At the end of 2024, I read Fourth Wing, the first book in The Empyrean series. While I no longer like to read books in a series until it’s completed, I can’t get enough of the world in this series and found myself wanting to continue with these books anyway. I know after the two books I’ll be reviewing here there are going to be two more in this series, and I have accepted that I’ll have to wait until they are also released before I check them out. But for now, since I’ve finished reading these books, I would like to share my thoughts on Iron Flame and Onyx Storm, the second and third books in The Empyrean series.

Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2)

Rating: 4.5 stars

“The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.” —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.

As the second book in The Empyrean series, Iron Flame does a marvelous job of picking up where Fourth Wing left off. And just like with its predecessor, I found myself immediately hooked on the story and wanting to find out what happened next with Violet, Xaden, her squad, and their dragons. I felt like there was a lot of world-building in this book, but I was perfectly fine with it as I felt like I was learning more about the vast world all of these characters inhabit.

What I also enjoyed about the story here is that I felt like there were quite a bit of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. From finding out the truth about the real threat in their world to the introduction of new characters and bringing back certain characters, Iron Flame was a page-turner for me from beginning to end. I found myself continuing to read this book wanting to find out what happened next because for me I enjoyed the world and these characters and wanted to see where the story was going.

Iron Flame is full of so much action that I found myself heavily engaged in the story and the choices these characters make when the truth is revealed to them regarding the threat to their world. I also enjoyed seeing the character development of these characters as they navigate the different challenges they experience while at Basgiath and whenever they leave their school. I was especially happy to see that Violet’s friendship with Dain changes in this book once he finds out the truth of what’s going on. While the way he treated Violet in Fourth Wing irked me, I felt like he does a better job here realizing she’s more than capable of taking care of herself which made him a more likable character for me.  

Even the ending in Iron Flame was enjoyable to read for me. It was tough to read because of what happened and I was sad about the events that transpired too. But with the amount of twists and turns that happened in this book, I figured the ending would have some sort of twist I wasn’t expecting that would make me want to read the next book in the series. And it didn’t disappoint, even if aspects of it were sad to read.

If I had to choose anything with this book in The Empyrean series I didn’t enjoy it would have to be some of the new characters that were introduced and the problems in Xaden and Violet’s relationship that occurred here. The new characters I wasn’t particularly fond of here were Varrish, Sloane and Cat. Varrish was an interesting character to have as an antagonist in most of the book but I wasn’t particularly fond of him because all he did was do things to make Violet’s life at Basgiath difficult, but there really wasn’t all that much to his character that made the story interesting. As for Sloane and Cat, while I understood their reasons for not being fond of Violet here, I also felt like they were mostly unfounded too, and were the result of things that were out of her control. And even when these two characters get to a point in the story where they no longer dislike her, I find myself still not too fond of either of them.

I felt like the drama that happened in Violet and Xaden’s relationship in this book was completely unnecessary. I understood in the beginning Violet being upset with Xaden for keeping things from her that he should’ve told her. But at the same time, I also understood his perspective and why he felt like it was truly necessary. I also understand feeling a sense of jealousy when encountering someone from someone you love’s past. But I felt with the way Xaden acted towards his ex, there was truly no reason for Violet to be jealous here. So to me, I felt like there was a lot of drama between the two of them here that wasn’t at all necessary for their relationship that irked me.

However, despite these two aspects of the story, I really enjoyed reading Iron Flame. I felt like I was right back to where its predecessor left off and when it finished it made me all the more excited to read the next book in the series, Onyx Storm to see what happened next with this series I’ve been enjoying.

Onyx Storm (The Empyrean #3)

Rating: 3.5 stars

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming…and not everyone can survive its wrath.

I feel like in comparison to the rest of the books in this series, Onyx Storm was my least favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but in comparison to Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, it wasn’t as enjoyable a read for me.

