Books Like Fourth Wing: 15 Romantasy Series to Read Next

By T.L. BransonFantasy

Finishing Fourth Wing leaves you wanting a very specific kind of book. You want more books like Fourth Wing, but that doesn’t just mean “fantasy romance.” You want danger, dragons, brutal training, enemies-to-lovers tension, war, secrets, found family, and a heroine who has to get stronger fast or get crushed.

That’s harder to replace than it sounds.

Some books have the dragons. Some have the deadly trials. Some bring the romance. Some have the academy setting, political rebellion, or “everyone here might kill me” survival energy. So this list is ranked by how well each book matches the feeling of Fourth Wing, not just by how popular it is on BookTok.

Still sorting out the Empyrean series itself? I also have a full Fourth Wing books in order guide.

Jump to:

Quick Picks Based on What You Loved

Already know what part of Fourth Wing you’re trying to replace? Start here.

Best Books Like Fourth Wing Ranked

These are the fantasy books and romantasy series I’d recommend first if you’re trying to fill the Fourth Wing gap. Some have dragons. Some don’t. Some are spicy adult fantasy romance, while others lean YA or political fantasy. But every book here hits a major piece of what makes Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series so addictive.

1. The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

Best for: deadly trials, enemies-to-lovers tension, vampires, and high-stakes romantasy

Series status: First duet complete, larger connected series ongoing

Start with: The Serpent and the Wings of Night

If you want the closest “I need to keep reading” feeling after Fourth Wing, I’d start here. The Serpent and the Wings of Night doesn’t have dragon riders, but it nails the deadly competition, dangerous love interest, survival stakes, and underdog heroine trying to stay alive in a world designed to kill her.

Oraya is the human adopted daughter of a vampire king, and her only real chance at power is entering the Kejari, a brutal tournament where almost everyone is stronger than she is. That’s the part that feels closest to Violet at Basgiath. She’s outmatched, underestimated, and forced to be smarter than the monsters around her.

The romance is darker, the world is bloodier, and the whole thing has a sharper adult fantasy edge. But if what you loved about Fourth Wing was danger plus tension plus a relationship that could absolutely ruin everyone involved, this is the safest first pick.

2. From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Best for: viral romantasy, secret identities, bodyguard tension, and addictive romance

Series status: Main series ongoing, with connected prequels

Start with: From Blood and Ash

From Blood and Ash is one of the easiest recommendations for readers who liked Fourth Wing because it gives you that same fast, messy, fantasy-romance pull. It has a protected heroine, a dangerous love interest, secrets everywhere, and a world that keeps getting bigger as the series goes.

Poppy has spent her life trapped inside rules she didn’t choose. Hawke is assigned to protect her, which is exactly the kind of setup that tells you trouble is coming. The romance is a huge part of the appeal, but the series also has gods, monsters, kingdoms, war, and enough reveals to keep readers arguing over the reading order.

It’s not as tight as Fourth Wing, and the world gets complicated fast. But if you want another big romantasy series that’s built to be binged, this belongs near the top.

3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Best for: fae romance, emotional arcs, found family, and BookTok romantasy foundations

Series status: 5 books published, with more announced

Start with: A Court of Thorns and Roses

There’s a reason so many Fourth Wing readers get sent straight to ACOTAR. It doesn’t have dragons or a war college, but it helped define the modern fantasy-romance reading lane that Fourth Wing now dominates.

The first book starts as a Beauty and the Beast-style fae romance, but the series grows into something much bigger. The romance gets stronger, the politics matter more, and the character work is the real reason people become obsessed.

This is the pick if you want the romance and emotional payoff more than the dragon-rider training. It’s also the obvious next stop if Fourth Wing was your gateway into romantasy and you somehow haven’t read Sarah J. Maas yet.

I also have a full guide to A Court of Thorns and Roses books in order if you want the clean reading path.

4. Fireborne by Rosaria Munda

Best for: dragon riders, war training, politics, and a complete fantasy trilogy

Series status: 3 books, complete

Start with: Fireborne

Fireborne is the book I’d recommend if you specifically want more dragon riders, but you’re okay with less romance. This is not spicy romantasy. It’s political YA fantasy with dragon-rider training, class tension, military pressure, and complicated loyalty.

