times bestselling, STEM-centered romance books. Still, her first paranormal novel, "Bride," can help "Empyrean" fans with their book hangover after they finish "Onyx Storm." In "Bride," vampire Misery Lark is about to marry Lowe Moreland, the Alpha of the Weres, as part of a historic peace deal. Most vampires would be afraid of agreeing to bind themselves to their natural enemies, but after spending most of her childhood as an emissary among the humans, Misery is ready to take on the risk — especially since she needs the Weres' resources to try to track down Serena, her human foster sister who went missing without a trace. Misery plans to avoid Lowe as much as possible, but from the moment they meet at their wedding, Misery seems to perplex and infuriate Lowe for reasons she can't understand (aside from their species' century-long feud). Soon, he's keeping a closer eye on her than she would like, but she might not mind his presence as much as she thought. "The Dead Romantics" by Ashley Poston If reading Yarros' work makes you yearn for a little magic in your day-to-day life, you might like the magical realism in Ashley Poston's "The Dead Romantics." Florence Day's first meeting with her new editor is a disaster. After a breakup leaves her with a serious bout of writer's block, Florence desperately needs an extension on the novel she's ghostwriting. Ben, who is inconveniently handsome and charming, refuses, leaving Florence more frustrated than ever. Then, her father dies unexpectedly, and Florence must return to her Southern hometown and her family's funeral parlor and face the actual ghosts she has always been able to see, an ability that left her alienated for much of her childhood. Once she makes it home, it's not surprising that a ghost shows up seeking her help, but it is a shock when the specter turns out to be Ben. He needs Florence's help handling his unfinished business: her. "A Fate Inked in Blood" by Danielle L. Jensen The first installment in the "Saga of the Unfated" duology, "A Fate Inked in Blood," offers an enemies-to-lovers romance set against the backdrop of Norse mythology. Freya spent her childhood dreaming of becoming a warrior, but at 20, she is married to a man she hates, trapped in her fishing village, and guarding her most closely kept secret: She is a shield maiden, possessing magic that can protect her and others from attacks. Freya's years of secret-keeping fall to ruin when her husband betrays her to the local jarl. After she uses her magic to survive a fight against his son Bjorn, the jarl sees Freya as what her father always feared she could become: a weapon. The jarl magically binds Freya to him, enlisting Bjorn to keep her safe. Freya must prove herself as a magic-wielder and warrior to stay alive, but her pull toward Bjorn may put her at greater risk than her magic ever could.
New Statesman
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
The romantasy infatuation
Fairy tales, it seems, are out of fashion. After all, what do they have to teach a modern reader? Finding Prince Charming is passé; we should be getting comfortable with our own company. Evil stepmothers aren't such a problem when you can just go no contact. And going to sleep for 100 years no longer has to affect your career arc – we're all on our own timelines! Yet look a little closer and you might find that a new kind of fairy tale is alive and well. Because what are most of them if not love stories, set in magical worlds? Romantasy, a relatively new literary genre that offers exactly that, is, largely thanks to its popularity on TikTok, having a seismic effect on the books industry. As the name suggests, the genre combines fantasy realms, drawn from the depths of folklore, Gothic fiction and mythology, with a romantic plot – and readers cannot get enough. Science fiction and fantasy sales were up more than 40 per cent in 2024. Romantasy author Sarah J Maas, whose book A Court of Thorns and Roses was released in 2015, was the best-selling author in the US last year, selling 7.7 million copies, and Fourth Wing (2023), the first in romantasy star Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series, was the seventh bestselling book in the UK across all genres. In January the third instalment of that series, Onyx Storm, became the fastest-selling adult title ever, selling 2.7 million copies in its first week, after people queued in bookshops at midnight dressed up as their favourite characters to buy it on its day of release. These authors find themselves in a curious position (as well as unthinkably rich). Harry Potter and true fairy tales are, of course, for children. But as much as romantasy has inherited the feverish fandom that often comes with an absorbing magical world – fans of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are some of the most obsessive in the world – it is also the natural successor to Mills & Boon, Jilly Cooper and 50 Shades of Grey. 'Dragon porn' has become shorthand for romantasy; steamy sex, or 'spice', to use TikTok parlance, is part of the happy ending. In these fairy tales, the heroines can have it both ways, winning authority over the entire magical realm and a handsome stay-at-home fairy husband. Violet Sorrengail, the breathless narrator of Yarros's Empyrean series is a typical romantasy heroine. She's in her early 20s, studying at Basgiath War College to be a dragon rider, despite being smaller and less physically fit than others in her 'quadrant' (this is widely thought to be a nod to the fact that Yarros suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome). She can 'wield' lightning, communicate telepathically with her two dragons and loves nothing more than riding them – except perhaps allowing her classmate, previously sworn enemy Xaden Riorson, to fuck her senseless. Xaden – who also rides dragons, and with whom she can also communicate telepathically due to a dragon-related loophole – is her spiritual and sexual soulmate. 'Xaden is mine,' Violet thinks. 'My heart, my soul, my everything. He channelled from the earth to save me, and I'll scour the world until I find a way to save him right back.' Such lines are unfortunately characteristic of the genre's prose. 