Iron Flame

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Iron Flame
AuthorRebecca Yarros
LanguageEnglish
SeriesEmpyrean
Genre
PublishedNovember 7, 2023
PublisherRed Tower Books (Entangled Publishing)
Pages623
ISBN978-1-64937-417-2
Preceded byFourth Wing 
Followed byOnyx 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]

Background[edit]

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]

Development[edit]

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]

Genre[edit]

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]

Characters[edit]

  • 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.

Reception[edit]

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]

Controversy[edit]

Rebecca Yarros speaking at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2024 in the United Arab Emirates after the release of Iron Flame.

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]

Sequel[edit]

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]

Adaptation[edit]

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]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "How Rebecca Yarros' Novels Became a Romantasy Booktok Phenomenon". TIME. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "TikTok Is Turning the Publishing World Into Fast Fashion". Bloomberg.com. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "'Fourth Wing' is taking the book world by storm. Here's what you need to know about Colorado's Rebecca Yarros and the sequel 'Iron Flame'". The Denver Post. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Maas, Jennifer (October 30, 2023). "'Fourth Wing' TV Show in the Works at Amazon, Rights Secured for Rebecca Yarros' Sequel 'Iron Flame'". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  5. ^ Grindell, Samantha. "What to remember about 'Fourth Wing' before reading its sequel 'Iron Flame'". Insider. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Exclusive: Read an excerpt from 'Iron Flame,' Rebecca Yarros' 'Fourth Wing' sequel". TODAY.com. September 12, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  7. ^ "Sales for Anderson's event in Naperville halted by cyber attack". Chicago Tribune. September 19, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
  8. ^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  9. ^ "Empyrean series continues with midnight release of Iron Flame". FOX 17 West Michigan News (WXMI). November 2, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  10. ^ Hanson, Sophie (November 7, 2023). "Iron Flame Spoilers: What Happens To Violet & Xaden?". StyleCaster. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  11. ^ "TikTok - Make Your Day". www.tiktok.com. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  12. ^ "How Rebecca Yarros Packed Dragons, Magic and Steamy Sex Into a Blockbuster Fantasy". November 6, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "It's going to be a minute before we get book 3 of the Empyrean series". EW.com. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "PBS NewsHour for January 31, 2024. - Document - Gale OneFile: Pop Culture Studies". go.gale.com. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Maas, Jennifer (November 11, 2023). "'Fourth Wing' Publisher Vows to 'Swiftly' Resolve 'Frustrating' Misprint Issues With Sequel 'Iron Flame': 'We Are Committed to Making This Right' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "L.A. fans flock to a midnight book release party for a 'romantasy' sensation". Los Angeles Times. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  17. ^ Grindell, Samantha. "The release of Rebecca Yarros' much-anticipated sequel to 'Fourth Wing' has been messy". Insider. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  18. ^ "TikTok - Make Your Day". www.tiktok.com. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  19. ^ "'Iron Flame' is the top national fiction bestseller". The Seattle Times. November 19, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  20. ^ "Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)". Goodreads. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
  21. ^ "'Fourth Wing' author Rebecca Yarros announces title of 3rd book in The Empyrean series". Good Morning America. Retrieved April 3, 2024.


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