Iron Flame

Iron Flame

Author	Rebecca Yarros
Language	English
Series	Empyrean
Genre	Romance Fantasy
Published	November 7, 2023
Publisher	Red Tower Books (Entangled Publishing)
Pages	623
ISBN	978-1-64937-417-2
Preceded by	Fourth Wing
Followed by	Onyx Storm

Iron Flame is a 2023 new adult fantasy novel by American author Rebecca Yarros. It is the second book in the Empyrean series, a planned five-book series.^[1][2][3]

The second installment in the Empyrean series was released on November 7, 2023.^[4][5][6][7] Yarros took to Instagram to announce the title and release date of the second installment of the Empyrean series two days after Fourth Wing’s release.^[8] Three months before Iron Flame hit shelves, TODAY.com posted an exclusive 500-word teaser excerpt.^[6]

The storyline continues where the first book ended. Violet has to use the abilities she learned during Threshing at Basgiath War College and achieve her true power, even though the vice commandant is determined to show her how weak she is.^[1][9][10]

Violet's world shattered as she learned the shocking truth about Xaden and Brennan's involvement in the secret rebellion. The revelation was like a lightning bolt, illuminating a reality that had been hidden in darkness. The attack by the venin had peeled back the veil, exposing a deadly threat that the kingdom had kept hidden. As she recovered from her injuries, Violet found herself torn between her loyalty to her country and her newfound knowledge of the rebellion's cause. Meanwhile, her relationship with Dain, her trusted childhood friend, was strained. Dain's betrayal and subsequent vow of honesty left Violet skeptical and distrustful. She distanced herself from him, determined to protect her heart and mind from further pain. As their dragons underwent their separate rites of passage, Violet and Xaden were forced to live apart, but granted weekend visits to foster the bond between their mythical companions.

It's Violet's arduous second year at Basgiath War College, and adversity looms. Excluded from a rebel mission, she endures harassment from the new vice commandant, Major Burton Varrish. Disguised as a comrade, Prince Cam joins her squad, while whispers of mysterious deaths among Athebyne survivors haunt her, forcing Violet to isolate herself to safeguard her allies. Secretly investigating the enigmatic First Six, she grapples with an elusive Xaden who maintains his secrecy. Their team's struggles in the Rider Survival Course, exacerbated by a debilitating potion, fan Violet's frustration. As hidden venin attacks escalate, Xaden confronts her about her covert research into wards and the disparity in their trust.

Keeping secrets from Mira and Rhiannon becomes increasingly difficult, leading Violet to reveal the perilous situation facing Athebyne survivors and Dain's signet to Rhiannon. Aaric, unlike his father, rallies to confront the venin threat. In a twist of fate, Violet and her companions are captured, facing an interrogation challenge. Despite Varrish's ploy with Dain's signet, her resolve remains unbroken. The unexpected appearance of Jack Barlowe, her presumed victim, shocks Violet, only to be followed by the news of Xaden's injury in a gryphon attack. Rushing to his aid, she discovers a fully healed Xaden who trusts her enough to involve her in a mission to deliver smuggled daggers to gryphon fliers, including his estranged ex-girlfriend Cat. As Violet accepts a dagger for self-defense, Varrish's scrutiny catches her in possession of it. Rhiannon's signet power teleports the dagger, inadvertently exposing Violet's secret to the team.

The group daringly infiltrated the Archives to seize journals penned by the legendary First Six. However, the group is caught and Violet is apprehended and subjected to relentless torture by Varrish, the ruthless commander of Sorrengail's forces. Violet endures the torture and finds solace in visions of her Liam, her dead friend, which sustains her will to survive. Dain, a skilled rebel, intervenes and facilitates her daring escape. Together, they rally the students of Basgiath, exposing Sorrengail's tyranny. Their courageous actions inspired a mass exodus of students who abandon their allegiance to join the rebels in their sanctuary at Aretia.

Violet's destiny is intertwined with Assembly member Felix, who guides her in harnessing her formidable powers. She translates an ancient ritual from the journal but her initial attempt to activate the wards proved futile. Determined to illuminate the rebel base of Aretia, Violet embarked on a perilous journey to Cordyn, seeking the assistance of Viscount Tecarus. There, she crossed paths with Cat, her former rival and Xaden's estranged betrothed. Through a daring negotiation that involved Violet vanquishing a fearsome creature with her lightning, Tecarus agreed to provide the rebels with a luminary. However, Tecarus's aid came with a condition: the rebels were tasked with training 100 gryphon fliers in Aretia. During these rigorous exercises, tragedy struck when a Varrish dragon attacked, claiming the life of a rider. To their dismay, Andarna heroically sacrificed herself to vanquish the dragon. Despite their past rivalry, Cat and Violet found common ground, uniting against their shared adversary.

