We’re going on two years since the release of Onyx Storm, the third book in Rebecca Yarros’ Empyrean series which left us stunned and devastated. The romantasy books, best known as the “Fourth Wing series” after the first entry, follows a young woman named Violet Sorrengail who enters a dangerous war college at her mother’s demand.
Frail and inexperienced, Violet succeeds against all odds—surviving each trial and even bonding with two dragons. She’s underestimated for her physical strength, but her intelligence and determination push her through. Along the way, she falls for the man who should be her enemy: Xaden Riorson.
The Fourth Wing books have gone viral on BookTok, selling millions of copies worldwide and becoming a modern classic in the genre. Prime Video is set to adapt the series for a TV show, with Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House, Wednesday) serving as showrunner.
Why Rebecca Yarros has to “ignore” fans while writing
Clearly, these books are incredibly popular, and with that growing popularity comes pressure to continue the story in a satisfying way for the fans. For Yarros, she’s certainly thinking about these things when writing the forthcoming fourth book, and she’s got a process for getting through it.
During her tour for the latest entry in the Empyrean series, Threshing Day, a companion novel serving as Book 3.5 which was released on Sept. 29, Yarros talked about navigating fan theories and why tuning it out is necessary for her writing. It all comes down to how much she loves her fans the fact that she doesn’t want to let them down.
“When I sit down in that room, I do my best to love you and ignore you,” Yarros told fans during the October 1 event at One Times Square. “So I think about you guys a little bit more than I should. It’s probably unhealthy. I do things like, I write a giant choose your own adventure Threshing novel, which is what [virtual quiz] Dragonkind is if you guys haven’t been to Dragonkind yet. Because I desperately want you to be happy and fulfilled. Know that I think about you and want you to be happy. And then I attempt to leave you outside my office and not think of a darn thing.”
For the author, she doesn’t want to chance fan theories unintentionally impacting what she’s writing, or realizing that fans have already guessed what’s actually going to happen.
“I like Instagram, I want the baby goats, I want the Highland cows, I like to scroll,” Yarros continued. “I do not like to see my face. I do not like to see my book cover. It gives me a jump scare. And if I see a fan theory I immediately [scroll past it], because the last thing I want is for it to influence my writing. Or what happens if you guys are close and I feel like I have to go back and change everything from some misguided notion that I have to surprise you? Like, I ignore you. I love you but I ignore you.”
This seems like a completely healthy, understandable process to writing a book that’s so highly anticipated. Though there are definitely things fans want to see in Book 4, we’d hate for it to turn into fan-service. Being surprised is what made Onyx Storm so good, because I don’t think anyone could’ve seen that ending coming. Comments on Winter Is Coming's video from the book tour stop are in agreement, with one person writing: “I actually appreciate this mindset.”
Before the Empyrean series turned into the phenomenon it is today, Yarros wrote Fourth Wing without fan pressure, taking inspiration from her own experience living with chronic illness and other factors of her life. The book went on to top the list of the New York Times’ bestsellers, won multiple awards, and helped bring the romantasy genre to the mainstream. Clearly, Yarros knows what she’s doing, and we’re happy to trust the process.
Threshing Day is now available wherever you buy books. We’ll continue keeping you updated on any news on Fourth Wing Book 4.
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