That makes it a better Fourth Wing match than some of the more obvious romantasy picks in one very specific way: it actually cares about dragon riders as soldiers. The dragons are not just decorative. The training, war machine, and political system all matter.

Read this when you want the Basgiath side of Fourth Wing, but with a more political, less romance-heavy tone.

5. Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

Best for: brutal academy drama, bully romance, magic, and total chaos

Series status: Main series complete, with connected spin-offs

Start with: Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

Zodiac Academy is not subtle. That’s part of the appeal. It throws you into a brutal magical school where the heroine has power, enemies, impossible social rules, and absolutely no easy way out.

The big Fourth Wing overlap is the academy setting. You get classes, power hierarchies, dangerous students, supernatural politics, and a world where being weak is practically an invitation to get destroyed.

This is messier, longer, and more over-the-top than Fourth Wing. But if you finished Basgiath and thought, “I would like more magical school trauma, please,” this is probably your next bad decision.

6. The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

Best for: political marriage, betrayal, enemies-to-lovers romance, and kingdom stakes

Series status: 6 books, complete

Start with: The Bridge Kingdom

The Bridge Kingdom is a great pick if you loved the tension between romance and war in Fourth Wing. There are no dragons here, but there is an enemy kingdom, a heroine trained as a weapon, a marriage built on strategy, and a romance that gets tangled up in betrayal.

Lara is sent to destroy the Bridge Kingdom from within, which means she has to decide how much of her own upbringing was truth and how much was poison. That gives the story the same kind of emotional pressure I like in Fourth Wing: love and loyalty pulling in different directions.

Read this if you want the political romance side of romantasy and don’t need the dragons to come along for the ride.

7. Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli

Best for: deadly trials, fae magic, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a complete romantasy series

Series status: 4 books, complete

Start with: Trial of the Sun Queen

Trial of the Sun Queen is one of the cleaner “try this after Fourth Wing” picks because the comparison is easy to understand. There are deadly trials, fae politics, a heroine fighting to survive, and romance wrapped around danger.

Lor has spent years trapped in a prison, then gets pulled into a competition where winning could change everything. That gives the first book a strong survival hook, and the series grows into a larger fantasy-romance story from there.

This is a good pick when you want something addictive, romantic, and complete, without needing to wait years for the ending.

8. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Best for: long fantasy arcs, fierce heroines, war, found family, and emotional payoff

Series status: 8 books, complete

Start with: Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass is not the same flavor of romantasy as Fourth Wing, especially at the beginning. It starts more YA assassin fantasy and slowly turns into a huge war story with magic, kingdoms, romance, grief, and one of the bigger emotional payoffs in modern fantasy.

The reason it works for Fourth Wing readers is the scale. Violet’s story keeps expanding beyond school drama into war, rebellion, and bigger political stakes. Throne of Glass does that too, just in a different way.

Read this if you want a complete fantasy series that rewards patience. The first book is not the best book in the series, but the long game is the point.

I also have a full Throne of Glass books in order guide if you want the recommended reading path.

9. Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Best for: deadly trials, forbidden romance, banter, and YA romantasy energy

Series status: Main trilogy complete, with companion stories

Start with: Powerless

Powerless is a smart pick if the part of Fourth Wing you want more of is the underdog heroine surviving among people who should be able to destroy her. Paedyn is an Ordinary in a kingdom ruled by Elites, which means she has to hide what she is to stay alive.

Then come the trials, the prince, the tension, and the constant risk of exposure. It’s lighter on dragons and heavier on the “ordinary girl forced into deadly spectacle” setup.

This works best for readers who liked Violet’s vulnerability, her stubbornness, and the feeling that one wrong move could get her killed.

10. A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Best for: adult fantasy romance, hidden power, banter, gods, and adventure

Series status: Main trilogy complete, with connected books

Start with: A Promise of Fire

A Promise of Fire is an older fantasy romance pick, but it still deserves a spot because it has the exact kind of fast, romantic, adventure-heavy energy a lot of Fourth Wing readers want.

Cat is hiding in a circus when a warlord figures out she’s much more powerful than she wants anyone to know. There’s kidnapping, banter, gods, magic, and a romance that starts with plenty of friction.

This is the pick if you want something more adult, more classic fantasy romance, and a little less tied to the current BookTok cycle.

