If you're a fan of Fourth Wing, then odds are high that you're wondering when we're going to see a Fourth Wing movie or TV show adaptation of the popular books. It's the latter that's planned, and since I'm among the many who are extremely excited to see the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation, I'm keeping track of everything we know about it here. But if you're just now hearing about the popular romantasy book series by Rebecca Yarros, you've also come to the right place, as I've included a spoiler-free guide to the books, including what we know about Fourth Wing Book 3, titled Onyx Storm. So let's get into it.
What Is Fourth Wing Is About?
Fourth Wing is a fantasy story by Rebecca Yarros, published in May 2023, that is told almost entirely from the point of view of Violet Sorrengail, a young woman who was planning to use her passion for reading and academics to become a Scribe. Unfortunately she is forced by her military general mother to follow in her older siblings’ footsteps in joining the Rider quadrant. As in: dragon riders. Though she has the knowledge and sharp wit to hold her own in many circumstances, she’s much smaller and more frail than your typical dragon rider, which puts her at a disadvantage as she joins Basgiath War College.
And that’s just one of the things working against Violet. As First Years train in the hopes of being chosen by a dragon, there are only so many dragons selecting riders, which means that being a First Year is brutally competitive — people sometimes die at this school, sometimes during training and sometimes at the hands of their fellow aspiring Riders. The narrative follows Violet as she attempts to navigate the challenges of training while trying not to get killed.
Is Fourth Wing a story for kids, teens or adults?
While there are certainly YA qualities to this story – with stakes on the level of stories like The Hunger Games, Divergent, Ender’s Game and others – Fourth Wing centers on adult characters and seems geared towards an adult audience – there’s quite a bit of violence and some steamy romance involved in this romantasy tale, which likely doesn’t make it appropriate for all audiences.
This story is a fantasy adventure with suspense and violence, but it is also well suited for those who like a bit of spicy romance mixed into the genre– particularly in the second half of the first book (vague spoiler here: there are some very R-rated sexy scenes). Of course, if it’s the romance that appeals to you, author Rebecca Yarros has written several romance novels prior to (and at least once since) writing Fourth Wing.
And There Are Dragons?
The name of the series, Empyrean, is presumably a nod to the dragons in this story, as the term is referenced in the first book in relation to the dragons and their leadership structure. Beyond that, in terms of how the dragons factor in, I’m not saying anything other than that this is a story about new adults aspiring to become dragon riders. So yes, there are dragons. (And they’re awesome.) There is also magic involved. I read the first book not knowing much more than the basic premise, and I'm convinced it's part of the reason I couldn't put it down. If you're planning to read the book, avoid as many spoilers as possible!
How Many Books Are There In The Empyrean Series?
There are two published books in the Fourth Wing/Empyrean series and in March 2024, Rebecca Yarros confirmed on Good Morning America that Book 3 was coming January 2025.
- Fourth Wing (2023)
- Iron Flame (2023)
- Onyx Storm (January 21, 2025)
And there are expected to be more Fourth Wing sequels after Book 3...
When speaking to Today in June 2023, Rebecca Yarros confirmed that the Empyrean series is being planned as a five-part story:
"The books are fully plotted for five books. The whole series is plotted out and arced and all of that."
It’s exciting (and as a fan, fairly comforting) to know that Yarros has already mapped out the story, especially factoring in how massively popular this series has gotten since the first book was published. Yarros went on to say:
"I think it really deals with the theme of history: Who's allowed to tell our history, and what happens when only people in power are the ones who record our history."
Again, I’m aiming to keep this guide as spoiler-free as possible, so I won’t get into specifics, but the topic of how history is written is definitely something the first book touches on, and it’s not at all surprising to hear that it’s part of the overall theme of the story the author is telling.
When Does Empyrean Book 3 (Onyx Storm) Come Out?
As mentioned, Rebecca Yarros confirmed in March 2024 that the title of Empyrean Series Book 3 is Onyx Storm, and the book will hit shelves on January 21, 2025. That's quite a bit longer than the (surprisingly short) wait we had between Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, but since we now know that Book 3 is less than a year away, so can we really complain?
