Fourth Wing – Dragon’s Tale
The Empyrean #1
Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders…
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.
But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.
With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die
About the Author: Rebecca Yarros
Rebecca Yarros is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author known for her emotionally charged and action-packed novels. With a passion for storytelling that began in childhood, Yarros has become a beloved voice in contemporary romance, fantasy, and military fiction.
Early Life and Career: Yarros grew up in a military family, which inspired her love for writing about strong, resilient characters. She holds a degree in English and has worked as a teacher and freelance editor before becoming a full-time author.
Writing Style: Yarros is celebrated for her ability to blend heart-wrenching emotion with gripping action and intricate world-building. Her stories often explore themes of love, sacrifice, and the strength of the human spirit.
Personal Life: A mother of six, Yarros balances her writing career with her busy family life. She and her husband, a military veteran, live in Colorado, where she draws inspiration from the rugged landscapes and her own experiences.
Plot Summary
Fourth Wing follows Violet Sorrengail, a small, frail 20-year-old who is forced by her mother, General Sorrengail, to enter the dangerous Rider Quadrant at Basgiath War College instead of the Scribe Quadrant. Her low prospects are evident from the start, compounded by the fact that she is related to the executed rebel leader’s son, Xaden Riorson, a high-ranking third-year cadet.
Conscription, Training, and Betrayal
Upon arriving, Violet is immediately targeted by other cadets, like Jack, due to her weakness and her mother’s reputation. She survives the perilous Parapet crossing and seeks out her childhood friend, Dain Aetos, only to be placed under Xaden’s command in the Fourth Wing. Dain, who has the power to see recent memories through touch, secretly warns Violet that Xaden wants her dead. Violet quickly distinguishes herself by intellect, not strength, and begins secretly poisoning her sparring partners to survive deadly challenges. She discovers a secret meeting of rebel children, where Xaden, who lost his father to Violet’s mother, makes her swear secrecy.
Bonding and the Signet
The highly competitive Threshing event arrives. Violet hides from murderous cadets but witnesses them attempting to kill a small, unusual golden feathertail dragon, Andarna. Defying her own safety, Violet defends the dragon, severely injuring herself. This selfless act draws the attention of Tairn, a rare black dragon and one of the most powerful, who kills her attacker. Tairn and Andarna bond with Violet, making her the first rider in history with two bonds. Violet learns Tairn is Xaden’s dragon’s mate (Sgaeyl), giving Xaden a vested interest in her survival.
As Violet’s training continues, Andarna uses her power to stop time to save Violet from a murder attempt, revealing that Andarna is a child dragon whose power must be kept secret. Violet eventually manifests her unique power, or signet, during a game of capture-the-flag: the ability to control lightning, which she uses to kill her relentless attacker, Jack.
War Games and Revelation
Violet and Xaden confess their mutual romantic attraction, but their intimacy is short-lived. During the final War Games simulation, Xaden leads the rebel children and Violet to an outpost where they meet gryphon fliers from the enemy country of Poromeil. Xaden reveals his devastating secret: he has been supplying them with weapons to fight the venin, ancient evil beings who drain magic from the earth and are the true threat to humankind. He confesses that Dain read Violet’s memories and betrayed them to the college, making this mission an ambush.
In the ensuing battle against the venin, Xaden’s loyal bodyguard, Liam, is killed, and Violet is stabbed with a poisoned knife. She secures their victory using her lightning. The survivors take her to a fortress to heal, where she awakens to find her brother, Brennan, whom she thought was dead, alive and waiting to welcome her to the revolution. The story ends on this revelation, leading directly into Iron Flame.
A Drink to Pair with Fourth Wing
To enhance your reading experience, pair Fourth Wing with a custom cocktail called the “Dragon’s Fury”, a bold and flavorful drink that mirrors the intensity of the story:
Ingredients:
- 1.5 oz bourbon (for a strong, fiery base)
- 0.5 oz ginger liqueur (for a spicy kick)
- 1 oz cranberry juice (for a touch of sweetness)
- A splash of lime juice (for balance)
- A dash of bitters (for complexity)
- A cinnamon stick or orange twist for garnish (for a dramatic touch)
Instructions:
- Fill a shaker with ice and add the bourbon, ginger liqueur, cranberry juice, lime juice, and bitters.
- Shake well and strain into a glass filled with ice.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick or orange twist for a fiery flair.
- Sip on this bold concoction as you dive into the world of Fourth Wing—it’s the perfect companion for a night of reading.