'He hasn't kissed me like this since before the battle at Basgiath,' Violet notes. Yarros's dialogue comes thick and fast – at times it's more like reading a script than a novel. Where the authors diverge in fantastical creatures they coalesce in style: in Onyx Storm (dragons) but also A Court of Thorns of Roses (faeries) and The Serpent of the Wings of Night (vampires, by Carissa Broadbent), line breaks and full stops are used liberally for dramatic effect. ('Fast. They're too damned fast,' says Violet as she encounters some 'venin', AKA the baddies of Navarre.) Violet's warrior status, her appetite for danger, her courage, her unbridled sexual desire, put her in a different category from the hapless virgins of Disney and the Brothers Grimm who are, all these years later, still stuck in their dusty old volumes fannying about with spinning wheels and dwarfs. Feyre, the narrator of Maas's bestseller A Court of Thorns and Roses, is also a scrappy little fighter, one who carries daggers and arrows and scoffs early doors at her sisters 'chattering about some young man or the ribbons they'd spotted in the village when they should have been chopping wood'. When Feyre unknowingly kills a faerie, and is captured and taken away from her family to the dangerous faerie kingdom over the border and forced to live in the lap of luxury, she protests at the princess treatment: 'I hadn't worn a dress in years. I wasn't about to start, not when escape was my main priority. I wouldn't be able to move freely in a gown.' Both Maas and Yarros's heroines are strong and independent – and yet in both cases they are bound to the man they love, or will grow to love (most romantasy relationships begin as enemies), through life and death. 'You're the only one capable of killing me,' says Xaden, who has been infected by venin as a sacrifice for Violet. In A Court of Thorns and Roses, a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Feyre must fall in love with the 'High Lord' Tamlin to break the curse on his kingdom. Their every interaction is loaded with danger: Tamlin is a shapeshifter and could, if he wanted to, tear her to shreds with the huge claws that are at risk of appearing every time he slightly loses emotional control. Similarly, in Broadbent's The Serpent of the Wings of Night, the heroine Oraya is a human always endangered in a world of vampires. Raihn, her vampire love interest, could kill her, and she has a duty to kill him. 'I could open his shirt, slide my hands over the expanse of his chest, and thrust my poison blade right here – right into his heart. He could tear away this ridiculous delicate spiderweb of a dress and cut me open,' Broadbent writes. 'The two of us could burn each other up.' Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe This violent, exaggerated language persists across the sexual scenes. 'He's kissing me like I'm the only air he can breathe'; 'nothing existed but him'; 'My entire world constricted to the touch of his lips on my skin'. Orgasms are 'fracturing', 'splintering', 'shattering', 'unravelling'. The intensity and danger is part of the sexual fantasy – but the heroine in each case is in some way just as dangerous to the man as he is her. Readers will be reminded here of Twilight, the late 2000s young adult series by Stephanie Meyer that caused a similar frenzy among teenage girls. In Twilight a normal high school girl, Bella Swan, falls in love with a vampire, the sublime Edward Cullen. Bella was dangerous to Edward because he was dangerous to her – he loved her so much that he couldn't risk endangering her by 'losing control' (read: having sex and unwittingly tearing her body to shreds). But what made Twilight so compelling to young women hoping for a perfect love was the unique power Bella had over Edward, and the fact that he did stay in control despite his potential to cause her harm. A similar dynamic pervades A Court of Thorns and Roses: 'The full force of that wild, unrelenting High Lord's power focused solely on me – and I felt the storm contained beneath his skin, so capable of sweeping away everything I was, even in its lessened state. But I could trust him, trust myself to weather that mighty power. I could throw all that I was at him and he wouldn't balk. 'Give me everything,' I breathed.' Elsewhere, though, we are reminded of Feyre's pluck: she is not powerless against Tamlin. Rather, she chooses to sleep with him when she wants to, and doesn't when she doesn't: 'Don't ever disobey me again,' he said, his voice a deep purr that ricocheted through me, awakening everything and lulling it into complicity. Then I reconsidered his words and straightened. He grinned at me in that wild way, and my hand connected with his face. 'Don't tell me what to do,' I breathed, my palm stinging. 'And don't bite me like some enraged beast.' Though plenty of effort is taken to give gravitas to the imagined worlds they feel thinly drawn, like costumes and sets. Names for places and people lack the consistent and distinctive syntax of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, and immersion in the world is often reduced to crude signifiers, particularly adapted curse words. Yarros, for example, is careful only ever to refer to 'gods', plural, as in 'oh my gods' and 'godsdamn', usually deployed at moments of sexual ecstasy; occasionally she opts for 'by Malek', as in, 'by Malek, I fucking love you'. Maas goes for 'Cauldron boil me!', while Broadbent opts for 'Goddess', 'Mother', and the exclamation 'Ix's tits'. If all that feels silly, it's nothing on the fact that, despite stating at the outset of Onyx Storm that the text 'has been faithfully transcribed from Navarrian into the modern language' and yet the students of Basgiath War College still understand concepts like 'boundaries', 'overthinking' and 'hitting the gym'. You half expect them to return to their chambers from a great battle and crack open a can of Diet Coke. These are, clearly, very modern fairy tales – and, as that would suggest, full of contradictions. A handsome prince, yes, but one who does not control you, one over whom you maintain a sexual power, one who wants you to be free of the damage he could inflict on you. Intense sex, yes, but sex that is incredibly high stakes. A heroine who is powerful and independent but believes in and experiences the kind of true love that is increasingly being called into question by our rational, transactional world. That's the real fantasy: to be she who has it all. Who has the things that we once wanted and the new ones. The good bits of this and of that. The perfect man, and the perfect self. The danger and the safety. The pleasure and the pain. It's not surprising we need a magical land to imagine those things could be true. [See also: English literature's last stand] Related
