Spoiler-Free Book Review: 'Iron Flame' By Rebecca Yarros
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Fourth Wing spent three months on the top of the New York Times Best Seller List and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Iron Flame, the second book in the Empyrean series, has much to live up to. The novel has already made the headlines, it was Waterstone's fastest-ever pre-order seller, with the special edition selling out in just seven hours. To add to the drama, a few retailers such as Walmart accidently put the book on the shelves two days before its release on November 7th, 2023. It’s been a white-knuckle eight-month wait after the cliffhanger at the end of Fourth Wing, but has it all been worth it?
The first book was definitely a new adult title, but Rebecca Yarros starts to skip into high fantasy in Iron Flame, with large amounts of detailed world-building. The reader is given a whole new magic system, as well as culture and religion. Although we’re not at Robert Jordan levels yet, if you're used to Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer L. Armentrout, this might feel heavy going in comparison. This high fantasy/romantasy hybrid has a sense of gravitas that Fourth Wing was lacking. It’s no longer kids playing in school, the fate of the world is at stake.
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Iron Flame is a lot darker than Fourth Wing, and we get the sense that Yarros has no problem going further in the later books. This author likes to put the reader through the mill in the last one hundred pages. If you’ve got attached to this series, then a therapist may be in order. Especially as it looks like the next novel won’t be on the shelves until late 2024.
There’s no doubt the book does have pacing problems, the first half drags, and the second half is revelation after revelation, moving so quickly the reader can barely draw breath. Unfortunately, the novel gets bogged down by the Xaden/Violet dynamic, which could have used work. There are surprises about this pair that Booktok did not see coming, and one in Chapter fifty-five that they nailed.
There are so many people in this book, that it's hard to care about all of them. Some, it's painfully obvious, Rebecca Yarros brought in to do one job, or for later novels. They start to blend into each other and it's hard to keep track of them all. Weirdly, a much-maligned character stands out from the crowd and their arc with Violet is one of the high points of the novel. The Sorrengail siblings also shine brightly.
But let’s not forget the dragons. Tairn is the star of Iron Flame, and he knows it. Now that the first two books have been sold to Amazon MGM Studios, there will be celebrities lining up around the block to voice the sarcastic dragon.
Iron Flame isn’t the easy and fun read that Fourth Wing was, like every good sequel its job is to put you through the wringer. And boy, does it do that. It’s the Empire Strikes Back of its series. But there are problems with it.
Rating 6/10 – A fair follow-up
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Source(s): The New York Times The Book Seller Wiki
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