The first book of The Empyrean series, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros took the world by storm in 2023. Fans fell in love with huge twists, incredible romance and love stories, and, of course, massive dragons.
There's no doubt Fourth Wing is one of the best dragon books released in the last few years. Since Fouth Wing's debut, we've luckily had two more Empyrean books, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm, with epic dragon battles. Now, we're all in the middle of a long wait until the fourth Empyrean book hits shelves sometime in 2027, at the earliest, and we need some more dragons in our lives.
The good news is that, if you're new to fantasy books with dragons, there are a lot of great options to choose from. Even better, most of these books are series, so you can get just as obsessed with those stories, characters, and dragons as you did with Violet Sorrengail, Xaden Thoreson, and their dragons, Andarna, Tairn, and Sgaeyl.
I picked four fantasy books with dragons you need to read if you're a fan of Fourth Wing. Let's get the list started with Eragon.
Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Eragon is the first book of Christopher Paolini's The Inheritance Cycle book series. It was published in 2001 and later republished in 2003. This was the first book about dragons that I can remember reading when I was a kid, and it's a good one.
Eragon tells the story of a youngster Eragon who finds a dragon egg and quickly finds himself on the run from an evil king while he learns to be a dragon rider.
Eragon skews a lot younger than Fourth Wing, of course, but it's an incredibly entertaining story that all ages will love. There are four books in The Inheritance Cycle series, and despite their length, they're all quick reads because they're simply page turners!
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
How can we not include A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin on this list? He's basically the Father of Dragons in modern media. A Game of Thrones is the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire, and while it follows many other characters, specifically the Starks, Daenerys Targaryen is gifted three dragon eggs in the first book, and the dragons hatch near the end of that story.
Sorry for the spoiler, but the dragons make a much bigger impact in the other second, third, and fifth books, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Dance with Dragons. Dany isn't in the fourth book, A Feast of Crows.
Of course, we're still waiting for The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. If you really love dragons, you can read Fire & Blood by Martin, as well, to learn all about the dragons of Westeros before the events of A Game of Thrones.
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
If you love Fourth Wing and you want a more mature story than something like Eragon, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is the book you need to read right now.
The high fantasy story is set a thousand years after the "death" of The Nameless One, a giant dragon. The story follows some of the main players in an emerging conflict between the East and West as the Nameless One's return draws near.
There are so many characters, so many dragons, and so many interconnected stories in The Priory of the Orange Tree, and it's long. It's definitely not an "easy" read, but it's big, sprawling, and epic. There's romance, dragons, strong characters, and huge twists. That's just what Fourth Wing fans are looking for.
If you like The Priory of the Orange Tree, you should also check out A Day of Fallen Night, a prequel.
Fireborne by Rosaria Munda
Fireborne is the first book of The Aurelian Cycle book series by Rosaria Munda. There are three books in the series, including Firebone, and the following books, Flamefall and Furysong. The story revolves around two dragon riders, Annie and Lee, survivors from opposite sides of a brutal civil war. When the situation changes, they are thrust to opposing sides again with big decisions to make.
Fireborne has a similar-ish premise to Fourth Wing, with its main characters becoming dragon riders at an academy, along with a lot of politics and war, but that's about where the similarities between the stories end.
Fireborne and The Aurelian Cycle books aren't quite as spicy or mature as a Fourth Wing or even A Game of Thrones. They're more YA, I would say, but they're still fascinating if you like Fourth Wing and love dragons, as I'm sure you do if you're still here. Personally, I don't think these books are quite as good as The Empyrean series, but they're still very good!
If you're a big fan of Fourth Wing, I highly recommend reading all four of these books. I promise they will not let you down!
If I were starting over having not read them all yet, I think I'd probably start with Eragon or A Game of Thrones. Eragon is such a great story, and it's such an easy read compared to the others. So, if I wanted a great story that I can really sink my teeth into, you know, that's my pick.
A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the best fantasy book series of all time. It's a great entry point to fantasy as a genre, but you have to be patient. Martin is such an incredible builder of character, story, and world. He sets up every moment without sparing any details. It's a little intimidating to sign up to read five books that are about 1,000 pages each, but it's so worth it, especially if you love dragons.
I know a lot of fans have already read Eragon and A Song of Ice and Fire by now, so if that's you, I'd pick up The Priory of the Orange Tree. Be prepared to fall in love. In terms of intensity and commitment, it's more similar to the Game of Thrones books than something like Eragon or Fireborne.
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