Express Tribune
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
'Fourth Wing' TV series: Josh Heuston linked to Xaden role as Moira Walley-Beckett leads adaptation
Development of the Fourth Wing television adaptation continues to gain traction as speculation intensifies around actor Josh Heuston's potential casting as Xaden Riorson. The adaptation of Rebecca Yarros' bestselling Empyrean series is being produced by Amazon MGM Studios in collaboration with Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society, with Moira Walley-Beckett attached as showrunner. First announced in late 2023, the series is based on the romantasy saga that follows Violet Sorrengail's perilous journey at Basgiath War College, where elite students are trained to become dragon riders. Set in a high-stakes fantasy world, the story combines military academy politics, magical warfare, and forbidden romance. No official casting has been confirmed, though Josh Heuston's name has been linked to either the role of Xaden or Bodhi. When questioned, Heuston commented, 'You have to ask the scribes, I suppose,' further fuelling fan discussions. Author Rebecca Yarros has publicly maintained her stance on accurate representation, stating that Xaden will be portrayed by a person of colour. 'They know how staunch I am against whitewashing Xaden,' Yarros said, reaffirming the series' commitment to diversity in casting. Moira Walley-Beckett, best known for her work on Breaking Bad and Anne with an E, has earned high praise from Yarros for her handling of the adaptation. During the launch of Onyx Storm in January 2025, Yarros confirmed reading multiple drafts of the pilot script and described it as 'phenomenal,' adding, 'I kicked my feet the entire time—I love it.' Production timelines remain under wraps, with no confirmed release date. The series is expected to follow the narrative arc of the five-book Empyrean series, which includes Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm. Books four and five are currently in development.
Telegraph
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
I may have found a cure for teen screen addiction: romantasy novels
My teenage daughter can't stop reading books. Two a week, at least. She's at it all the time: over breakfast, in the bath, meandering distractedly to the bus stop. If I try to talk to her, she raises one hand as a stop sign and gently shushes me, before bowing once more over the page. If this sounds like a middle-class boast – well, obviously it is. A bookworm in the family feels like a miracle in the smartphone age. But the credit does not belong to me. It belongs to a parade of strong and independent heroines, some with magical powers, who must fight to survive in assorted dystopian kingdoms peopled with dragons, elves and cruel but broodingly attractive princes. This is the genre known as 'romantasy ', which, over the past five years or so, has almost swallowed the publishing industry whole. As the name suggests, it's a heady blend of sci-fi, fantasy and romance, most of it written by and for women. It tends towards the formulaic, with dependable romantic tropes such as 'enemies to lovers' or 'fated mates'. Within the genre there are varying 'spice levels', ranging from chaste but yearning love stories, fit for the young adult market, to absolute faerie filth. Right now, many of the UK's bestselling novels are romantasies. One of these, Onyx Storm, by Rebecca Yarros, sold 2.7 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest-selling adult novel in the English language for more than 20 years. When Yarros does publicity events, her fans – thousands of them – come dressed as her characters, in a riot of medieval corsetry, albino wigs and nylon dragon wings. This is not, I admit, the path into bibliophilia I had anticipated for any child of mine. One of the vanities of parenthood is to imagine that you can shape your offspring's cultural tastes into a copy of your own. Or rather, a selectively remembered, suspiciously highbrow version of your own. Because now I come to think of it, I didn't read that many Edwardian classics either. My own literary addictions began with Enid Blyton, the unrivalled mistress of repetitive tropes and archetypal characters. At one point I refused to read anything but Malory Towers books, over and over, high on their delicious predictability. My parents, in desperation, locked the entire series in a cupboard, hoping this would force me to broaden my literary horizons. It worked: I moved on to The Twins at St Clare's. After that came Jilly Cooper's early romantic novels, which all had female names as their titles: Octavia, Imogen, Emily, Bella. They, too, were blissfully formulaic, with a gentle steaminess perfectly attuned to the sexual curiosity of a teenage girl. Cooper and Blyton taught me to read for pleasure. They made me want to read, not for reasons of self-improvement or intellectual display, but for the fun of it. Pleasure is habit-forming: once you know you can get the good stuff from a book, you are liable to keep going back for more. Everyone needs a literary gateway drug – now more than ever, with screens competing constantly for our attention. A survey published last week to 'celebrate' World Book Day found that almost 50 per cent of men had not read a single book over the past year. By contrast, 63 per cent of women still read, in part, perhaps, because they have found a genre that gives them pleasure. What men need now is a romantasy of their own.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rebecca Yarros' bestselling fantasy book 'Fourth Wing' is being turned into a TV show. Here's everything we know so far.