What I enjoyed about Onyx Storm though was that I felt like I learned more about the world outside of Navarre. There were a lot of places that Violet and members of her squad went to in search of allies and I enjoyed learning about these different isles and what those who ruled over them were like. The amount of detail that went into creating such a vast world that has so many unique places some of which resulted in their group being unable to use their magic and communicate with their dragons or griffins is incredible. I felt like I was reading a story with a cast of characters on a quest because of what Violet and her group were in search of and I enjoyed that aspect of it.

I also enjoyed the relationship of the characters here better than I did in Iron Flame. With everything serious that was going on in this book, I felt like there was a lot of witty banter in this book in comparison to its predecessors which made some of the serious moments seem not quite as serious. There were a lot of moments when reading Onyx Storm where I found myself giggling at something that happened because of these moments in the story. The characters that annoyed me in Iron Flame didn’t annoy me as much in this book too, which helped. I especially enjoyed seeing the relationships between the dragon riders and griffin riders and how they all worked together in this book. I also enjoyed finding out more about the characters that had a second signet. I thought that was an interesting piece of information to include in the story and I was excited when I found out what Violet’s ended up being even though I felt like it ended up being an obvious signet for her to have.  

While I enjoyed seeing the dynamic of Violet and Xaden’s relationship in this book more, certain aspects of their relationship annoyed me. While I understood Xaden’s actions regarding their relationship, Violet was the one who annoyed me a lot with the way she acted about Xaden trying to keep himself in control. I also feel like with Violet, there wasn’t a lot of character development for her in Onyx Storm. Yes, I feel like she did a lot of badass things when it came to what they were doing on the islands to secure an army. But I also feel like at this point in the book, she wasn’t as strong as she could’ve been. I think I’m at the point where I feel like while she has a very powerful signet, she should have a grasp on how to use it by now in this series, but she still doesn’t. And it’s annoying to me because I feel like it’s going to continue causing more harm than good for her and those around her that she’s trying to protect.

Another aspect of Onyx Storm that I wasn’t particularly fond of was the overall plot. I understood why the things that were going on happened, but I felt like there was a lot of filler in this book too. Yes, I thought the islands that Violet and her group went to were interesting, but there were a lot of details that weren’t necessary as well. And while I enjoyed their journey, I also felt like it was kind of pointless too. Especially because it felt like a majority of it was for nothing due to the events that transpired as a result of it. I also felt like learning about the world outside of Navarre was interesting, there was also too much information for me to remember with all of the places they ended up traveling to.

I also found myself annoyed by it because of all the mystery surrounding Violet’s father regarding the information he left for her to find. I didn’t understand why he went to all this trouble to hide this information for only her out of the members of her family to find. I understand not keeping the knowledge he had somewhere leadership at Basigath could easily find it, but I felt like how he hid the information he had was too much. Especially because I felt like it didn’t contribute much to the story of what was going on and made me dislike her father even more than her mother.  

But if I had to choose anything with this book I disliked the most, it was the way the antagonist in this book is brought into the story and the ending. While I think Theophanie was an interesting antagonist to introduce into the story to show how their enemies have similar powers to them, I thought she would end up playing a bigger role in this series moving forward than she does. I felt like she was just introduced as this powerful character for Violet to take down to show how much Violet has grown throughout the series. But I feel like in a lot of their fight Violet struggled and very easily could’ve ended up killed herself. What I didn’t like about the ending was that there were multiple points of view from different characters that could’ve very easily happened throughout the book instead of at the end. Also felt like the ending left me with way more questions than answers as there’s a lot that’s mentioned but no real explanation for it. It also made me feel like everything that happens in this book was for nothing and that things are about to get bad for Violet and everyone else. It was my least favorite ending out of the books in this series so far.

As a whole, I enjoyed reading Onyx Storm but in comparison to the rest of the books in the series, it wasn’t my favorite as I felt like a lot of the plot was filler. And while I plan to continue reading the rest of the books in the series, I’m hoping they won’t be like this one for me.

As a whole, I’ve enjoyed reading both Iron Flame and Onyx Storm and am excited to continue reading the rest of The Empyrean series when the books come out to see what happens next now that I’ve finished reading both these books.