Title: Iron Flame
Series: The Empyrean, #2
Author: Rebecca Yarros
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Publication date: November 7, 2023
Length: 884 pages (Kindle edition)
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased

“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.

TL;DR version of a review: It’s Fourth Wing, but with torture!

Okay, there isn’t necessarily torture throughout the ENTIRE book, but there’s enough. And really, this book is basically the same as the first in the series, just… more.

In my review of Fourth Wing, I shared my unpopular opinion (liked, didn’t love it), and now I’m back with what I’m sure is an unpopular opinion of Iron Flame. This time around, I can’t even truly say that I liked the book.

(You’d be justified in asking why I bothered with the 2nd in a series if I didn’t love the 1st. The answer is — I was interested enough that I wanted to see what happened next… but I don’t think I’ll be repeating the experience when the 3rd book comes out).

Iron Flame picks up immediately after the events of Fourth Wing, continuing the story of Violet Sorrengail, her true love Xaden, their dragons, their war college, the evil secrets kept by their government, and a scary outside force that threatens everything. I’m not going to bother going deeper into the plot than that — there’s lots of action, lots of opaque talk about magical history, runes, wards, etc, and romantic complications that feel very unnecessary.

Violet and Xaden are madly in love in that heightened, desperate, dramatic way that’s a staple of fantasy romance, but they have some deep failures in their ability to communicate (which is ironic, considering that their dragons’ mating bond gives the two of them the ability to speak mind to mind). Violet resents Xaden keeping secrets, but he’s clearly keeping the secrets in order not to endanger other people, which is reasonable for a rebellion leader — especially since Violet is in frequent contact with someone who can read minds through touch, and can’t be guaranteed to avoid him. Yet Violet considers the secret-keeping a deal-breaker, and the couple spend much too much time holding themselves apart, feeling all sorts of tormented yearning (and unfulfilled lust).

As in Fourth Wing, this book feels mostly like YA, but with explicit sex scenes that aren’t the least bit sexy. And I’m sorry, but is the use of the word “claiming” in regard to kissing supposed to be hot? As in:

The feel of his tongue flicking against mine, then claiming, stroking, is a flame to a tinderbox, and I catch fire.

I vote no.

The writing overall is uneven, full of f-bombs and modern-speak in a way that’s jarring in a fantasy world of dragons and swords and runes. This bit made me laugh:

“… And then I’d kick his ass, partially because that’s what I do when someone challenges me, and more importantly for implying there’s any other future besides the one where you and I are endgame.”

Shouldn’t that be #endgame? The book often feels like it’s missing hashtags, or the fantasy-world equivalent of texts and TikTok.

One thing I did appreciate — there’s a point in the book where Violet and her squad are talking with gryphon riders from across the border, supposed enemies who’ve become secret allies. And it turns out in their training, if they fail… they go do something else. One of the things that irritated me no end in Fourth Wing is the acceptance that cadets trying to become dragon riders die throughout their time at the war college — death weeds out the people who aren’t strong enough to succeed. It makes no sense — surely all these talented young adults could better serve their country by joining other branches of the military, rather than dying or being killed by one another?

Maren nods, then points between Sloane and me. “And before you ask, it’s you all who are the weird ones, killing cadets on your conscription day.”

I draw back, letting her words sink in.

“Technically, they’re candidates,” Sloane mutters. “We’re only cadets once we cross.”

“Well, I guess that makes it better,” Maren quips sarcastically.

Okay, clearly, this book didn’t work for me. It’s overly long — it often feels like we’re experiencing every single day right alongside Violet, from breakfast to getting dressed to what she reads and studies.

There’s also the issue of just how much of a chosen one Violet is. She’s the most powerful rider, she has the most powerful signet (magical ability), she’s bonded with not one but two dragons, she’s in the most extremely passionate relationship with the hottest guy, she’s the only one who reads just the right archaic language to figure out the key to saving the kingdom… it goes on and on and on.

The worldbuilding continues to be inconsistent and opaque. Lots of terms and concepts get thrown around (wielding, imbuing, signets, runes, wards) but not necessarily clearly explained or used consistently, new rules seem to pop up out of nowhere for how various magical elements work, and the geopolitics remain as muddy as in the first book.

My final complaint (although yes, I could keep going) is that action sequences are not particularly well written. I found so many of the battle and adventure/quest scenes hard to follow — there always felt like pieces were missing and that the spatial relationships (especially during in-flight dragon battles) didn’t make sense.

I realized by the middle of the book that I just wasn’t enjoying it, but having made it that far, I was determined to finish. And I did, but it was quite a slog to get to the end. As with Fourth Wing, this book ends on a cliffhanger revelation… but by that point, I’d stopped caring.

I can’t see myself continuing with the series. I’m mildly curious about how it might work out, but not enough to subject myself to another 600 – 800 page tome. Maybe I’ll just wait for someone else to read it and give me a recap!

I know these books have legions of devoted fans… clearly, that doesn’t include me.