Rebecca Yarros' "Fourth Wing" is being adapted into a TV series. Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society will produce the series for Prime Video. Although a release date and cast hasn't been announced, Yarros offered some clues about the show. Rebecca Yarros' "Empyrean" series about dragon rider Violet Sorrengail has never been more popular. When "Onyx Storm," the third book in the romantasy series, was released on January 21, it became the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years, The New York Times reported. The first and second books in the series, "Fourth Wing" and "Iron Flame," sat right behind "Onyx Storm" on the bestseller list following its release. Yarros is taking a break before writing the fourth book in the series, but in the meantime, progress is being made on the series adaptation of "Fourth Wing." Here's everything we know about the show so far. In October 2023, Deadline announced that Amazon MGM Studios and Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society were developing "Fourth Wing" into a Prime Video series. Yarros is also an executive producer for the show. Outlier Society produced Jordan's "Creed III" and is developing a slate of other series and films in addition to "Fourth Wing." In July 2024, Outlier Society announced it had hired Moira Walley-Beckett as the showrunner for the series. Walley-Beckett won three Emmy awards for her work as a writer and producer on "Breaking Bad," and she later created "Anne with an E." As of February, Outlier Society had not announced casting or a release date for the series. Deadline also reported in October 2023 that Amazon MGM Studios had bought the rights for the whole "Empyrean" book series. In a January interview with Variety, Yarros said she had shared the "five-book arc" for the "Empyrean" series with Amazon and Walley-Beckett. "They have the five-book arc and the general big points of what happens in between each book, but they don't have the specifics between Book 4 and Book 5, because I'm getting ready to go to my crazy plotting board and plot out every single event that happens in each book so that I make sure that I'm within my two books there," she told Variety. Although details about the series are limited, Yarros made a few comments about the show while promoting "Onyx Storm." Speaking at an engagement on January 24 in New York, Yarros told fans she had read the pilot for the "Fourth Wing" show — and loved it. "I read the latest version of the pilot last week," she said. "It's really nerve-racking when you read something like that because you're really — you're trusting someone else with your baby, right? And you're trusting someone else to say, like, 'Hey, this is important in your work, and this isn't,' and you kinda get your guard up." "But guys, I, like, kicked my feet the whole time," she said. "You're gonna love it." Yarros also praised Walley-Beckett, calling her a "brilliant writer" and saying she maintained the integrity of the book in the pilot. "All the lines that you love are there. And she really kept the spirit and energy," Yarros said of the pilot. "I can't say enough good things. It's phenomenal." Speaking at an event in London on August 30, 2024, Yarros said casting will ultimately fall on the show's staff, not her. She also said she intentionally hasn't shared any specific actors she hopes will be cast in the series. "I will never say who my perfect fan cast is because the cast is so diverse, and I want to open that up to more diversity," she said. "And I feel like the second I say who I think this character is, that's who everyone will accept. That's only who they will accept." "I kinda hope they find, like, an up-and-coming generation," she added. "But I would never put my fan cast in your heads." Although she won't be involved in casting the series, Yarros said at the same event that she has one hard-line casting request she has communicated to Amazon MGM Studios, Outlier Society, and Walley-Beckett. "They know how staunch I am against white-washing Xaden," she said. "I think that's the biggest thing." Xaden Riorson, Violet's love interest in the series, is described as having "warm tawny skin" in "Fourth Wing" and "tawny-brown" skin in both "Iron Flame" and "Onyx Storm." Read the original article on Business Insider
