Looking for the Fourth Wing books in order? You’re in the right place for Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series, including the best place to start, what comes next after Onyx Storm, and what’s happening with the adaptation.
At the center of the series is Violet Sorrengail, a would-be scribe who gets shoved into the Riders Quadrant at Basgiath War College and quickly learns that surviving the parapet is only the beginning. What starts as a dragon-rider academy story opens up into something much bigger, with war, secrets, politics, and a lot more chaos than the first book initially lets on.
Jump to:
- Where to Start?
- Fourth Wing Books in Order
- Fourth Wing Adaptations
- Who is Rebecca Yarros?
- Fourth Wing Books FAQ
Where to Start?
Start with Fourth Wing and continue in publication order.
This series is not built for skipping around. Violet’s relationships, the reveals about Navarre, the dragon bonds, and the larger war all build from one book into the next. Reading out of order would undercut too many of the twists and character shifts that make the series work.
Fourth Wing Books in Order
These are the currently published main Empyrean novels in order:
- Fourth Wing (May 2, 2023)
- Iron Flame (November 7, 2023)
- Onyx Storm (January 21, 2025)
Rebecca Yarros and Red Tower have said the Empyrean series is planned for five books total, which means two more main entries are still ahead. At the moment, though, only the first three have been officially released, and there are no publicly announced titles or release dates yet for Books 4 and 5.
Companion Books
What About the Graphic Novel Adaptations?
There is also a graphic novel adaptation project in the works, but it does not change the novel reading order above.
In 2025, Ten Speed Graphic, Piatkus, and Entangled announced graphic novel adaptations of the first three Empyrean books. The plan is to adapt Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, and Onyx Storm across six graphic volumes, with each novel split into two parts.
That makes the graphic novels adaptation material, not new main-series entries. So the cleanest approach is still to read the books first and treat the graphic novels as optional extras.
Fourth Wing Adaptations
Amazon MGM Studios picked up the rights to develop Fourth Wing for television with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, and Rebecca Yarros is attached as an executive producer. The project has gone through showrunner changes since it was first announced, and as of late 2025, Meredith Averill was reported to be attached as showrunner.
That said, there is still no release date, cast list, or trailer. So the adaptation is very real, but it is still in development rather than anywhere close to hitting the screen.
Fourth Wing Books FAQ
Is the Fourth Wing series finished?
No. Rebecca Yarros and Red Tower have said the Empyrean series is planned for five books total, so there are still two more main books to come.
Do the graphic novels count as separate books in the main order?
No. The graphic novels are adaptations of the existing Empyrean novels, not separate core entries in the reading order.
Is Fourth Wing being adapted for TV?
Yes. Amazon MGM Studios is developing a television adaptation with Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society, but there is no premiere date yet.
Do you need to read Rebecca Yarros’s other books first?
No. The Empyrean series stands on its own, so you can start with Fourth Wing without reading any of Yarros’s romance or contemporary novels first.
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.