Violet shields her team with lightning while Sawyer is injured by a wyvern. Andarna rescues Violet from venin when she delivers Sawyer to healers. Jesinia provides a translation of Lyra's journal, revealing the locations of seven dragon dens crucial for a ritual. Violet discovers Andarna, a dragon with unique camouflage abilities, is from the seventh den, gathering the seven dragons needed for a powerful ritual. Meanwhile, Xaden fights on the battlefield against the venin Sage, who has been plaguing his dreams. In a desperate attempt to save Violet, Xaden channels earth magic and turns venin himself. Violet realizes the ritual will drain her life force, but General Sorrengail sacrifices herself to complete it and save Violet's life. Dragons activate a wardstone, causing the venin to retreat as wyverns die. Violet discovers Xaden has become infected with venin.

• Violet Sorrengail: The protagonist and narrator. Second year in the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College who is bonded to two dragons, Tairn and Andarna, defying expectations that she would not survive due to her size and physical strength (a condition that reflects Ehlers-Danlos syndromes). After being betrayed by those she trusted, Violet needs to decide between aiding the rebellion or hiding behind a lie. She also needs to survive another year in the Rider’s Quadrant and all the life-threatening tests it throws at her.
• Xaden Riorson: Now lieutenant, he must balance leading a secret rebellion, surviving the venin attacks, and his rocky relationship with Violet. He is bonded to Sgaeyl who is mated to Violet’s dragon, Tairn.
• Dain Aetos: On the outs after using his signet of retrocognition on Violet, Dain has to earn back her trust or risk the success of Fourth Wing of which he is now Wingleader.
• Rhiannon Matthias: Violet’s best friend. She knows Violet is keeping secrets from her
• Mira Sorrengail: Lieutenant dragon rider in the Eastern Wing and older sister to Violet. She is assigned to the same fort as Xaden. Bonded to Teine.
• Brennan Sorrengail: Violet’s older brother who was previously known to have died in battle. He is now leading the revolution. Bonded to Marbh. His signet is mending.
• Burton Varrish: The new vice commandant at Basgaith War College who takes particular interest in Violet. He is known for his history with brutal interrogation methods due to his signet: reading a person’s weaknesses.

The writing schedule Yarros follows makes it so that she can write 2–3 books a year.^[11] The process for Iron Flame was expedited due to consumer momentum from the success of Fourth Wing and the excitement from Entangled Publishing, making it so that Iron Flame could be released only seven months after its predecessor.

Yarros’ parents were lieutenant colonels, and her husband was in the United States Army, both of which inspired the death culture of the Empyrean series: “I can tell you: when you go to war, your friends don’t always come home. And so, it was important to me to... keep that realism [in the Empyrean series].”^[12][13] Her husband also aided in developing “aerial combat” scenes with his experience as an Apache pilot.^[13]

Iron Flame is considered romantasy: “fantasy with...a romance vein.”^[14] Yarros is considered a notable writer of the genre due to her work on Fourth Wing and Iron Flame. Romantasy is largely written by women and marketed for women, but Iron Flame has proven to appeal to a male audience because of its inclusion of dragons and dragon culture reminiscent of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, which continues to draw a heavily male audience.^[14]

The book received widespread acclaim upon its release day, selling over half a million copies.^[15] Iron Flame generated significant buzz online and offline with 200 Barnes & Noble stores throughout the USA organizing midnight release parties for the book, including a notable event in New York City attended by Yarros.^[16] In addition to these official gatherings, independent bookstores hosted their own celebrations, quickly running out of tickets due to the high demand.^[1][16]

After the release, many readers pointed out that their copies of Iron Flame had a variety of misprints. These included spines that read Fourth Wing instead of Iron Flame and covers that had the title and author's name printed upside down. Other readers said there were pages inside of the book printed the wrong way, or out of order. Entangled Publishing agreed to exchange the misprinted books.^[17][15] The deadline to register for a replacement of a misprinted book was January 17, 2024.^[18]

In November 2023, Iron Flame was ranked #1 national fiction bestseller by Publishers Weekly.^[19] It has garnered over 400,000 5-star reviews on Goodreads.^[20]

Yarros has been accused of misusing the Scottish Gaelic language in her series after mispronouncing several Scottish Gaelic words from her novel during interviews leading up to Iron Flame’s release.^[2] This along with the speed at which Iron Flame was released following Fourth Wing and various misprint issues has led to comparisons between the current state of the publishing industry and fast fashion.^[2]

The Empyrean series is planned to contain five books.^[1][2][3] On December 26, 2023, Yarros posted a reel to her Instagram profile showing her “head[ing] back to Basgiath” to begin writing the next book following Iron Flame. On March 28, 2024 it was announced that the third book, Onyx Storm, will be released on January 21, 2025.^[21] The time between the publications of Iron Flame and Onyx Storm will be longer than the time between the first two books due to Yarros’ health limitations which were pushed in the expedited release of the first two installments of the series.^[13]

A week prior to Iron Flame’s release, Variety announced Amazon MGM Studios acquired the rights to adapt the entire series for streaming. The deal includes Fourth Wing—which was released in May 2023—Iron Flame, and the three remaining books Yarros plans to write to conclude the series. Yarros is set to executive produce the series with Liz Pelletier, the founder of Entangled Publishing, and Liz Raposo, the president of Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society. Yarros is not set to have any writing credits in the series. The series has yet to be green lit.^[4]

• Iron Flame title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database