Yes, many of us were scarred by that Game of Thrones series finale, and yes, there are a large number of fans who are still waiting for the final book in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series. Between the constant questions about when it’s coming out, the creation of and lawsuits over AI-generated endings and more, the situation with GOT has scarred many fantasy fans. Now, with the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation of the beloved Fourth Wing on the way, people are wondering if the Empyrean series all about Violet and her journey as a dragon rider will meet the same fate the HBO project did when it comes to making the show while the books are being written.
Thankfully, Rebecca Yarros, the author of Fourth Wing, has weighed in on this topic, and she assured fans that her series wouldn’t meet a similar fate. The series for Fourth Wing has been in development with Amazon and Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society since October 2023. Speaking with Variety about her books and the TV series, Yarros was asked if there’s a plan to “avoid an A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones situation,” meaning: Will all her novels be published before the show is finished? She quickly made sure to “promise” fans this wouldn’t happen, explaining:
So I can promise, unless something happens to me, we’re not going to have that situation. We do have a publication schedule, it is just not public yet.
In 2023, Yarros told Today that her series is completely plotted out, and there’s a plan to publish five books. The first two, Fourth Wing and Iron Flame came out in April and October of 2023, respectively. The third book in the series, Onyx Storm, was announced on GMA, and it is set to come out on January 21, 2025.
Game of Thrones had to diverge from the books’ path, because the show caught up with the novels, and by Seasons 7 and 8 they had passed the source material. To this day, this is a hot topic in the GOT community, and fans still can’t get over the show’s ending.
While she made a point to say that Fourth Wing fans won’t have to worry about the show getting to a point where it doesn't have a book to base a season on, Rebecca Yarros also said she’s slowing down a bit. After releasing the first two books in 2023, fans will have to wait nine more months for book three, meaning it will be released over a year after Iron Flame. However, it’s for the best, as Yarros said:
I’ve already said publicly that I’m slowing down slightly, enough that I can put out books and still be healthy. I think I wrote like 851,000 words in 15-18 months — I was just wiped out. I want to be able to deliver the best books possible, so I need to sleep a little. I’ll be writing, I just need to write and sleep, not just write. We’re slowing down a tiny bit, not every six months.
Along with completing her book series while the show is being made, Yarros is serving as an executive producer on the Amazon project. While she couldn’t give many updates, she did say there’s a writer’s room working. Even though the show more than likely won’t premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, it seems very possible that Season 1 will come out before the book series is completely published, because pre-production is in full swing.
Personally, I trust Yarros, and I believe that her books will all be done before the final season of Fourth Wing comes out. It sounds like a solid plan is in place for her series, and I’m so excited to find out what happens to Violet, Xaden and co. both on screen and on the page.
Here’s hoping that like Game of Thrones (with the exception of the end), Fourth Wing becomes a beloved fantasy television series. I know I have faith in the plan that’s in place, and while we wait for the release of Rebecca Yarros’ third book in the Empyrean series and more news about Season 1 of its adaptation, I’ll be reading and re-reading the books and re-watching GOT with a Max subscription.
