The Empyrean: dragon fire has never been sexier.

Rebecca Yarros has made the incredible. Her Empyeran books have officially become one of the fastest-selling book series of the 21st century, equalling Harry Potter in popularity and hype. Midnight releases, special merchandise, book tour in the US: we cannot get enough of it.

The Empyrean is meant to be a five-book series, and three books are already out:

• Fourth Wing (2023)

• Iron Flame (2023)

• Onyx Storm (2025)

The books follow the story of Violet Sorrengail, a 20-year-old cadet who has been forced to enter the dragons Rider’s quadrant (division) of Basgiath War College. The particularity of the main character, and her strength arguably, is that she suffers from EDS and PTOS which is seen as a weakness from other murderous cadets (yes, murder is allowed within the quadrant) and a way to grossly underestimate her.

The books are filled with magic, powers, conspiracies, revolutions, dragons, ranks, a fight of good v evil and, most importantly, romance. Violet’s love interest stands mostly in the shadows making him a mysterious, broody, lethal man in Fourth Wing and slowly raising himself in our esteem and our heart rates.

In Onyx Storm when Xaden Riorson reveals a softer, kinder and loving man ready to do whatever it takes to protect Violet (“Violence” or “love” at times) from a corrupt military, the bad guys and….(SPOILERS) himself. This perfect romantasy trope has us swooning repeatedly throughout the books.

Most of us have devoured all three books in a matter of days. In my case, I read them to the point of almost passing out from not eating, drinking or raising my eyes from the page.

The books are currently ranking #1, #2 et #3 on Amazon’s most sold books list with Fourth Wing having been on the list for over 40 weeks.

Another phenomenon has happened thanks to the series and it is BookTok. Readers from over the world have found a shared passion for fantasy and romance (romantasy is the contraction of both words) because of the popularity of the book series and Rebecca Yarros' other works as a romance novel writer.

Booktok is estimated to have boosted book sales by 40% in 2024 with adult fiction leading the way as Millenials and Gen Z tend to want to escape their surroundings.

!!The below article contains SPOILERS for the ENTIRE book series!!

The third book in the Empyrean series sold 2.7 million copies worldwide in its first week and quite literally crashed the Target website when millions of American tried to order their special edition online which was released in the very early hours of the morning.

The end of Onyx Storm has let readers starved from more and with a lot more questions than answers. The cliffhanger on the last page has genuinely thrown us off the cliff and into a sea of darkness regarding Violet and Xaden’s future.

I am slightly worried that only two books remain in the series and despite the fast pace and packed action, it might not be enough to tight up the plot and give us all the answers we are desperately seeking. It will be a very long wait until book 4 comes out and gives us some answers and more questions still.

Source: amazon.co.uk/https://www.amazon.co.uk/charts/2025-02-09/mostsold/fiction?ref=chrt_bk_nav_fwd