11. When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker

Best for: dragons, dense worldbuilding, epic romantasy, and big emotional mystery

Series status: Ongoing

Start with: When the Moon Hatched

When the Moon Hatched is not as instantly accessible as Fourth Wing. I want to say that up front because this is a bigger, denser, more mythology-heavy romantasy. But it does have dragons, a sharp heroine, intense romantic pull, and a world that feels massive from the start.

Raeve is dangerous, damaged, and caught in a world with old griefs and stranger magic. The dragons here are not just a “cool creature” element either. They’re woven into the mythology of the world in a way that feels different from Basgiath, but still gives dragon readers something to latch onto.

Read this if you want the dragon-romantasy lane, but you’re okay with a slower entry and a heavier fantasy world.

12. The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

Best for: war, enemies-to-lovers tension, elemental magic, and political fantasy romance

Series status: Trilogy in progress

Start with: The Hurricane Wars

The Hurricane Wars is a good pick if you want the war-and-romance side of Fourth Wing, especially the part where attraction and enemy lines keep making everything worse.

Talasyn and Alaric are on opposite sides of a brutal conflict, and the book leans hard into the push-pull of two people who probably should not want each other as much as they do. There’s elemental magic, political pressure, and a big fantasy-war backdrop.

This is less training academy and more battlefield tension, but the emotional lane is close enough that it belongs here.

13. Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

Best for: dragons, forbidden romance, heists, gods, and queerer adult fantasy

Series status: 2 books published

Start with: Dragonfall

Dragonfall is for readers who want dragons to matter, but don’t need another military-school setup. This is adult fantasy with banished dragons, stolen magic, prophecy, and a thief caught up in something much bigger than one job.

The tone is very different from Fourth Wing, but the dragon element is strong, and the romance has that forbidden, dangerous quality romantasy readers tend to chase.

Read this when you want dragons, but you’re ready for something stranger and less familiar than Basgiath.

14. To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose

Best for: dragon school, anti-colonial fantasy, and a different kind of dragon-bond story

Series status: Ongoing

Start with: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is one of the best dragon-academy recommendations after Fourth Wing, but it’s not trying to be the same kind of book. It’s less romance-driven and more focused on culture, power, education, and who gets to decide what “proper” dragon training looks like.

Anequs bonds with a dragon hatchling and is sent to a colonizer-run dragon school where the rules were not built for her or her people. That gives the book a much sharper social and political edge than a simple dragon-school adventure.

Read this if you want dragons and academy structure, but you’re open to a slower, smarter, less romance-centered take.

15. The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

Best for: hidden heirs, political enemies-to-lovers, court danger, and sharper fantasy intrigue

Series status: Duology complete

Start with: The Jasad Heir

The Jasad Heir is not a dragon book, but it belongs here for readers who liked the secrets, enemy politics, and “this person cannot find out who I really am” pressure in Fourth Wing.

Sylvia is hiding the fact that she is the heir to a fallen kingdom. Arin is the enemy who could destroy her if he learns the truth. That setup gives the story a sharp political-romantic tension without needing a training academy or dragon bond.

This is the pick if you want something more political, more controlled, and less trope-obvious than some of the bigger romantasy titles.

Books That Almost Made the List

There are a few popular fantasy and romantasy books I considered, but I wouldn’t put them in the main ranked list. Some are excellent. They just don’t match the Fourth Wing reader as cleanly as the picks above.

  • Atonement of the Spine Cleaver by F.E. Bryce: This has adult romantasy, trials, violence, and big fantasy stakes, but it’s heavier and rougher around the edges than I’d choose for the cleanest first recommendation.
  • Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross: Beautiful romantic fantasy with war and rivals, but it doesn’t have the danger-training-dragon energy most Fourth Wing readers are chasing.
  • A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen: A strong romantasy pick, especially if you like gods and warriors, but The Bridge Kingdom is the cleaner Danielle L. Jensen fit for this specific list.
  • The Book of Azrael by Amber V. Nicole: This is popular dark romantasy, but it leans more gods-and-monsters than dragons, academy survival, or military fantasy.
  • The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: Great dragon fantasy, but it’s much more epic high fantasy than fast romantasy. Read it for dragons and scale, not for a Fourth Wing replacement.
  • The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: It has military school, war, and a brutal heroine arc, but it’s far darker and not a romance-forward recommendation. Great book. Different reader promise.

Looking for More Books in Order?

If you want more fantasy authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Fantasy Books in Order index.

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