Rebecca Yaros website: https://rebeccayarros.com/
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Character Analysis
Violet Sorrengail
is the novel’s protagonist and narrator. Born with a disability due to her mother’s illness during pregnancy, she is physically frail, prone to injury, and trained to be a scribe. However, her mother, General Sorrengail, forces her into the highly dangerous Rider Quadrant. Despite her physical weakness, Violet’s superior intellect and strong moral code become her greatest assets.
Her journey is one of self-acceptance and self-worth. Initially lacking faith in herself, she is driven by a desire to stop seeking her mother’s and Dain’s approval. Her growth is marked by a clear inner voice that guides her past doubts and temptations. Her moral core—valuing what is right over displays of strength—ultimately draws her to bond with two rare dragons, Tairn and Andarna, granting her the powerful signet of lightning channeling. Her ability to see the world as it truly is becomes her ultimate form of empowerment and sets her against the kingdom’s flawed loyalty.
Xaden Riorson
is the enemy-to-lover figure. Initially seen as an antagonist due to his father’s rebellion and the execution ordered by Violet’s mother, he is a man of intense, hidden moral alignment. As the son of the Great Betrayer, he bears a tattoo marking him as a rebel’s child, but he made a deal with the government to protect the other children. Xaden is an exceptionally powerful shadow wielder and teaches Violet how to manipulate rules to serve a higher purpose—a direct contrast to Dain. He represents psychological strength as a survival trait, using his capabilities to become the worst possible threat to the corrupt Navarre kingdom. His survival challenges the official history and enables him to continue his father’s true fight against the venin.
Dain Aetos
is Violet’s childhood best friend, first love interest, and squad leader. He possesses the rare signet of being able to access people’s recent memories through touch. Dain is Xaden’s foil, defined by his rigid dedication to the rules, which he values over Violet’s safety. His actions toward Violet are simultaneously protective and infantilizing, repeatedly undermining her competence and strength. His ultimate betrayal—using his signet to read Violet’s memories and betray Xaden—gives Violet the crucial impetus to shed her dependence on his approval and fully embrace her own capabilities.
Rhiannon Matthias
is Violet’s peer and closest friend in the Rider Quadrant. Excelling at hand-to-hand combat, she forms an exchange with Violet: self-defense lessons for history lessons. Rhiannon is the first person to wholeheartedly believe in Violet’s potential, providing a secure and non-judgmental space for her to grow. She is Violet’s defender, but not her protector, highlighting a vital distinction from Dain’s controlling behavior and showing Violet what a healthy, supportive friendship should be.
Jack Barlowe
is the novel’s main antagonist and a constant physical threat to Violet. He is large, vicious, and kills two recruits on his first day. However, he is ultimately a coward whose physical prowess masks his failure to develop psychological strength. His desire to murder Violet and his attempt to cull the small golden dragon, Andarna, lead directly to his demise by Violet’s lightning signet. His death is a crucial turning point for Violet; by killing him, she secures her autonomy but is forced to reconcile the peaceful part of herself (the scribe) with the part capable of serving as a weapon (the rider).
Liam Mairi
is a first-year rider and Xaden’s foster brother. He is a marked separatists’ child who becomes Violet’s bodyguard. Liam’s role is to be the bridge between Violet and the other marked cadets. By sharing his lived experiences, he exposes the massive contradiction between the government’s official history and the reality of the rebellion, driving home The Value of Knowledge for Violet. His unnecessary death at the hands of the venin becomes a powerful symbol for the true conflict Navarre is suppressing and cements Violet’s loyalty to the rebel cause.
General Lilith Sorrengail
is the formidable leader of Basgaith War College and Violet’s mother. She is the source of the novel’s inciting action by forcing her frail daughter into the Rider Quadrant to maintain her family’s social standing. She is portrayed as an antagonistic figure, a constant source of fear and Violet’s deepest desire for approval. Violet’s growth is directly tied to her ability to distance herself from her mother’s expectations and to choose her own moral code over the General’s political rules.
Symbols & Motifs
Dragon Relics – Rebellion and Rider
are tattoo-like marks administered by dragons, symbolizing both power and community. They are a universal symbol of a rider’s bond and magical abilities within the military structure of Navarre. Conversely, they are also used as a punitive mark on the children of separatists to denote their parents’ “traitorous” nature. However, Xaden reveals a positive hidden context: these rebellion relics hide the marked children from the precognitive powers of a high-ranking Navarre official. Thus, the relics—both Rider and Rebellion—interlock the lives of all cadets, representing both the institutional power of the kingdom and a hidden, protective power among the rebels.