More recently, in June 2024, Rebecca Yarros shared an update on her instagram announcing that she’d submitted the first draft of Onyx Storm to her editor. And on July 8, Today revealed the cover for the new book, which includes the words "Brave the dark." The cover design is credited to Bree Archer.
Red Tower Books also dropped a teasy reel on their Instagram (embedded above), which shows off the book's cover. In addition to that, these words were teased:
She survived her first year at Basgiath. She uncovered secrets and betrayal. Now she must fight the biggest battle yet.
As with Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, Onyx Storm is being released with a limited Deluxe edition that features gorgeous sprayed edges, while supplies last.
Onyx Storm can be pre-ordered at Target, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other places where books are sold. If you're aiming to get the Deluxe version, be sure to make sure to pay attention to the item listing when pre-ordering!.
What’s Going On With The Fourth Wing TV Show?
The good news is that the rights for a TV show adaptation of Fourth Wing have been acquired by Amazon and Michael B. Jordan's Outlier Society. Per Variety in 2023, they have the rights to Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and the three books that are expected to follow. Rebecca Yarros is a “non-writing” executive producer on the planned TV show adaptation, with “planned” being the key phrase here. News of the acquisition broke near the end of October 2023, and as Variety notes, if it's eventually ordered to series, the show will stream on Prime Video.
The Fourth Wing TV Series Showrunner
In July 2024, Variety offered up an exciting development -- Moira Walley-Beckett has been brought on board to serve as showrunner for the series. This is especially exciting, considering her list of credits not only includes one of the best drama series in recent history -- Breaking Bad -- but she also won an Emmy Award for writing what many would consider to be one of the best episodes of Breaking Bad, "Ozymandias."
Walley-Beckett's other writing and producing credits also include Anne with an E and Flesh and Bone.
What Rebecca Yarros Has Said About Casting
Earlier this year, The Popverse shared some quotes from Rebecca Yarros, who attended Emerald City Comic-Con 2024, including this one, where she speaks enthusiastically about what’s planned for the series, and also offers some assurance that the show wont whitewash the diverse cast depicted in her books:
“Im really glad that it ended up with Amazon and Outlier Society, which is Michael B. Jordan's production team. They are incredible: They're very protective of the source material. They're absolutely wonderful. They're in constant contact, and I can't say enough great things about them. And they had, they have a great diversity and inclusion rider [in their contracts], so I know that they'll honor the diversity in the cast and we're not gonna see it whitewashed.”
Well, that certainly is encouraging, as is the tone of optimism in her words that the series is in good hands.
When Will The Fourth Wing TV Show Release Date Be?
Short answer: We don’t know.
It’s still likely pretty early in the process for getting the series going. We certainly haven’t heard anything about who will star, or plans to start production yet. And honestly, I’m ok with that, particularly since the books are still in the works. As it’s rare that adaptations are a page-for-page reenactment of the events from their source material, having all or most of the books released might make for a better adaptation in terms of bringing the various character arcs to the screen in a way that works. And it would also allow the show to avoid the potential pitfall of telling the story faster than the books can be published… not that something like that would ever happen with a popular fantasy series (see our entry for Game of Thrones on the list of the best and worst thing about some major fantasy franchises).
That said, if the Empyrean series is going to consist of five books, it's exciting to know that it’s currently lined up to be adapted as a TV show produced by a studio that will hopefully offer enough of a budget to properly bring Basgiath War College, its riders, and the dragons to the screen as vividly as Rebecca Yarros has in our imaginations.
And now that there's a showrunner on board, it's entirely possible that we'll start hearing more updates in the near future about what's planned for this series.
We’ll be sure to share updates on any forward progress the adaptation makes in the coming months (or years). In the meantime, we still have more books to anticipate from this exciting new series. And if you’re looking for the best fantasy movies to watch, and the best fantasy TV shows, check out some of our other articles here at CinemaBlend.
