I started reading the second book, Iron Flame, in The Empyrean series. Fourth Wing took off in the book community this year and everyone was talking about it. I read it to see what the hype was about. I expected it to be really bad, but turns out that was not the case at all. I liked the book. It wasn’t perfect of course. But it wasn’t bad either.
I had mixed feelings with overall positive things to say about it. So I had no reason not to give the second book a chance.
I’m currently 15% into the book and I have to say that the high note where the previous book ended completely drops. In the first book it was like “omg! what just happened?” and in the next book it was like “oh! that’s no biggie, moving on…”. I didn’t like that at all.
Everyone goes back to the war college again as if nothing happened and the series somehow reverts to the first half of Fourth Wing.
Also, I wasn’t a fan of the romance in the first book itself. The second book completely dropped the romance aspect. In the 15% of the book, there are so few interactions between Xaden & Violet. I felt as if the little chemistry they had completely disappeared.
I’ll keep reading this. If it doesn’t improve by the 30% to 35% mark, I’ll DNF it. I hope it turns out to be a better book than it currently is.
Amazon Blurb
“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.
Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.
Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.
But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.
Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.