Poison
functions as a motif for corruptive power and The Value of Knowledge. It is a silent, subversive force used to sap life and energy, much like the propaganda Navarre uses to twist the world’s narrative. Violet employs poison to gain an advantage in sparring, directly paralleling Navarre’s use of propaganda to perpetuate its own corrupt view. The fact that Violet is almost killed by a literal poison at the novel’s climax underscores the idea that while knowledge is a weapon (her skill in poisoning), it is not an absolute shield against consequences. Her survival depends on the specialized knowledge of others, highlighting that information is a powerful commodity that can be used for both attack and defense.
Mortality
is a constant, defining reality for attendees of the war college, living permanently on the edge of death from dragons, war, and their own classmates. This is ritualized through the daily roll call of the dead, which instills a sense of nihilism in the students. Navarre’s death rituals, which include the ceremonial burning of a person’s belongings, symbolize a second death—a near-complete erasure of the deceased’s physical impact. Unburned items, such as the Book of Brennan, become illicit and precious commodities, underscoring the lack of permanence the characters face.
Daggers
are a powerful motif that bookends Violet’s journey, symbolizing survival and the evolution of her identity. They are given as rewards for victories in formal challenges, marking physical prowess. However, for Violet, the daggers are tokens of her Psychological Strength as a Survival Trait; she outsmarts physically stronger opponents to earn them. Her journey begins with her admitting she can only handle a dagger (not a sword) and ends with her using an enchanted dagger to kill a venin. Her mastery over the dagger showcases her transformation from a frail scribe to a capable rider, marking her newfound identity and autonomy.
Violence/Violet
The nickname “Violence,” given to Violet by Xaden, is initially mocking but transforms into a term of endearment and a marker of intimacy. Xaden is the first person who genuinely sees the true extent of her abilities, believing her capable of the rigorous life at the college. The name reflects her inner capacity for ferocity, which contrasts with her fragile appearance. By accepting the name “Violence,” Violet is acknowledging and integrating the weaponized part of herself, a validation that strengthens her relationship with Xaden and marks a pivotal step in her self-acceptance.
Book Club Questions
General Impressions
How does Violet’s transformation from a scribe-trained intellectual to a skilled dragon rider demonstrate different facets of her character? What core qualities remain the same, and what new qualities (like ruthlessness or confidence) emerge as she adapts to the Quadrant?
Basgiath War College is an intensely lethal environment. How does this setting intensify the novel’s action and magnify the bonds and betrayals among the riders? How does this lethal college compare to the environment in other popular works, such as The Hunger Games?
Personal Reflection and Connection
Violet is constantly forced to prove her strength to those who doubt her. Recall a moment in your life where you had to overcome others’ low expectations of you, relying on your own strength. How did your experience parallel or differ from Violet’s?
Violet’s reliance on individuals with questionable loyalty (Dain and Xaden) is a major source of tension. Think about a relationship in your own life where you had to rely on someone despite doubting their trustworthiness. Did that relationship end in loyalty or betrayal, and what did you learn?
What parallels can be drawn between the extreme competition and tension at Basgiath and real-life competitive environments (like high school, sports teams, or college)? Did your survival technique in those settings overlap with Violet’s use of intellect and unconventional tactics?
Societal and Cultural Context
The novel makes a statement about the relationship between perceived lack of physical strength and bullying. How does Violet’s character call for a reexamination of stereotypical depictions of strength and heroism?
The children of the rebels are forced into the Rider Quadrant as a life debt. What does this institutionalized punishment suggest about the nature of generational guilt and the idea of inheriting a parent’s crime or punishment?
Literary Analysis
Violet is initially defined by her physical weakness. How does her personality, however, reveal her true strength? Is Xaden’s nickname for her—Violence—a representation of admiration, and how can the term be viewed as both a compliment and an insult?
Trace the themes of power, loyalty, and betrayal throughout the novel. What key moments demonstrate unexpected shifts in these themes, especially among the central riders?
What does Violet’s double bond with Tairn and Andarna signify about her potential as a rider? How is this double bond a “double-edged sword,” inviting both immense power and greater envy/violence?
How does Dain challenge the literary trope of the hero who saves the woman he loves? Analyze the course of his relationship with Violet, focusing on how his overprotectiveness eventually leads to his greatest betrayal.
Creative Engagement
If you were a rider, what kind of dragon would you choose to bond with, and what signet (magical ability) would you wish for? How would your life-and-death relationship with your dragon compare to your familial, romantic, or platonic bonds?
How would Violet’s story have been different if she had caved to Dain’s overprotection and pursued a relationship with him? Do you think she would have found fulfillment as a scribe, as Dain wished?
